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Telegram Not Dead STOP Alive, Evolving In Japan STOP

Posted by samzenpus on from the old-school dept.

itwbennett writes Japan is one of the last countries in the world where telegrams are still widely used. A combination of traditional manners, market liberalization and innovation has kept alive this age-old form of messaging. Companies affiliated with the country's three mobile carriers, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and SoftBank, offer telegrams, which are sent via modern server networks instead of the dedicated electrical wires of the past (Morse telegraphy hasn't been used since 1962), and then printed out with modern printers instead of tape glued on paper. But customers are still charged according to the length of the message, which is delivered within three hours. A basic NTT telegram up to 25 characters long can be sent for ¥440 ($4.30) when ordered online.

10 of 144 comments (clear)

  1. Japan is still pretty backwards in some ways by Tyrannicsupremacy · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Also worth mentioning is the way employees are paid, frequently envelopes of cash, direct deposit is not very popular yet there.

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    1. Re:Japan is still pretty backwards in some ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not to mention that cash payments are ripe for tax avoidance.

      Direct deposit and cashing a check both produce a paper trail that government accountants can track. Cash payments are much easier to hide.

    2. Re:Japan is still pretty backwards in some ways by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Check his posting record... 633 comments, most of them AOL-tier, including whining about moderation.

      Maybe he'll calm down when he graduates from high school.

      Free hint for him: make fewer, higher-quality posts. Learn the trick of replying to get it out of your system, and then hitting cancel instead of submit because it wasn't really worth posting. "Does the whole world really care about what I just said?"

    3. Re:Japan is still pretty backwards in some ways by alta · · Score: 3, Interesting

      which is why I always try to address the email AFTER I have written. Keeps me from accidentally sending something incomplete or something I would totally regret sending at all.

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      Do not meddle in the affairs of sysadmins, for they are subtle, and quick to anger.
  2. Might even be pragmatic sometimes by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Quite aside from tradition, which is great, there are situations where you need to send a message to a physical address. Maybe the occupant doesn't have a phone or email, or you don't know their contact details, or whether they even have a phone or email. If that message has to get there within three hours rather than overnight, then the $4.30 rate is pretty competitive with getting an express courier to carry a post-it note.

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  3. Japan Telegrams are great. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    When I was married, we received a handful of telegrams from friends and colleagues.

    All were delivered as exquisite display pieces, with the message in a frame and everything. Very moving. This is what 'Telegrams' are for, special or official things. I will never forget it either.

  4. why STOP in telegrams? by JigJag · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Hey Slashdot, does anyone knows why telegrams are peppered with the word 'STOP'? Was there no punctuation mark to use a period?

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    "The hallmark of humanity is the ability to move beyond sensory inputs" - Mary Helen Immordino-Yang
    1. Re:why STOP in telegrams? by gman003 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Morse code did not originally have punctuation. A period is also referred to as a "stop" or "full stop", so they would just use S-T-O-P in the place of a period.

    2. Re:why STOP in telegrams? by rossdee · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The word STOP was free, but other small words still cost, therefore they were often left out.

      At the end of the 20th century, the Universal House of Justice wrote emails that sounded like telegrams.

  5. There is a place for the Morse telegraph by davidwr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The non-wireless Morse telegraph using only 19th-century technology (plus modern conveniences like plastic-insulated wires) is a fun educational tool for places like museums that reflect the era when telegraphy was widely used.

    It's also a fun educational tool for children's camps which specialize in either the history of that era or which specialize in STEM and which have a historical component.

    The same can be said for semaphore signaling, "hand-crank" telephones, and even "tin can and a string" telephones.

    Wireless telegraphy is still used by amateur radio operators and other hobbyists, alongside more modern "digital modes" like packet radio. Because of its very low bandwidth, Morse Code, particularly the computer-controlled "slow code" that is used on very-narrow-bandwidth transmissions in the sub-600KHz bands can typically get a message through in high-noise or low-effective-transmitting-power situations where other methods, such as "phone" (i.e. voice communication) or other digital modes can't.

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