It's not a marketing issue, but it's amazing to read that Western Union has announced that it has ended its telegraph service. Not so amazing, of course, when you ask yourself, "When was the last time I sent, got, or heard about anyone sending or getting a telegram?"
The telegraph was the Internet of its time -- the first means of real-time transmission of data.
Western Union has been a significant force in American history. It built the first transcontinental telegraph line during the Civil War, and at the end of the war introduced the stock ticker. It was also a charter member of the first Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Today the company is primarily involved in money transfers, and doing quite nicely at it, with more than a billion in profits last year. Its parent, First Data, announced last week that Western Union will be spun off.
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