The World's First Radio Heckler - or is Hacker a Better Word?

[k4kyv]

If this story is really true, a century ago, one of the world’s first hackers used Morse code insults to disrupt a public demo of Marconi's wireless telegraph.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228440.700-dotdashdiss-the-gentleman-hackers-1903-lulz.html?full=true

[The Slab Bacon]

Good Story!! that was pretty kool. Kinda like a cross between the internet of today, and the goings on on 75 metros.    

Dont forget, Don, that back them the patent wars on new technology were rampant and ferocious. Not just radio, but all things technical, and some of the things manufacturers did to get around paying patent lisencing fees was extreem, sometimes to the point of being rather comical today!

[k4kyv]

Interesting that the heckler didn't actually disrupt the demonstration, but just heckled them before the demonstration was to take place. Kinda like the first computer viruses, which were mostly developed by kids who did it as pranks to amuse themselves, but which quickly turned malicious and it didn't take long before someone figured out that they could actually be useful for something: acquiring ill-gotten cash.

As has often been pointed out, Marconi didn't really develop anything new.  He used technology already discovered and demonstrated by others, but developed, patented and sold its practical applications. As might be expected, most significant of all was real-time communication with ships at sea. Marconi was an entrepreneur, not an inventor.