# India Will STOP Its Telegram Service **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368 "2013-07-12T23:09:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/1 "2013-07-12T23:09:45Z")
And it’s the last one in the world apparently, or at least the last major one. The last telegram will be sent on Monday. Stories [here](http://news.yahoo.com/indias-telegram-goes-dark-163-years-065614283.html) and [here](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2360258/Its-time--STOP-India-says-farewell-telegram-162-years.html). “ **… young lovers sent them to tell their folks that they had eloped.** ” I can see it now: “DEAR FOLKS STOP WE ARE MARRIED STOP US IF YOU CAN STOP.” It’s a little sad really. Yet something else to make me feel old. Thailand stopped its service a few years ago. The last telegram I sent was from here to the US, in the mid-1990s. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/2 "2013-07-12T23:34:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > … “DEAR FOLKS STOP WE ARE MARRIED STOP US IF YOU CAN STOP.” … Now they’ll text the news: “dr folks we r married lol” ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/3 "2013-07-12T23:56:11Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And it’s the last one in the world apparently, or at least the last major one. Seems like Mexico and Russia still have telegraph networks up and running, though. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/4 "2013-07-13T00:48:48Z")
Balderdash! I know, having seen with my own eyes, that there are live telegraph systems, still up and running and functioning, right here in the U S of A. Oh, wait. That’s live, as in a museum exhibit I saw in Los Angeles. It connects from a little booth on one side of the room to a little booth on the other side of the room. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/5 "2013-07-13T01:54:06Z")
Western Union telegrams still exist, sorta. [These people](http://www.itelegram.com/) took over their equipment. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/6 "2013-07-13T02:26:22Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Balderdash! I know, having seen with my own eyes, that there are live telegraph systems, still up and running and functioning, right here in the U S of A. > > Oh, wait. That’s live, as in a museum exhibit I saw in Los Angeles. It connects from a little booth on one side of the room to a little booth on the other side of the room. Oh yeah, that makes me feel better. Like the time I saw an adding machine in a museum here. ☹ > [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Western Union telegrams still exist, sorta. [These people](http://www.itelegram.com/) took over their equipment. “The telegram service trusted in over 200 countries,” it says. I’m always suspicious of such claims. Aren’t there only something like 195 countries? ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/7 "2013-07-13T08:50:07Z")
Do many people over here read paper books? I guess no. They will also be (nearly) gone ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/8 "2013-07-13T09:33:29Z")
> [@truthSeeker2](#): > > Do many people over here read paper books? I guess no. They will also be (nearly) gone :eek: Blasphemy! I read _only_ paper books. I’ve been lugging around McCullough’s 1000-page Truman biography these past few weeks and happy to do it. None of those newfangled reading contraptions for me! I like the look, the feel, the very smell of a genuine book. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/9 "2013-07-13T14:44:04Z")
I also read mainly paper books. I do have an e-reader and have every intention of using it–someday. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/10 "2013-07-13T15:00:26Z")
> [@truthSeeker2](#): > > Do many people over here read paper books? I guess no. They will also be (nearly) gone We’re decades away from that. There is still a huge market for real books. Telegrams persisted even in the US for decades beyond when the overwhelming majority of people had even seen one. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/11 "2013-07-13T15:31:17Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > “The telegram service trusted in over 200 countries,” it says. I’m always suspicious of such claims. Aren’t there only something like 195 countries? The UN has 193 members, the IOC has 203 and Fifa has 208 so it’s a bit of a slippery number I guess. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/12 "2013-07-13T20:45:52Z")
I sent my mom a telegram from Nevada to Ohio in 1981. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/13 "2013-07-14T05:23:01Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > “The telegram service trusted in over 200 countries,” it says. I’m always suspicious of such claims. Aren’t there only something like 195 countries? > [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > The UN has 193 members, the IOC has 203 and Fifa has 208 so it’s a bit of a slippery number I guess. I suppose then it could be “over” 200, but some of those probably aren’t even countries – for example, Hong Kong and Macau are always referred to as countries in the newspapers here. But I’ve seen ludicrous claims from some companies about being active in 225 countries, that one I remember, and maybe even higher figures. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/14 "2013-07-14T06:09:43Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > The UN has 193 members, the IOC has 203 and Fifa has 208 so it’s a bit of a slippery number I guess. Considering the IOC considers Puerto Rico seperate from the U.S. and Scotland competes seperately from England in many international sporting competitions, it’s easy to see how you could calculate 225 countries. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/15 "2013-07-14T11:24:20Z")
Well, one of the links in my OP said the last message would be sent Monday, but apparently it’s today, Sunday. It’s 6pm where I am, and we’re 1-1/2 hours ahead of India. BBC was just reporting that so many people want to send a telegram on this last day that they’re having to stay open later than usual, at least in the Calcutta office, where the report was made. They said in fact, if these sorts of numbers were seen a few weeks ago, they might not be shutting down now. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/16 "2013-07-14T16:50:11Z")
> [@truthSeeker2](#): > > Do many people over here read paper books? I guess no. They will also be (nearly) gone Neither libraries or used bookstores are completely out of business soon. OTOH, almost no one has a telegraph in their home. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/17 "2013-07-14T16:59:20Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Neither libraries or used bookstores are completely out of business soon. OTOH, almost no one has a telegraph in their home. There was never a time when most people had a telegraph in their home. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/india-will-stop-its-telegram-service/663368/18 "2013-07-15T11:10:25Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > :eek: Blasphemy! I read _only_ paper books. I’ve been lugging around McCullough’s 1000-page Truman biography these past few weeks and happy to do it. None of those newfangled reading contraptions for me! I like the look, the feel, the very smell of a genuine book. I was suggesting a trend. these days people’s attention span is small, there is all kinds of information, latest news n updates available online that people read less books and even less paper books. if you are into reading paper books, its great - they are better than ebooks arguably . they are great for mental stimulation n good for mental exercise, positivity, improving concentration besides their useful content. keep it up.