Just found this interesting quote by James Carey (in "McLuhan and Mumford: The Roots of Modern Media Analysis." Journal of Communication 31 (Summer 1981): 162-78):

"all of the claims that have been made for electricity and electrical communication, down through the computer and cable and satellite television, were made for the telegraph with about the same mixture of whimsy, propaganda and truth. Cadences change, vocabulary is subtly altered, examples shift, the religious metaphors decline, but the medium has the same message."

Why do I blog this? collecting material to improve one my speech. I gather elements about the recurring promises of technologies (and their failure).