For Fire Alarms, Boston Still Relies on ... the Telegraph?!

[Little Star]

In 1852, Boston took a major technological step forward. It became the first city in the world to use the telegraph as part of a municipal fire alarm warning system. Fire alarm boxes, placed on street corners, promised to electronically send alert messaages to officials far quicker than the old method of, well, yelling. Boston paved the way for towns and cities across America to begin using the fire alarm boxes, putting the Hub at the forefront of innovation.

Now, 162 years later, Boston still relies on 3,462 telegraph-based alarms to alert the fire department. In an age of cell phones and satellites, the telegraph lives on in these red relics.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2014/10/07/for-fire-alarms-boston-still-relies-the-telegraph/Cx3THDDDVHWvJQ7pgT2wuJ/story.html

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[TexasProgresive]

1. What you said

These fire box alarms are probably more reliable than "cell phones and satellites."