I don&#x27;t think it&#x27;s far fetched for someone in the late 19th century to imagine an automated, in-home telegraph system that printed out content for someone to read. Someone might have even had their university assignments sent over telegraph in an emergency. I believe Western Union used to deliver telegrams (via telegraph) on demand for customers.<p>Stock updates were also sent automatically over telegraph starting in the 1870s for anyone that owned a ticker tape machine[1]. There were also teleprinters that sent news stories and other information to those that owned them.<p>Fax machines were also invented in the mid 19th Century and allowed for the transmission of signatures and drawings over telegraph[2].<p>The basics for an asynchronous, global communication system have been around since the 1800s, just not as cheap and user friendly as what we enjoy today.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Ticker_tape" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Ticker_tape</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pantelegraph" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Pantelegraph</a>