Network management Toolkit

Story: Life before email: A look back at the 'vacuum post'

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Mail is still blowing in the wind....

My brother's first job was as a human back-up for an internal pneumatic mail system, and banks and hospitals still use "Lamson tubes".

There's an article here about the technology
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2004/0524widernettubes.html
and a company here that makes the kit
http://www.ptubes.com/tubeupgr.htm

The comparison with data networking isn't bonkers either. The cylinders would have machine-readable routing information on them, so mechanical devices could redirect them to the right destination.

Now if you want to talk crazy technology, how about vacuum driven Atmospheric Railways?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_railway

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