Introduction: A storm from paradise - technological innovation, diffusion and suppression -- Pt. I. Propagating sound at considerable distances. 1. The telegraph. 2. Before the speaking telephone. 3. The capture of sound -- Pt. II. The vital spark and fugitive pictures. 4. Wireless and radio. 5. Mechanically scanned television. 6. Electronically scanned television. 7. Television spin-offs and redundancies -- Pt. III. Inventions for casting up sums very pretty. 8. Mechanising calculation. 9. The first computers. 10. Suppressing the main frames. 11. The integrated circuit. 12. The coming of the microcomputer -- Pt. IV. The intricate web of trails, this grand system. 13. The beginnings of networks. 14. Networks and recording technologies. 15. Communications satellites. 16. The satellite era. 17. Cable television. 18. The Internet -- Conclusion: The pile of debris - from the Boulevard des Capucins to the Leningradsky Prospect.