the.com/smoke signal
the original wireless network, broadcasting at the speed of a stiff breeze
means A method of communication using puffs of smoke, sent up in deliberate patterns to convey a message across long distances.
from A plain English compound of "smoke" (Old English smoca, the visible drift of burning things) and "signal" (from Latin signum, a sign or mark, via Old French). The technique itself is ancient and worldwide — used by peoples across the Americas, China, and elsewhere — but the English phrase "smoke signal" is a relatively modern descriptive label rather than a poetic invention, simply naming what it does: signaling with smoke.
- ancient range
- Great Wall guards relayed warnings hundreds of miles in hours
- papal version
- white smoke still announces a new pope today
- weather dependent
- rain and wind could mute your entire message
- limited vocabulary
- meaning came from blanket-controlled puffs, not random clouds
- open broadcast
- enemies could read your signals just as easily