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Picture Transmission.... the early days.
For many years, to move images around the world, Newspapers depended on Wire photo technology. This meant attaching a photographic print on a revolving drum, and sending converted light to sound pulses, down a phone line to a machine often hundreds of miles away. The receiving machine would have a syncronised drum with light sensitive paper which could be processed to produce a photographic print. 
After 7 minutes or so, about the time it took to send a 10 by 8 image, the paper was processed and the image would then appear as the original photograph but with significant loss of quality(often about 10-15%).
Apart from the loss of quality, he down side to this was that the whole process was prone to transmission lines (cracks and bangs on the phone line ) often meaning that the picture had to be resent several times before the result was acceptable.
The equipment at both ends was very expensive, it could only be used from permanent preinstalled buildings and used 2 toll lines for the duration of each picture.
In the last few years, Newspapers around the world have caught up with the computer industry and started using modems and scanners to transmit these images. Nowadays with broadband Internet, sending an image is a mere click of the mouse button and it has been sent! Photographers on remote news jobs can now use a laptop with a digital camera and with a card modem, transmit from virtually anywhere.
Photographers like ourselves who, for a long time have had the know how and equipment to use this technology can now distribute pictures on behalf of our clients.
Over the last year or so, many Public Relations jobs at some stage have required quick transmission of pictures to out of town Newspapers for publication via email.
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