Ahead of his time

Steve is discussing with his speechwriter how to approach the announcement of a new phone.

...

Steve: How about I begin by comparing telegramese with SMS abbreviations?

Speechwriter: Been done already.

Steve: Uh huh. OK. Um. How about taking snapshots with a Box Brownie compared with snapping friends on your phone and 3Ging them?

Speechwriter: Been done.

Steve: Damn. OK. Instant messaging now superseded by Twitter?

Speechwriter: Been done.

Steve: Just who was it who said all this before me?

Speechwriter: Samuel Butler.

Steve: I wanna meet this guy.

Speechwriter: Bit late. He died 1902.

Steve: Wow. Ahead of his time. Saw it all coming.

...

Victorian Internet encryption

Gerald may look young, but he already has two years of experience delivering (and decoding) messages.

...

Gerald: Here’s your telegram sir.

Country sheriff: You ain’t seen inside this envelope, have you now, sonny boy?

Gerald: No sir. Even if I could, sir, it’s all in code.

County sheriff: Now if you didn’t look inside the envelope, how’d you know it was encoded?

Gerald: Miss Harriet at the office, sir, she gets me to look up in the code book numbers she doesn’t know already like.

County sheriff: Jeeze, ain't no secrets round here.

...