The traditional ways of doing certain things are getting an edge even in this age of the modern era of technology, where things can be done with the twinkling of an eye.
A horse delivered a package of pictures quicker than broadband internet by over three hours.
Photographer Klaus-Peter Kappest had long been unhappy with the sluggish pace of uploads at his home in the Sauerland, a hilly rural area in western Germany.
It would often take several hours to send a collection of images to his customers given his 1.5Mbps broadband speed – around a tenth of that in most homes in the UK.
A horse (pictured) delivered a package of pictures quicker than broadband internet by over three hours
Mr Kappest, 52, was complaining to his colleagues at a local magazine when the editor joked that he would be better off delivering his pictures by horse.
He said: ‘That was the most reliable communications technology in the Middle Ages. And my editor said, “Well let’s do it then, let’s see which is truly faster”.’
The photographer enlisted teenager Jakob Schuette, a rider who lives in his village, Oberkirchen.
He put 800 photos on to a DVD, stuffed it into a satchel and dispatched Jakob and his steed Favo to a printer’s office six miles away.
Photographer Klaus-Peter Kappest put 800 photos on to a DVD, stuffed it into a satchel and dispatched Jakob and his steed Favo (pictured) to a printer’s office six miles away. At the same time he uploaded the same data to a popular file-sharing service and set a timer
At the same time he uploaded the same data to a popular file-sharing service and set a timer.
The file transfer took five hours, while Favo took an hour and 44 minutes.
Favo may face a closer race in future – the local internet provider has promised to install fibre-optic broadband in the village after being embarrassed by the story.
