City of Light: The Story of Fiber Optics

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places as exotic as Egypt and Japan; the problems are time zones and languages.
Runge didn’t take transatlantic calls to his sister in their native Germany
lightly when he came to America in the 1960s. Now, he says, ‘‘We don’t
think twice any more to pick up the phone even for little things, just to say
hello.’’ His sister talks fast; spoiled by the quick response of fibers; she hangs
up when she gets a satellite circuit, knowing that dialing again will likely
bring words as sharp and clear as glass. The impact has gone beyond their
personal lives. ‘‘I don’t know whether TAT-8 helped bring down the Berlin
Wall or not,’’ mused Runge as we sat in his Bell Labs office, ‘‘but communication
in general has had a major impact on politics of the world.’’ 62