The Telephone: Then and Now
Jennifer Evans
The Telephone: Then and Now
HUMN 303: Introduction to the Humanities
Instructor E. Elliott
February 11, 2011
The Telephone: Then and Now The telephone was one of the greatest American inventions. Developed in the 1800’s by Alexander Graham Bell, it quickly became one of the most used inventions in the world. The telephone had many impacts on society and the way we communicated and still plays a huge role in the world we live today. The telephone has developed from something that was not a necessity to something people must have. The telephone opened the door for communications across the world and played a part in the development of personal and business cultures by allowing people from different countries the ability to communicate with ease. Carl F.Gauss and Ernst H. Weber built the electromagnetic telegraph in 1814 and was the first step to making electrical signals travel from one device to another which influenced the invention of the telephone (Mann, 2010). Alexander Graham Bell first introduced the telephone to the public on May 10, 1876 (Shulman, 2008). Some developments had already taken place on the invention of a wait to obtain voice transmission, but a device that actually could do it had not yet been developed (Mann, 2010). The problem was developing the transmitter which is the device in the phone that actually allows each person to hear each end of the conversation (Shulman, 2008). Bell had to defend himself in several court cases because of a German inventor by the name of Phillip Reiss already developed a device like the telephone in 1816 (Shulman, 2008). Bell eventually won his patent and invented the first telephone company (Shulman, 2008). Globally, the invention of the telephone was not accepted. People in other countries viewed it as evil, or a way someone could spy on them (Mann, 2010). The telephone was mostly utilized in foreign countries for government, military, and business use only and the general public did
The Telephone: Then and Now
HUMN 303: Introduction to the Humanities
Instructor E. Elliott
February 11, 2011
The Telephone: Then and Now The telephone was one of the greatest American inventions. Developed in the 1800’s by Alexander Graham Bell, it quickly became one of the most used inventions in the world. The telephone had many impacts on society and the way we communicated and still plays a huge role in the world we live today. The telephone has developed from something that was not a necessity to something people must have. The telephone opened the door for communications across the world and played a part in the development of personal and business cultures by allowing people from different countries the ability to communicate with ease. Carl F.Gauss and Ernst H. Weber built the electromagnetic telegraph in 1814 and was the first step to making electrical signals travel from one device to another which influenced the invention of the telephone (Mann, 2010). Alexander Graham Bell first introduced the telephone to the public on May 10, 1876 (Shulman, 2008). Some developments had already taken place on the invention of a wait to obtain voice transmission, but a device that actually could do it had not yet been developed (Mann, 2010). The problem was developing the transmitter which is the device in the phone that actually allows each person to hear each end of the conversation (Shulman, 2008). Bell had to defend himself in several court cases because of a German inventor by the name of Phillip Reiss already developed a device like the telephone in 1816 (Shulman, 2008). Bell eventually won his patent and invented the first telephone company (Shulman, 2008). Globally, the invention of the telephone was not accepted. People in other countries viewed it as evil, or a way someone could spy on them (Mann, 2010). The telephone was mostly utilized in foreign countries for government, military, and business use only and the general public did
References: Farley, T. (2005, April). Mobile telephone history. Telektronikk,(3). Retrieved from http://www.cems.uwe.ac.uk Mann, M. (2010). The deep digital divide: The telephone in British India 1883-1933. Historical Social Research, 35(1), 188-208. Shulman, S. (2008). A game of telephone. Technology Review, 111(6), M18 Telephone calls for all. (2007). New Scientist, (193)(2589), 14. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. an: 23996043.