The History of Phones
History of Phones
Phones have become extremely integrated into our society. At this point it is an expectation that every person over 16 has an I-Phone. Heck, even in Clarke you need your phone to RSVP and get into events. It makes you wonder; how did we even get here?
How did it start?
The telephone was first invented in 1849 by Antonio Meucci. However, he never successfully patented the invention. Later in 1854 Charles Boursel also made a primitive telephone. Eventually Alexander Graham Bell secured the patent for the telephone in 1876. He also later won the US patent for the telephone and is also now widely considered to be the father of the telephone.
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Alexander Graham Bell's telephone was comprised of a transmitter and receiver. The transmitter was a cylinder with a needle that was connected to the receiver by wire. What I found shocking was that while Graham Bell holds the first US patent for the phone invention, he was not the first person to invent the phone. Today I’m going to talk about the lesser-known phone creators and look at how far we’ve come.
Who is Antonio Meucci?
Antonio Meucci is an Italian inventor who was born in 1808 into family of nine. Throughout his early life he was both a police officer and a clerk. Eventually in 1821 he was admitted to Florence Academy of Fine Arts. At Florence Academy he studied mechanical and chemical engineering. After he graduated, he began work under Artemio Convetti as a stagehand at the Teatro Della Pergola. In 1834 he created what many consider to be the actual first telephone. It was an acoustic device that was used to communicate between the stage and the control room. Later that year he married costume designer Esterre Mochi and soon moved to Cuba. While in Cuba he worked on the Havana which was one of the greatest theatres of the time. He had a few more gigs in Cuba before eventually moving to the United States in 1850. He would spend the rest of his life in Staten, New York. During this time Antonio’s wife became very ill. At this time, he would improve his version of his phone so he could talk to his bedridden wife from different places in the house. Sadly, he never developed the idea due to going bankrupt around this time.
Who is Charles Bourseul?
Charles Boursel was born in 1829 in Brussels, Belgium. His early life was spent in Douai, France. He became a civil engineer and mechanic for the local telegraph company. He was able to make several improvements of L. F. Breguet’s and Samuel F. B. Morse’s telegraph designs. Although he decided to take a crack at a machine of his own since the telegraphs had limitations. In 1854 Charles Boursel made his version of the telephone, 15 years before Graham Bell, but never attempted to patent his design.
What’s Changed
Obviously, a lot has changed since Antonio Meucci’s and Alexander Graham Bell’s Time. Back then phones were a novelty that a select few had access to in order to communicate around their house. Almost a hundred years after Graham Bell first made his wireless phone, Martin Cooper Made the first cell phone. Martin Cooper’s phone looked nothing like the phones we have today. His designs are closer to a brick then to a modern phone. Although through the years the cell phone has slowly gotten thinner and smaller, as it’s capabilities get bigger and bigger.
Now here we are today, where a tiny piece of metal in our pocket can let us communicate across the world and has more capabilities than a governmental super-computer did 50 years ago during the Apollo mission. The significance of phones in our society has only grown with their capabilities. Nowadays, they pervade every aspect of our lives. They oversee our fun such as gaming, social media, and talking to friends. They are a part of our work, setting up levels of communication through businesses. Even now you can unlock your car or house from miles away with nothing but your phone. It has gone from a novelty to a necessity in everyday life. I think that this is an amazing journey that is ridiculous when you realize how much it has come.
As someone who loves history, this was a great read! We are often taught in schools about Alexander Graham Bell, but not really about the people before him who designed telephones. You chose an interesting topic, and the addition of pictures with each section of information caught my eye. I think there is a good balance between visuals and type. As for phones today, do you think that we have become too reliant on phones for everyday tasks, or do you think that it is justified? I can agree that it truly is amazing how far we've come with technology.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your topic this week, and I found how you described the individual's really interesting. Just like Jenna stated I also commonly learned and heard about Alexander Graham Bell in history class, but not the other individual's. I took a lot of interest when it came to learning about Antonio Meucci, and how he created the phone. As the original inventor, the first thing that comes to my head isn't patents but how the individual created such an item. To think that patents are such a driving point in business items today, has always shocked me. Yet, I think you presented information on two individuals, who man people might not know! Make sure to keep up the good work, and my one critique is to double check font of the text!