FROM TALKING TELEGRAPHS TO SIRI: THE EVOLUTION OF THE TELEPHONE
THROUGH TIME Presentation by: Mrs. Daniels, 6 th Grade Pre-AP LA
Teacher
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INVENTOR (credited) Alexander Graham Bell (1847- 1922)
Scottish-born Educated at University of London Taught speech and
vocal physiology at Boston University (primarily concerned with the
deaf) Developed idea for telephone in 1874: If I could make a
current of electricity vary in intensity precisely as the air
varies in density during the production of sound, I should be able
to transmit speech telegraphically. Patent approved March 7, 1876
Mr. Watson, come here; I want you (Gordon) Research Foundations and
Institutions across the nation Alexander Graham Bell Association
for the Deaf (1890) Alexander Graham Bell, 1902 (Everyday
Mysteries)
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INVENTION CONTROVERSY Elisha Gray, 1878 (Everyday Mysteries)
Antonio Meucci (Everyday Mysteries) Italian immigrant to the United
States Began development 1849 Filed caveat 1871 Financial hardships
Overlooked until 2002 Resolution passed by US House of
Representatives (Everyday Mysteries) Professor at Oberlin College
Applied for caveat (announcement of invention) the same day as Bell
applied for patent February 14, 1876 Bell was 5 th entry Gray was
39 th (Everyday Mysteries) Apparatus descriptions: the real
controversy (Swezey)
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GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 1890s 1930s: The Candlestick Phone 1876:
Alexander Graham Bell and the Original Telephone 1963 1980s: The
Push- Button Phone 1980s: The Portable Phone 1960s: The Answering
Machine 1930s 1960s: The Rotary Phone Pictures and information
courtesy of The Boy Genius Report (Zigterman).
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THE INTRODUCTION OF MOBILE PHONES (CELLULAR PHONES) 1991:
Caller ID introduced (very controversial) 1984: Motorola DynaTAC
8000X released as first commercially available cell phone Early
2000s: PDAs transition into smartphones 2007 present: iPhone and
Android phones take over 2003: Sanyo SCP-5300 (one of first camera
phones) 1996: Motorola StarTAC (first flip phone) Pictures and
information courtesy of The Boy Genius Report (Zigterman) and the
Telecommunications History Group.
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SOCIETAL IMPACTS : as : The telephone changed the way we live,
work and play--and contributed to the invention of television,
computers, pagers, fax machines, e-mail, the Internet, online stock
trading and more. (Telecommunications History Group, Inc.)
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WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? In the future, I foresee the
elimination of actual cell phones in favor of devices similar the
Apple watch. I also believe that when we answer calls on these
devices, the caller will be projected up as a hologram so that we
can actually talk face to face, so to speak. Think Star Wars!
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FUN FACTS! Though he is credited with its invention, Alexander
Graham Bell refused to have a telephone in his study, fearing it
would distract him from his scientific work (Gordon). And other fun
facts
