If Alexander Graham Bell Could See How Far We Have Come Today
Greg Wilson
October 26, 2008
The telephone has come a long way since Alexander Graham Bell was declared its inventor in the mid 1870´s. What was once a bulky device, that simply converted a person´s voice to electrical impulses of diverse frequencies and then converted it back to a tone that sounded like the original voice, has now become so much more.
When he first invented the basic telephone device, it is doubtful Bell could have ever imagined the technology he had a hand in creating would ever evolve into a tiny device that was not only mobile, but could actually do more than allow the person to engage in telecommunications. Aside from making or receiving calls, a phone user can now see who is calling prior to answering the phone, receive more than one call at a time, take part in a three way conversation, have unique ringtones, type and send messages, and much more.
When you think about it, the telephone is truly a remarkable invention, and it is amazing how far it has come in just over a hundred years. We´ve gone from being able to call people locally, to nationally and internationally. Today you can call someone halfway across the world with a landline or cell phone by simply dialing the necessary digits. Wires are no long needed, landline subscribers are becoming fewer and fewer, and there are currently hundreds of millions of mobile telephone consumers around the world.
Furthermore, aside from the outstanding breakthroughs in telephone technology, there are other things that have vastly improved. For instance, not only can you communicate with everyone you know and make business transactions on the phone; you can also find people by searching their telephone number information. Today, you have the ability to lookup a person´s ten-digit phone number and find out what their name is and where they live. This is made possible with a service known as a reverse phone lookup in combination with an amazing invention of the 20th century, the Internet.
Just imagine what Bell would think if he managed to take a time machine into the future and could see how the telephone has developed. He wouldn´t only be calling his assistant Thomas Watson from the other room. If he lived in the U.S he could call his relatives in Scotland, and even find out who owns a telephone number number with a reverse phone search, if he didn´t recognize the ten digits that were displayed by caller ID.
Thus, when we take history into account, we can really appreciate just how awesome the telephone truly is.
When he first invented the basic telephone device, it is doubtful Bell could have ever imagined the technology he had a hand in creating would ever evolve into a tiny device that was not only mobile, but could actually do more than allow the person to engage in telecommunications. Aside from making or receiving calls, a phone user can now see who is calling prior to answering the phone, receive more than one call at a time, take part in a three way conversation, have unique ringtones, type and send messages, and much more.
When you think about it, the telephone is truly a remarkable invention, and it is amazing how far it has come in just over a hundred years. We´ve gone from being able to call people locally, to nationally and internationally. Today you can call someone halfway across the world with a landline or cell phone by simply dialing the necessary digits. Wires are no long needed, landline subscribers are becoming fewer and fewer, and there are currently hundreds of millions of mobile telephone consumers around the world.
Furthermore, aside from the outstanding breakthroughs in telephone technology, there are other things that have vastly improved. For instance, not only can you communicate with everyone you know and make business transactions on the phone; you can also find people by searching their telephone number information. Today, you have the ability to lookup a person´s ten-digit phone number and find out what their name is and where they live. This is made possible with a service known as a reverse phone lookup in combination with an amazing invention of the 20th century, the Internet.
Just imagine what Bell would think if he managed to take a time machine into the future and could see how the telephone has developed. He wouldn´t only be calling his assistant Thomas Watson from the other room. If he lived in the U.S he could call his relatives in Scotland, and even find out who owns a telephone number number with a reverse phone search, if he didn´t recognize the ten digits that were displayed by caller ID.
Thus, when we take history into account, we can really appreciate just how awesome the telephone truly is.
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