Title: History of the Telephone | From The 1880s To Current Time
Headings: History of the Telephone
History of the Telephone
Early Telephones
Mechanical Acoustic Devices
1700s: Scientist Theorizes You Can Transmit Messages Through Electricity
Before We Had Electrical Telephones, We First Needed Electrical Telegraphs
Limitations of the Telegraph: Why Did We Need a Telephone?
Who Invented the Telephone?
Bell Invents the Telephone
The First Telephone Line is Constructed in 1877
The First Telephone Switchboards
Bell Telephone Company
History of Pay Phones
Types of Telephones
Exchanges, Tap Dialing, and Rotary Dialing
Candlestick Phones
Touch Tone Phones
Cordless Phones
The First Cell Phones
The First Telephone Book

Content: Limitations of the Telegraph: Why Did We Need a Telephone? One of the more puzzling parts parts about the invention of the telephone (at least to our modern way of thinking) is that when Bell first showed off his telephone, many people argued that we didn’t actually need such a device. Why would you want to hear someone’s voice when you could just send them a telegram instead? The truth is, the telegraph was an extremely limited system. The telegraph was only popular because it was the only way to transmit messages over long distances at this point in time. The two biggest problems with the telegraph were its dot and dash Morse code system, which limited the device to only receiving and sending one message at a time, as well as its reliance on physical lines. A break anywhere in the line – including in undersea intercontinental cables – would disable the system. Telegraphs were also limited by their reliance on repeaters, which needed to be placed along the telegraph line to ensure the signal could reach long distances. Repeaters weren’t just automatic relay stations: