Friday, February 7, 2014

The Invention of the Telephone

What is something we use everyday? What is the one thing we cannot live without? If your answers were your phone, you're not alone. Everyday we make calls, text our friends, check our social media, and all this is done from your phone. Many people probably don’t even know how this “Phone craze” all started. Some say it was when the IPhone was invented. Some say it was when the cell phone was invented, but if you go way back to the 1870s, you'll find that this phone craze was started by a genius inventor named Alexander Graham Bell.

Bell wasn’t the only one to come up with the brilliant idea of being able to call someone who was no where near you. In fact a man named Elisha Gray also had this brilliant idea. Both men independently created the very first phone, but Bell got his patented first.


The first telephone was very different than the amazing technology we have today. Alexander Bell first referred to it as the “Electrical speech machine”. The only thing it could do was make calls. No texting, no apps, no screen! This phone was a stationary phone, so it could not go wherever you go. You most likely have at least one of these in your house, but this one was very different.
Overall, the telephone was a fantastic invention that certainly influenced current technology and our day to day lives!
Bellis, Mary. "The History of the Telephone." About.com Inventors. About.com, 20 Dec. 2013. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
"Invention of the Telephone." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 03 June 2014. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
 

11 comments:

  1. Hi Marisa,
    I think is is so interesting that the iPhone we today all started with that phone up there. What happened to Elisha Gray? Did he get mad? Very interesting post. I like how you started it with the questions.
    Great post,
    Emma

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    1. Emma- I would imagine that Elisha Grey was very upset but I really don't know.

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  2. Hey Marisa,
    I like the part about how Elisha Gray also had the idea. The Electrical speech machine is awesome. Great facts, how did the cell phone become? Nice post, I like the picture.
    -Wyatt

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    1. Wyatt- Thanks! My post isn't really about the cell phone but that would be a cool topic for you to research!

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  4. Hi Marissa
    Great Post,
    I liked how you wrote about the telephone, it was really interesting to read about! How did the name "Electrical Speech Machine" get changed into Telephone?
    Best Wishes
    Alex

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    1. Alex, Tele means "far" and phone means "voice" in Greek and I think Alexander Bell changed it after awhile.

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  5. Hi Marisa,
    I really like how you have some history on the cell phone. I liked that you based it off of something that we use in our everyday lives. It was interesting that people use cell phones like we have them on hand at all times and we always have, when really you had to walk somewhere to call someone and you didn't usually get to call someone, only if you were an adult and it was really important. How did someone invent apps on touch screen phones? How do touch screen phones work?
    Thanks!
    ~Bailey

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    1. Bailey, the IPhone came out much later but they use programming to make apps. I don't know how touch screen works but they came out after the revolutions time period.

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  6. Hi Marisa,
    I really liked your post and I learned a lot. It was very interesting too.
    Very cool topic! It's very interesting how the phone evolved from that to the iPhone.

    Very good post,
    Grace

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  7. To Marisa,
    I find it quite sad how these "hidden figures" barely get credit! Why couldn't it of been Elisha Grey and Bell be patented at the same time, as a collaboration! I am shocked at how this telephone has evolved to an iPhone! Wow!
    Why didn't Elisha Grey and Bell get patented at the same time?
    Thanks for this amazing post!

    Best

    -Lion

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