History PPT

Yingxue Song

Prof. Lloyd Ackert

HIST 285

26 Apr 2015

The Birth of Telecommunication

Introduction

In 1876, alexander graham bell invented the telephone and filed for patents. However, he was not the only inventor of a device that could transmit speech electronically. There was also another inventor known as Elisha Gray, but because Bell made the first move to patent his invention he is believed to be the sole inventor of the phone and this consequently led to big battle of invention. Alexander was a teacher of the deaf, and his motivation for the invention was to create a device that would transmit messages over the wire intended to help the deaf learn now to speak .

In the development, Bell began with a phonautograph machine from which he studied the sound waves it draws and could trace the vibrations. He was able to produce electrical waves that corresponded with the sound waves he needed and from there he develop a model that practically demonstrated his ideas .

With the help electrical engineer Thomas Watford, he was able to the physical model of his ideas. He subsequently incorporated additional ideas in his invention and after being granted the patents followed the global awareness and acceptance of the telephone.

Bell offered his patents to the western union for $ 100000 but had difficulty in convincing the management that the telephone invention was a viable idea. The major setbacks were that the voice signals being sent were very weak, and they grew weaker the distance between the receiver and transmitter is long .

They did not see the reason as to why anybody would want to use such a device when one can send clearly written messages to any part of the United States. They also did not see the device as ever capable of any improvements on the weak signal to produce a recognizable speech over long distances. Having made substantial improvements to the telegraph, Bells device was of no use to them. It, however, did not take long before they realized that technology was evolving, there was need to embrace change in order to continue being relevant in business and by 1882, Bell was offered controlling interests in western union. It was in 1876 that Bell conducted a successful two-way talk over the telephone between Cambridge port and Boston two miles apart . The first switchboard was developed. Bell and Watson later formed bell Telephone Company, where the bell was the electrician and Watson, was the superintendent.

By 1880, the bell company had assembled over 30000 phones that were already in use. One year later bell company purchased western electric, and that is how bell gained the controlling interests of Bell Company. In 1884, the bell company expanded its operations to long distances when it opened services between New York and Boston that is 235 miles apart.

One year later, Bell Telephone Company started a subsidiary company called American telephone and Telegraph Company. By 1890, Bell Company had already registered 211503 telephone station. In 1892, long distance telephone services received another boost with the development of an overhead line from New York to Chicago. In the 1890s, the basic patents expired, and intense competition begins. What followed was the development of the early forms of broadcasting in Budapest. An approximated six thousand telephone subscribers who were served by more than 220 miles of telephone wire could at specific scheduled times listen to music, poetry readings and stock market prices . In 1896, selector trunking was invented, and there was the use of dial telephones in large exchanges. Three years later the name of bell Telephone Company was changed to American telephone and telegraph (AT&T), and it highly dominated the telecommunications in the 19th century. The number of telephones in the American telephone and telegraph system had hit 600000 and rose to about 2.2 million in 1905 and up again to5.8 million by 1910. A transcontinental telephone line was put up and in 1915 it began operation . It was noted that AT&T was operating almost like a monopoly and the government began to investigate it for an antitrust violation. The company’s president at the time Theodore Vail argued that a monopoly was the most efficient for the nation’s underdeveloped communication network.

The result of the investigation was the kings bury commitment. This agreement required that AT&T separates from western union and to provide long distance services to independent telephone exchanges. The government nationalized all the telephone and telegraph line in the united states during the First World War. This was after a consensus by the congress when President Wilson gave a directive that they are under the care of United States post office. Later they were returned to private ownership, and AT & T resumed to business still as a monopoly . In 1934, the government intervened again and this time it allowed AT&T to operate a regulated monopoly. The public utility commissions at municipal and state levels were charged with the responsibility of regulating AT&T and other upcoming telephone companies. They set the rate to be charged by the phone companies and made decisions on the services and equipment these companies should offer.

Bibliography

Cefrey H. The Inventions of Alexander Graham Bell: The Telephone (New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003), 5-18

David Massey.Timeline of communication-telephone tribute (2003). accessed April 25, 2015 http://www.telephonetribute.com/index.html

Elon university school of communications imagining the internet: a history and forecast. accessed April 25, 2015 http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/150/1870.xhtml

Graham Bell, A. "Researches in telephony." In Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. 12, pp. 1-10. American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 1876.

� Graham Bell, A. "Researches in telephony." In Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. 12, pp. 1-10. American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 1876.

� Jeffrey H. The Inventions of Alexander Graham Bell: The Telephone (New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003), 5-18

� Cefrey H. The Inventions of Alexander Graham Bell: The Telephone (New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003), 5-18

� Elon university school of communications imagining the internet: a history and forecast. accessed April 25, 2015, http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/150/1870.xhtml

� David Massey.Timeline of communication-telephone tribute (2003). Retrieved from http://www.telephonetribute.com/index.html

� Elon university school of communications imagining the internet: a history and forecast. accessed April 25, 2015 http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/150/1870.xhtml

� David Massey.Timeline of communication-telephone tribute (2003). accessed April 25, 2015 http://www.telephonetribute.com/index.html