Telephone

The telephone is one of the first major devices for transnational and global communication. It is also considered the first mass-produced synchronous communication device (allowing messages to be exchanged at the same time), unlike its predecessor, the telegraph, which required messages to be sent and received asynchronously (with a time delay). Also known simply as the “phone,” it is primarily composed of three pieces: a microphone for capturing and sending sound, an earpiece for receiving and listening to sound, and an alpha-numerical entry device (traditionally used for dialing or entering phone numbers).

In keeping with other communication devices such as radio, television, and the computer, credit for invention of the telephone is unclear. Although Alexander Graham Bell was the first of the telephone inventors to be awarded a patent for his creation by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, several other inventors are cited for playing important roles in the invention. Others with links to the phone invention include Thomas Edison (who invented the carbon telephone transmitter, which led to mass adoption of the telephone), Innocenzo Manzetti (who posited the idea of a “speaking telegraph”), Antonio Meucci (who created a voice communication device linking the basement and the first floor of his home), Johann Philipp Reis (who was credited with sending sound over distance), and Elisha Gray (who developed a prototype of the telephone and is considered by many to be the inventor of the variable resistance telephone). Bell's patent, however, served as the global blueprint for the telephone we use today. Furthermore, all subsequent telephone-related patents, devices, and features flowed from Bell's original patent and, therefore, his work.

On March 10, 1876, Bell sent the first successful telephone “voice” transmission of clear speech using a liquid transmitter. Bell, working with his assistant Thomas Watson, spoke into the receiver and said, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” Watson noted to Bell that he heard each word clearly.