A person constantly needs communication. For information exchange and just for fun. And it’s not enough for him to communicate with the people who are nearby. There will always be something to say even to those who are on the next street, in another city or overseas. It has always been this way. But it was only at the end of the nineteenth century that we had such an opportunity. In this article we will trace the history of the appearance of the telephone, find out who invented the telephone and what difficulties scientists faced.
For many years there were the most different ways transfer of information. Our ancestors sent letters with messengers and carrier pigeons, burned bonfires, and used the services of heralds.
In the 16th century, the Italian Giovanni della Porta invented a system of speaking pipes, which were supposed to “permeate” the whole of Italy. This fantastic idea was not brought to life.
In 1837, American inventor Samuel Morse created the electric telegraph and developed telegraph alphabet, which was called “ Morse code».
In the 1850s, an unexpected discovery was made by Italian Antonio Meucci, living in New York. Convinced of the positive effects of electricity on human health, he assembled a generator and opened a private medical practice. One day, after connecting the wires to the patient’s lips, Meucci went into the back room to turn on the generator. Once the device is working, the doctor heard the patient scream. It was so loud and clear, as if the poor fellow was nearby.
Meucci began experimenting with the generator, and by the beginning of the 70s, the drawings of the device were already ready. telephony" In 1871, the inventor tried to register his brainchild, but something prevented him. Either the Italian did not have enough money for the registration procedure at the patent office, or the papers were lost during shipment, or perhaps they were stolen.
Who first invented the telephone and in what year
In 1861, German scientist Philip Rice came up with a device that could transmit all kinds of sounds via cable. This was the first telephone. (It’s worth familiarizing yourself with that and its history of creation) Rice failed to register a patent for his invention, so he did not become as widely known as the American Alexander Bell.
On 02/14/1876 Bell took the application to the Patent Office in Washington to patent " A telegraph device that can transmit human speech" Two hours later, Elisha Gray, an electrical engineering major, showed up. Gray's invention was called "A Device for Transmitting and Receiving Vocal Sounds by Telegraph." He was denied a patent.
This device consisted of a wooden stand, an ear tube, a battery (a vessel with acid) and wires. The inventor himself called it a gallows.
The first words spoken on the phone were: “Watson, this is Bell speaking!” If you can hear me, go to the window and wave your hat.”
In 1878, a series of trials against Alexander Bell began in America. About thirty people tried to take away his inventor's laurels. Six claims were dismissed outright. The claims of the remaining inventors were divided into 11 points and considered separately. On eight of these points, Bell's superiority was recognized; on the other three, the inventors Edison and McDonough won the case. Gray did not win a single case. Although a study of Bell's diaries and documents filed by Gray with the Patent Office many years later showed that the author of the invention is Gray.
Development and improvement of the phone
Thomas Edison took charge of the further fate of Bell's invention. In 1878, he made some changes to the structure of the telephone: he introduced a carbon microphone and an induction coil into the circuit. Thanks to this modernization, the distance between interlocutors could be significantly increased.
That same year, the first telephone exchange in history began operating in the small American town of New Chaven.
And in 1887 in Russia, the inventor K. A. Mossitsky created a self-acting switch - the prototype of automatic telephone exchanges.
Who invented the mobile (cellular) telephone
It is generally accepted that the birthplace of the mobile phone is the USA. But first mobile phone The device appeared in the Soviet Union. On November 4, 1957, radio engineer Leonid Kupriyanovich received a patent for “ Radio calling and switching device telephone communication " His radiotelephone could transmit sound signals on base station at a distance of up to 25 kilometers. The device was a box with a dial dial, two toggle switches and a handset. It weighed half a kilo and worked for up to 30 hours in standby mode.
The idea of creating cellular telephone communications appeared back in 1946 at the American company AT&T Bell Labs. The company was engaged in the rental of car radios.
In parallel with AT&T, Bell Labs conducted research and Motorola company. For about ten years, each of these companies sought to get ahead of the competition. Motorola won.
In April 1973, one of the employees of this company, engineer Martin Cooper, “shared his joy” with colleagues from a competing company. He called the AT&T Bell Labs office, invited the head of the research department, Joel Engel, and said that in this moment is on one of the streets of New York and talking on the world's first mobile phone. Cooper then went to a press conference dedicated to the miracle of technology that he held in his hands.
Motorola's "firstborn" was named Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. It weighed about a kilogram and reached 25 cm in height.. The phone could work in talk mode for about 30 minutes, and was charged for about 10 hours. And ten years later, in 1983, it finally went on sale. The new car cost a lot of money - $3500 - a little cheaper than a brand new car. But even despite this, there were plenty of potential buyers.
In 1992, Motorola released a mobile phone that could fit in the palm of your hand.
At the same time Finnish Nokia company introduced the first mass GSM Nokia phone 1011.
In 1993, thanks to BellSouth / IBM, the first communicator appeared - a telephone connected to a PDA.
And 1996 is the year the first flip phone was created. This is the merit of the same Motorola.
At this time, Nokia pleased the world with the first smartphone with Intel processor 386 and full QWERTY keyboard– Nokia 9000.
The average person makes almost one and a half thousand phone calls a year.
Who invented the touch phone
The great-grandfather of the famous iPhone is considered to be IBM Simon, released in 1994. It was the world's first touchphone. “Simon” cost a lot - $1090. But it was no longer just a phone. It combined the qualities of a telephone and a computer, and it could also be used as a pager or fax. It was equipped with a calculator, calendar, notepad, task list, a couple of games and even an email agent.
The device had a monochrome display with a resolution of 160×293 pixels and a diagonal of 4.7 inches. Instead of the usual keys appeared virtual keyboard. The battery lasted for an hour of talk time or 12 hours of standby time.
The too high price did not allow the model to become popular among users, but it was “Simon” went down in history as the first touchphone.
In 2000, the world saw the first telephone, officially called a smartphone— Ericsson R380. The R380's touchscreen was hidden under a hinged cover with regular buttons. The screen was monochrome, with a diagonal of 3.5 inches and a resolution of 120x360.
The smartphone worked on the basis of a new one for mobile devices Symbian OS. The R380 supported WAP, a browser, notepad, email client, and games were installed.
In 2007, IBM released the first phone whose sensor responded to the touch of a finger rather than a stylus. It was LG KE850 Prada. This model is also remembered for its unusual design and wide functionality.
This year Apple company introduced its famous iPhone to the general public.
A mobile phone in the modern world is already a necessity. A person cannot imagine himself without this device and experiences discomfort when he finds himself “separation” from it. Needless to say, this truly unique invention not only simplified life, but also pulled humanity into the technological chain of progress. It's hard to imagine, but many people remember life without phones. It would seem that just yesterday a communication device was more of an invention of the science fiction genre, but today it is an essential item.
Pioneer of the mobile era
Motorola can hardly be called a leader in the mobile phone market. However, it was this company that released the very first mobile phone in the world. It was a Motorola DynaTAC 8000X model.
Motorola DynaTAC 8000X
The release took place in 1983. Its first development was presented 10 years before this historical moment.
In the US, the story of 1973 is told as a legend. It was then that inventor Martin Cooper, walking around Manhattan, defiantly made a call on the mobile phone he had created. Witnesses to this spectacle questioned the adequacy of Cooper's condition, mistaking him for being overly drunk or sick.
What characteristics did the device have:
- The phone's memory stored up to 30 numbers;
- The weight of the first mobile phone was 1 kg;
- a fully charged battery provided 1 hour of operation;
- the cost of such a phone was $3,995 (it’s worth noting that this was the price of a good car in those days).
The modern generation, reading this, will smile sarcastically, but such an achievement was not just a breakthrough, but also the first step towards today's successes in this area.
Top 5 legendary telephone inventions
After the world received a mobile phone, many companies began to work in this direction, trying to invent something similar, or even better, surpass the previous creator. As in any field, the success of an invention is confirmed by its widespread use. In our case, these are people who used phones. Some models were promising and ended up not being liked by the public, others were not so advertised, but became real favorites. Let's consider the most sensational models:
- Nokia Mobira Senator is a car phone. Most mobile devices of those times weighed a lot, so they found their application in cars. This Nokia model weighed about 10 kg. It earned its fame in our country due to the fact that it was Gorbachev who used it.
Nokia Mobira Senator
- Nokia 8110 - or better known as the banana phone from the movie “The Matrix”. It is unknown what made this model so popular, the film or the unusual shape. However, this year it returns to store shelves in a re-released version. Its cost is about $120 in our country, the phone is made in black, as well as the original yellow. There is no doubt that it will find its audience in today's mobile world.
Nokia 8110 reissue
- Motorola StarTAC - the world's first flip phone (1996). About 60 million copies were sold. Such a high demand was associated with an ultra-modern and unique design; in addition, the weight of the device was 90 grams, which was also unusual. The price for this model was about 1 thousand dollars, but this did not stop it from gaining such popularity.
Motorola StarTAC
- Benefon Dragon - was released in 1998. Like no other phone, it is associated with the era of crimson jackets and the so-called “new Russians”. After all, it was precisely this segment of the population that could afford such an expensive pleasure. It was not distinguished by its special design or attractive appearance, but in the absence of a choice, it was considered a luxury item. The weight of the phone was 200 grams, thickness 2.cm, the functionality was quite simple - calls, calculator, alarm clock, calculator.
- Nokia 3310 - 2000 release. The stories about the indestructibility of this phone do not end now. More than 130 million copies have been sold worldwide. Everything ingenious is simple - that’s how you can characterize this phone. Loud speaker, bright screen, easy operation and durability. In addition, everyone has a couple of stories in stock of how the Nokia 3310 helped out in hammering nails and cooking chops, how it survived the flood and was reborn from the ashes.
Smart - era
Having discovered the convenience of using a mobile phone, the world could not stop there. They began to demand more from it: they began to fill it with more and more functions, improve its capabilities, sharpen appearance and find new uses. Finally, the time has come when the phone has become not just convenient, but also “smart”. This is a real helper and savior.
“Smart phone” (smart-phone) - combines the functions of a mobile and personal computer.
The world's first known smartphone is the IBM Simon. Its appearance is far from its modern counterpart, but the functionality and design are undoubtedly the same. The device, weighing 1 kg, included a telephone function, fax sending, email, notepad, calculator, clock and several games. The gadget was controlled using a stylus; the screen was fully touch-sensitive. The cost of such pleasure was 1 thousand dollars. The device should have become a real sensation. However, he was not appreciated and was passed over. This is most likely due to the limitation technological capabilities At that time, no one believed in a smartphone. In addition, the Internet in those memorable times was not entirely in working order, but rather had mythical properties, and the very prospects for the development of mobile communications were not clear to humanity.
The world's first smartphone - IBM Simon
In 1996, an attempt to conquer mobile world repeated by Nokia together with Hewlet-Packard, presenting to the public their development - the HP 700LX PDA. Following it, at the end of the same year, the Nokia 9000 Communicator appeared. A year later, the Taiwanese company known as HTC announced the development of cutting-edge devices that combine the properties of a phone and a PDA. The company's success was not immediate, despite loud statements and colorful promises. Only in 2000 they were able to enter the world market and present a wide selection of their undoubtedly high-quality products.
Modern technologies
When reviewing mobile phones, it is impossible not to dwell on the story about the IPhone. Probably everyone already knows the notorious story of apples and the incredible story of its creator, Steve Jobs. However, the mystery of what lies behind the company’s success has not been solved and cannot be fully solved. Either it was superintuition that made it possible to understand what modern man wants, or it was just a coincidence that happened at the right time. On June 29, 2007 went on sale iPhone smartphones, with own operating system IOS. In just six months, the device gained incredible popularity, while in many ways inferior in characteristics to many phones. Favorite smartphones are still the standard.
Today's competing Android OS first went on sale in 2008 on the T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream). What's next? It would seem that smartphones have reached perfection, surpassing yesterday's computers and phones, becoming an inseparable and accessible companion to humans. Next comes the time of increasing power and marketing tricks. There is no technological sensation expected in the near future, but sales are needed. In order to sell, you need to surprise. This is how phones with a wide diagonal appear, combining a phone and a tablet, curved devices, shockproof and other unusual gadgets.
Modern leaders
Global analytical companies annually work to provide data on the leaders of world markets, including mobile ones. Based on the results of the first quarter of 2018, the leader is Samsung. Behind reporting period they managed to sell 78 million smartphones, which is 22% of the total. Apple is in second place, having sold 52.2 million smartphones - 15%. Huawei is in third place with 11%. In the North American market, Apple has always been the leader for many years, occupying 40% of the market.
The market for smartphones and mobile phones has expanded greatly since the advent of the first telephone. Today, almost anyone can buy a smartphone. The assortment panel is so wide that it allows you to choose a gadget to suit every taste and budget.
Interesting facts about mobile phones
Using a mobile phone every day, a person is not even aware of many unusual things and facts related to this gadget:
- The most popular function of a mobile phone is not calls, or even SMS, but the clock. It is to check the time that a person most often uses the phone;
- the contamination of the mobile phone exceeds the contamination of the handle of the flush tank;
- text of the world's first SMS message: “Merry Christmas”;
- A Florida resident became famous for having the highest mobile phone bill – $201,000. Not knowing about the roaming tariff, she used mobile communications while in Canada;
- a driver talking on the phone while driving reacts one third slower than a driver under the influence of alcohol;
- In England, an invention was presented - a toilet capable of recharging a mobile battery.
Man has reached the highest heights in the field of technology. The mobile communications niche is now one of the most popular. People have long been trying to find something similar for themselves: notepads, alarm clocks, players, watches, calculators, etc. The mobile phone combines everything. This pocket assistant stores an incredible amount of information about its owner. In addition, the model of the gadget characterizes the owner as much as possible. Elegance and glamor are preferred by the female part of the population, business people prefer brevity and functionality, and older people prefer ease of use. Whatever the choice, a telephone in our time is a necessity that makes a person mobile, prompt and open.
Nowadays, people cannot imagine their life without smartphones, but modern users have no idea who invented the telephone. And although this information is unlikely to bring material benefit to anyone, it will be useful for general development.
Creators of the technology
The idea to implement this device belongs to two people at once: Alexander Graham Bell and Antonio Meucci. These people applied for a patent 5 years apart, but officially the first of them is considered the “father” of the invention, despite the fact that it was he who applied to the bureau later. During their research, scientists started from the development of Pavel Schilling in 1832 - an electromagnetic telegraph. Later, other scientists supported this idea.
The first telephone called “telephone” was invented by Meucci, an Italian who lived in England in 1871. The invention was capable of transmitting sound through wires over long distances. However, Antonio was unlucky as his patent application was pending for 5 years until Alexander Bell created the “ talking telegraph" After lengthy litigation, Meucci's authorship was recognized, but by that time his certificate had already expired. The Italian was left with nothing.
Thus, now when asked who invented the first telephone, many answer that it was Alexander Bell. He also managed to transmit human speech in space using electricity. This device was presented to the general public at the 1876 exhibition in England and was remembered for its minimal sound delay.
There is also another opinion that it was this person who came up with the idea of creating a telephone. He developed a similar device back in 1861, however, documentary evidence of this fact was “lost” on the initiative of F. Gill.
According to papers released in London, this British businessman actually deliberately hid Rice's invention. This step was intended to conceal the betrayal of Gill, the head of the organization testing Philip’s device. His company tried with all its might to conclude a contract with American Telephone and Telegraph (a subsidiary of A. Bell), and quite successfully.
Thus, Gill believed that American Telephone and Telegraph would terminate the contract if information about its interaction with Rice's invention surfaced. Since then, various documents have periodically surfaced in the public domain, confirming and refuting the authorship of Philip Rice.
However, as it became known later, Rice’s device transmitted sound only over very short distances, so his development was much inferior to the options of Meucci and Bell. Moreover, some historians even believe that his device cannot be called a telephone due to this shortcoming.
The cellular phone was invented in 1983. Its creator was Motorola, which released the DynaTAC 8000X model. Despite the huge price of 4 thousand dollars, the device was wildly popular and sold out at incredible speed.
The phone could remain in standby mode for quite a short time, as it retained a full charge for an hour. At the same time, it could withstand only 30 minutes of conversation, after which it was necessary to connect the battery to the network. Charging it took as long as 10 hours.
The device also had a very inconspicuous design and weighed 1 kg, but at that time, owning such a device was considered a sign of luxury. Of course, a modern user would hardly pay attention to such a bulky unit without a display, which has only 12 keys.
Just 4 years later, Nokia released Mobira Cityman 900 - the first satellite phone. It could transmit a signal over considerable distances; for example, Mikhail Gorbachev used it to communicate with Moscow from Finland. At the same time, the cost of the device, converted to the current exchange rate, was about 200 thousand rubles, but even this did not stop future buyers.
The developments did not stop there. More compact mobile phones appeared, the functionality of which increased with each subsequent model. For example, already in 1996, Nokia distinguished itself again by offering the Nokia 9000 Communicator to the market - the first smartphone with a monochrome display and keyboard and weighing only 400 g. Other new products were not long in coming:
- Mobile gadget with touch screen. The creator of the technology is considered to be the IBM brand, which previously dealt only with computer development. Its invention took 5 years, so the device was presented to the general public only in 1998. Later, the idea was picked up and improved by LG, which released the KE850 Prada in 2007, a model with a capacitive display that responds to finger touch.
- A telephone equipped with a video camera. The Japanese Sharp J-SH04, released in 2000, had a very low resolution (only 0.1 megapixels), but even this seemed like a miracle to users, so it became a huge breakthrough in the field of technology.
- New from Ericsson. The smartphone, presented by her in the same 2000, had many functions, while having very compact dimensions and light weight - only 160 g. This device had a built-in resistive touchscreen and a hinged cover that protected it from mechanical damage.
Then in 2008, a smartphone based on the Android OS, developed by Android Inc., appeared. (now bought by Google). In Russia, the first model working on this “axis” was Highscreen PP5420. A year earlier, Steve Jobs announced the now popular iPhone series, the production of which continued even after the death of the founder of the Apple company.
Even in the myth of ancient Greek times about Theseus, there was the first mention of how information could be transmitted. Aegeus, the father of this hero, when he sent his son to the island of Crete to fight the monster Minotaur, asked him upon his return, if successful, to raise a white sail on the ship, and in case of defeat, black. Unfortunately, the inventor of the telephone was not yet born, and the colors were mixed up, and Aegeus, deciding that his son was dead, drowned himself. The sea where he did this was called the Aegean.
Continuation of the story with connection
For some time, people did not pay much attention to solving the problem of transmitting symbols and signals over long distances. For a long time, birds and people remained the most reliable way to ensure high-quality communication. When the weather was disgusting and there were no people willing to flee, fire fire, smoke, voice or other conventional signs were used.
Although, to be honest, in the 16th century there was a proposal by Giovanni della Porta, an Italian scientist, to use speaking pipes for communication. A similar method operates on ships for communication between the engine room and the captain. So, the proposal to lay such pipes throughout Italy did not meet with understanding, and the first telephone was not invented at that time.
Revolution in France and a breakthrough in communications
Mechanic Claude Chappe in 1789 proposed that the Convention resolve the communication issue in the following way: they intended to cover the whole of France with a network of towers and install devices made from planks on them. At the same time, they should have been clearly visible from a distance. At night, the lanterns at the ends of the slats were lit. Inside the tower there was a telegraph operator changing the position of the slats. The reference point for him was the tower located in the visibility zone. The telegraph operator sitting in it copied the message and sent it on. And so it went - from the starting point to the ending point. It was possible to obtain approximately 200 combinations by changing the arrangement of the bars.
A code was compiled, which consisted of a notebook with a volume of 92 pages, each of which had the same number of words. The telegraph employee transmitted the word and page number to intermediate points They didn’t know the code, but simply passed on the resulting combinations. Claude Chappe was not yet the inventor of the telephone, but his great admirer, Napoleon, introduced his method of communication throughout almost all of Europe. By the way, the transmission speed was quite high. For example, a message from St. Petersburg to Warsaw took about 45 minutes, as long as the weather was normal.
and communication
When electricity was invented, at first scientists could not find it practical application. The first experiment was the transmission of information over a distance. Austrian scientists, seeing the dependence of the Schapp telegraph on weather conditions, created its electric version. A member of the Munich Academy, Semmering, in 1809 invented a device that was connected by thirty-five wires, each of which corresponded to numbers and letters of the alphabet. The message arrived in a bath filled with water; here the electrical network was shorted, during which gas bubbles were released, information was read from them. The design was very complex, it did not immediately take root, only in 1832 was a suitable electric telegraph made for use. It was invented by Schilling, a scientist from Russia, and later improved by the Englishmen Cook and Wheatstone. So, gradually, we will get to what happened by briefly dwelling on the important points.
Morse's invention
Morse demonstrated his telegraph alphabet and transmitting apparatus to the public in 1837. From that moment on, the electric telegraph began its victorious march around the world. In just 10 years, its lines entangled most of North America and Europe. His triumph was the laying of a communication cable along the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, completed in 1866 using the Great Eastern ship, specially built for this purpose. When radio was invented, she moved to the airwaves.
And now, despite the massive spread of satellite, cellular, and other sophisticated communications, and the Internet, there are people, and there are many of them, who prefer to send telegrams. And not only in villages, but also in big cities. Now we are very close to such a significant date as the year of the invention of the telephone.
When was the telephone invented?
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the telephone became the main means of communication. It was born much later than the telegraph, its predecessor. Even at a time when this predecessor was the main one, Philip Rice, a German scientist, in 1861 invented a device that, with the help of galvanic current, transfers the human voice to any distance. 15 years later, Alexander Graham Bell, a school teacher in Philadelphia, demonstrated the first electric telephone at the World's Fair. Remember: 1876 is the date of invention of the telephone. But Elish Gray, another inventor, was only a couple of hours late with his application for the same invention. Therefore, primacy in this matter is purely conditional.
communications
Literally five years later, a new means of communication, which was much simpler than the telegraph, became firmly established in human life. Have you seen the photo of the first phone? So, the famous one improved this device, and it became a truly household means of communication. But the telegraph was and remains public. There was also an option for a field telephone. Thanks to its speed of deployment and ease of handling, it has become indispensable for the army and military.
The first telephone exchange opened in 1878. This means of communication, like the telegraph, acquired the status of inviolable. Neither revolution nor war could interfere with their normal functioning. From films about those times, it is clear that one of the favorite pastimes of the military commanders of both the White and Red Army during the Civil War was squabbling over the phone.
Briefly about the first phone
You already understand who is the official inventor of the telephone. What was this first telephone like? By the way, the invention happened by accident, like many others in this life. During experiments and experiments, the stuck plate began to act as a primitive diaphragm, and it was already a matter of time to figure out what else to do. As a result, Bell's phone became a real sensation at the exhibition.
Although the first device only worked at a distance of up to two hundred meters, with monstrous sound distortions, the transmitting and receiving devices were very primitive. The inventor created the Bell Telephone Society and began to actively improve it. As a result, within one year he patented the fittings and a new membrane for his device. A little later I used a carbon microphone (to increase the transmission distance) and powered by separate batteries. The telephone existed in almost this form for a little over a hundred years.
Development of telephone communications in the twentieth century
How did it go further development invention created by Alexander Bell? The telephone he created soon surpassed it and began to develop by leaps and bounds. The first transatlantic telephone cable, TAT-1, was laid between Canada and Scotland in 1956. And after that - more than one hundred thousand kilometers of similar cables. Including - Washington - Moscow, the famous government special wire for communication between the American president and the leader Soviet Union. No one else had access to it. Such a wired, cable telephone connection, of course, is much more expensive than a radiotelephone, especially if you count the amount of recessed and buried copper, but it is not going to give up its position. If only because of its greater reliability and the ability to intercept a conversation.
Phone today
Bell, the inventor of the telephone, most likely could not have imagined the progress that communication has achieved today. It would seem that development cellular communication should slow down the wired one, but the latter continues to move forward, especially in large cities: thanks, as already mentioned, to its reliability, as well as the introduction of the latest technologies, for example, fiber-optic communications.
Have you forgotten what wires the Internet is transmitted through? The same way our grandparents and, in the central part of Moscow, our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers communicated. Thanks to the latest technologies, the telephone has mastered the airwaves and turned from a stationary object into a very convenient and advanced human companion.
Another version about the inventor of the telephone
Revealing the topic of invention this tool communications, one cannot help but mention another version, according to which the inventor of the telephone is Elisha Gray, and not Alexander Graham Bell at all. In 2007, a book by the famous researcher and journalist Seth Shulman was published, in which he wrote that the latter stole a competitor’s invention and passed it off as his own. The main evidence is Notebook Bella, access to which was very limited until 1976. It turns out, among other things, that Gray applied for a patent first, but his competitor, thanks to bribery and aggressive lawyers, managed to register a patent earlier. But that's not all.
There is a version that Philip Rice, a German scientist, can also be considered as the inventor of the first telephone. His device, created in the 1860s, was capable of transmitting speech over a distance, but it worked on a different principle. By the way, Gray began his work as a carpenter while studying at Oberlin College. Then he experimented with telegraph technology and electricity, invented a hotel notification device, a telegraph switch, a letter-printing apparatus and other devices. He lost the trial for the right to be considered the inventor of the telephone, and Bell has since been considered the first.
Further prospects for the development of communications
The inventor of the telephone, whoever he was, could probably imagine what future prospects the means of communication have. They are a little from the realm of fantasy, but, nevertheless, they have the right to exist. This is telepathy, or, in other words, the transmission of thoughts over a distance. Back in the seventies of the last century, Soviet academician Glushkov formulated this perspective. He noted that a person’s thought process will be sent to a computer, it will remember it, and over time there will be a complete symbiosis of machine and man. And I was confident that in 2020, full compatibility between the operation of a computer and the human brain would be achieved.
Considering how computer communications are displacing traditional means over distance, the academician's forecast does not seem very fantastic. After all, many seemingly unrealistic fantasies have come true. For example, a fully computerized home, helmets connected to a PC, conveying visual sensations. Once upon a time it was science fiction and Ray Bradbury. Or computer printing at the command of a human voice. When the transfer of thoughts over a distance is in demand, then this issue will be resolved. It’s just that no one really needs it yet.
A little about other inventions of mankind
Although the invention of the telephone is one of the most important, all the inventions of mankind do not end there. Now we will briefly list ten of the most basic of them.
Brief biography of Alexander Bell
Since we have talked about the invention of the great scientist, we need to briefly outline his biography. He was born in Edinburgh (Scotland), March 3, 1847. Many of his relatives were professional rhetoricians - his uncle, grandfather and father. The latter even wrote a treatise on eloquence. At first, Alexander also followed their path, graduated from the corresponding school and became a teacher of music and eloquence. He studied for a year at the University of Edinburgh, then moved to Bath (England). In 1870, the family moved to Canada and settled in Ontario. Here Bell continued to work on the issue of signal transmission via telecommunications, which he became interested in back in Scotland. For example, he created an electric piano that transmitted music through wires. Soon, in 1873, Alexander became a teacher of speech physiology at Boston University. And three years later he received patent No. 174465 for the invention of the telephone. He also worked with light rays, which subsequently contributed to the creation of fiber optic technologies. In 1877 he married Mabel Hubbard, his student, and in 1882 he became a US citizen. Died on August 2, 1992. All telephones in the country were turned off for a minute in order to honor his memory.
Almost no modern person can imagine his life and work without a telephone.
However, more recently, in historical terms, there were times when a telephone was considered a luxury. Who invented and introduced the telephone to the masses?
Content:Landline communications
As everyone knows, the era of telephone communication began with wired telephones, which could transmit voice messages using technologies that were significantly different from modern ones.
Such a device became a major breakthrough and the first “bell” of an active scientific and technological revolution, which began almost immediately from the creation of such an innovative device.
Story
The first telephone was created in an era when the only way to more or less quickly transmit messages over long distances was the telegraph.
At that time, the telegraph was considered a perfect and fully functional means of communication with remote regions.
However, the invention of the telephone caused a revolution, and it quickly began to be put into use.
It is worth noting that the invention of the telephone could not have been thought of until electricity was discovered.
When electricity became more or less widely used, the telegraph appeared - Morse presented to the public in 1897 not only his alphabet, but also his broadcasting apparatus.
The appearance of the world's first device capable of quickly transmitting information without a physical carrier over a greater distance proved that such a transmission method was possible in principle, and gave scientists of that time the impetus to develop methods for its improvement.
First device
And at the end of the 19th century, scientists managed to significantly improve the method of transmission, giving it new format. It is believed that Alexander Bell invented the telephone, but this is not entirely true.
The appearance of the device would be impossible without Philip Rice- German scientist.
It was Rice who created the very basis of the future telephone set- a device capable of transmitting a recording of a human voice over certain (quite large for that time) distances using galvanic current conductors. Rice's development was published in 1861, and during this period Bell took it as the basis for his future invention - the telephone, in the form in which we know it now.
So, after 15 years, namely in 1876, the first telephone based on galvanic current appeared, the inventor of which was considered Alexander Graham Bell.
At this year's World's Fair, a Scottish researcher presented his device that allows voice messages to be transmitted over a distance, and also applied for a patent.
Specifications
What specifications was this the first device?
It was significantly inferior not only to the devices that became widespread in the 20th century, but also to subsequent models created by Bell a few years later.
However, at that time its characteristics were considered premium.
The distance over which the device could transmit sound was 200 m, which was a lot.
Initially, it had severe sound distortion, but with the next improvement, Alexander Graham Bell eliminated this problem.
And in this form, the device, invented and improved by him, existed for almost another 100 years.
History of creation
Like many famous inventions that changed not only the course of scientific and technological progress, but also the course of history, it was created by accident.
Alexander Bell's original goal was not to create a device that would transmit a voice message, but the creation of a telegraph apparatus capable of transmitting several telegrams simultaneously.
In the process of experiments on such improvement of the telegraph apparatus, the telephone was created.
The telegraph operated using pairs of records, and for their experiment Bell and his assistant prepared several pairs of such records, which were tuned to operate at different frequencies.
As a result of a slight violation of the experimental technology, one of the plates got stuck.
The inventor's assistant began to express his opinion regarding what had happened, while Bell himself at that moment carried out some manipulations with the receiving device of the telegraph apparatus.
A few seconds later, scientists heard sounds coming from the transmitter and resembling a voice recording, although with very strong distortion. From this moment the history of telephone communication began. After Alexander Bell presented his device to the public, many eminent scientists began work to improve the existing device.
The patent office issued hundreds of patents for devices that could modernize and improve the created phone. The most significant of them are:
1 T. Watson's call, replacing the whistle that was originally installed on the Bell apparatus, which appeared in 1878;
2 Carbon microphone M. Michalski, which improved the quality of transmission, and was created in 1878;
3 Automatic telephone exchange for 10,000 numbers S. Apostolov, which appeared in 1894.
The importance of Alexander Bell's invention can also be assessed by financial parameters.
This patent became one of the most profitable in the world, it was he who made Bell a world famous and very rich man. But was it deserved?
Meucci's contribution
In 2002, the US Congress recognized that this patent was issued undeservedly, and the true discoverer of telephone communication should be considered not the Scottish scientist Alexander Graham Bell, but the Italian inventor Antonio Meucci, who created his device after many years of the Bell telephone.
In 1860, he created the truly first apparatus capable of transmitting sound through wires. Meucci's device was called the telextrophone.
At the time of the creation and improvement of the invention, Meucci lived in the USA, was already almost an elderly man and was in a very poor financial situation.
At this stage, his invention and The large company Western Union became interested.
Its representatives offered the scientist to sell all his developments for a substantial sum, and also promised to assist in obtaining a patent.
The poor financial situation forced Meucci to give in to the company's demands. He received his money, but did not receive any help in obtaining a patent, so he applied for it himself, but was refused. And in 1876, Alexander Bell received a patent for an almost completely similar device.
This was a serious shock for Meucci, and he tried to challenge the decision to award the patent to Bell in court.
During the first stages of the proceedings, Meucci did not have enough finances to fight the huge corporation.
As a result, the right to the patent was nevertheless returned to him in court, but only when the validity period of this patent had already expired.
Important! Only in 2002 was a resolution passed by the Congress of the United States of America, according to which Meucci was officially recognized as the inventor of the telephone.
The twentieth century
Devices similar to Meucci's were used throughout much of the twentieth century.
They were constantly improved, and if the first models that became widespread could communicate with the called subscriber only through a telephone exchange, at which it was necessary manual connection, then later these stations became automatic, subscribers were able to communicate almost directly.
The appearance of such automatic system communication was a big step towards the invention of the telephone in the form in which users know it now.
The first telephone that brought scientists closer to the invention of cellular communications was the radiotelephone.
After this, the first cell phone appeared, and relatively recently, satellite telephony.
The newest of the existing developments can be called, which has little in common directly with the phone, but performs the same functions.
mobile connection
The history of cellular communications began with radiotelephones, the first tests of which were carried out in 1941 by G. Shapiro and I. Zakharchenko in the USSR, and by AT&T Bell Laboratories in the USA.
The system was based on radio communication and was intended to be used for communication between cars (in the modern sense, it was more like a walkie-talkie than a telephone).
In both superpowers, the tests were successful and the system fully met the expectations of the inventors.
And already in 1947, the concept of using hexagonal cells for communication was first proposed in the USA. It was proposed for use by Douglas Ring and Ray Young, inventors working on the Bell staff. The tests were also successful, and it was on the basis of this technology that the mobile connection(and it was on the basis of this technology that it got its name).
But the real birthplace of mobile communications is still considered not to be the USA or the USSR, but Sweden.
Here, in 1956, a vehicle-to-vehicle communication system was launched and successfully operated, which became the first such system in the world.
Initially, the project was implemented in the three largest cities of the state - Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo.
Telephone sets of Kupriyanovich
First telephone set, which could be truly mobile and used in field devices, was invented in the USSR.
The subscriber could carry it with him; it did not need to be built into cars and transported, like earlier models.
The device was presented to the public by L. I. Kupriyanovich, a Soviet engineer, in 1957.
The weight of the device was 3 kg, which was very light by the standards of that time, but it operated over fairly long distances - up to 30 km, depending on the terrain.
The operating time of this device without replacing batteries was 20-30 hours, depending on operating conditions. The inventor received a patent for engineering solutions device in 1957.
This engineer continued to work in this direction until 1958.
This year he created a more compact mobile phone that works on the same principles as the previous device.
The new device weighed only half a kilogram and was no larger than a cigarette box.
Kupriyanovich did not stop his work in 1961.
This year he is creating a device that works on the same principles as the previous two, but weighs only 70 grams and fits in your pocket. It is capable of communicating over a distance of up to 80 km.
According to the inventor, this device It could well be adapted for mass production with the aim of mass equipping heads of departments and enterprises with it. Some time later, in one of his interviews with periodicals, he announced his readiness to design 10 automatic television stations for portable telephones throughout the country. But this project was never implemented in reality.
Bulgarian developments
Although Kupriyanovich himself will soon cease his work, his system, in one variation or another, continues to be improved by other companies.
Thus, in 1965, the Radioelectronics company from Bulgaria presented at the Inforga-65 technology festival a system from the main telephone exchange for 15 subscribers, and 15 telephones themselves.
At the same time, they mention that the project was developed precisely on the principle of Kupriyanovich’s equipment.
Work on such technology in this organization continues in 1966. At the Interorgtekhnika-66 scientific exhibition, they presented a set of mobile phones and a station designed to work with six devices. An industrial model is presented, ready, to a greater or lesser extent, for mass production.
In the future, the company works with this particular model, which is already significantly different from Kupriyanovich’s devices.
They first create a station with 69 numbers, and then with 699.
The system became widespread, became a substitute for intercom and was widely produced by industrial enterprises to equip departmental institutions with communications, and was actively used in the country until the early 90s.
Car phones
At the same time, the development of radiotelephones for cars is actively underway.
They are implemented using a different technology, different from Kupriyanovich’s technology, but are relatively popular and widely distributed in the USSR and the world at the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century.
In 1958, work began on the design and creation of mobile phones intended for equipping civilian departmental vehicles.
These phones were called "Altai" and could only be used in a car.
In 1963, Altai was already introduced into more or less mass production and was relatively widely used; the technology was so far widespread only in Moscow, and then began to be used in St. Petersburg.
Only by 1970 it came into operation in another 30 large cities of the Soviet Union.
Commercial cellular communications
First steps towards widespread implementation cell phones and commercialization of the industry were done in 1982 by a British company Pye Telecommunications.
They demonstrated an automatic mobile phone that works as an attachment to a walkie-talkie Pocketphone 70. Theoretically, the device could be implemented everywhere.
Motorola
In 1983, Motorola introduced the first model of a truly commercial mobile phone, intended not only for organizations and departments, but also for individual users who simply could afford to purchase a device.
The device model was called DynaTAC 8000X, and it took the company almost 16 years to create it.
At the same time, a huge amount of money was invested in it, according to some sources - more than $110 million.
The device weighed almost 800 grams, had a length of 33 cm, a thickness of 4.5 cm, and a width of almost 9 cm.
The battery could operate autonomously for up to 9 hours in standby mode or 1 hour in talk mode, and it was the first phone with a battery charged from a mobile network.
The device was sold at a price of almost $4,000.
Spreading
The technology quickly became popular despite the fact that the first devices were very expensive for the average user.
But already in 1984 such phones (and mobile format communications) has already been used by more than 300,000 subscribers.
In 2003, this figure exceeded one billion two hundred million subscribers - it is generally accepted that it was in this year that the technology truly became widespread throughout the world and became firmly established in the life of the average user.
And on July 1, 1991, the first call made in the GSM format was made in Finland. And it is this date that is considered the birthplace of the widespread format that we use to this day. Even with the introduction of other technologies wireless communication and other types of networks, namely this format communication still remains the most widespread and is characterized by the largest coverage area on the globe.
In 1998, a prototype of the first device of this type with a touch-sensitive screen appeared.
This was an important step towards a qualitatively new type of mobile communication devices, including smartphones.
This one is the first touchscreen phone, in fact, became the progenitor of the devices that we currently use.
Throughout the 80s and 90s the price of Cell phones falls, and by the beginning of the 2000s, although they still remain an expensive pleasure, they nevertheless become available to the majority of users.
And after 7-8 years, mobile communications will almost completely replace landline communications.
Loading...
