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History of the Telephone

Alexander Graham Bell is credited with the invention of the telephone on March 10, 1876 (Farley, 2001). As with most inventions, there are often parallel paths of development in progress. The first person or organization to step forward and file a patent application usually receives "the credit" for the invention. This was certainly the case with the telephone.

Bell filed his patent application several hours before his competitor, Elisha Gray filed notice of similar intent (Farley, 2001). It is interesting to note that Bell made his telephone three weeks after filing his patent application from information that was contained in Gray's "Notice of Invention" and using methodology not originally proposed in Bell's own patent package.

Bell's work as well as that of Gray, and others, was originally based on making improvements to the telegraph since this had a very ready market in the early 1870s. Bell was trying to develop a multiplexing telegraph that would permit the simultaneous transmission of multiple messages over one wire (Farley, 2001). Bell approached the solution of the problem from the standpoint of acoustics and speech. Invention of the telephone had been something that had been a driving force since early in his life, likely due to work by his father with respect to visible speech and helping the deaf to speak. His coursework in college included lectures on anatomy and physiology. Gray was less passionate about the invention of the telephone and approached the design from the standpoint of solving an electrical problem (Farley, 2001).

The invention of the telephone literally revolutionized communication and created an entire industry that would repeatedly be accused of monopolistic behavior. Key events in the industry are detailed below ("History of Telecommunications," 2000).

1837 - Invention of the telegraph

1876 - Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone

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History of the Telephone. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 17:19, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1683353.html