“What use has this company for an electrical toy?”

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It is said that these were the words uttered by William Orton, President of Western Union, when given the chance to buy out a 10% share of Alexander Graham Bell’s patents for $100,000. Those patents included those related to the telephone.

A few weeks later, on this day in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell and his assistant Watson carried out the first two-way “long”-distance conversation on a telephone, borrowing for the purpose in-place telegraph line, between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. By spring of the next year several additional tests were run over much longer distances, most (but not all) successful. The rest is history.

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9 thoughts on ““What use has this company for an electrical toy?”

  1. Or, due to the absence of a convenient method of communication, someone could have perfected telepathy and we could talk without ANY gadgets.
    Damn you Alexander Graham Bell, DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  2. I always thought the funniest story in telecom was that the invention of the step switch, the device that allows you the user to select the number you want to call, was prompted by the suspicions (paranoid delusions?) of an undertaker.
    As you probably know, the first telephone switch was a human – you called the operator and asked to be connected to a number/party. This Kansas City undertaker was convinced that the operators were directing traffic towards his competitor in town and wanted to make a device where you could select the number / party with whom to connect by dialing a number. I imagine if you consult the all-knowing Wiki/Google you’ll find his name.
    That clicking sound you heard on old pulse phones (before Dual Tone Multi-Frequency DTMF we use today) was the relays rotating around. When they reach the end, the number was connected.

  3. Bob: Yes, and when you in NY were speaking to your cousin in SF, that was being done over a continuous wired connection running all 3,200 miles (or more, as the wire goes) between the two connections, like two cans and a string but with electricity.

  4. In response to Mr. Bell’s demonstration of the audiophone, the mayor of one of our major metropolitan areas was extremely impressed, expressing his enthusiasm as: “Why I can foresee the day when every city will have one!”

    About the same time, however, the Post Master General of Great Britain was less intrigued with the new device and could not see any reason why it should receive any attention what-so-ever. “It may be all very well for the colonists,” the Post Master General offered with judicious consideration, “but we (the British) have quite enough messenger boys.”

    From the bottom of this page:

    http://www.ezzell.org/Error%20Messages/historical_examples.htm

  5. Educational toys are tools of play designed to develop motor skills, cognitive powers and emotions. Other toys may simply be fun. Too often, the label ‘educational’ is attached to toys regardless whether or not the toy was actually designed to ‘teach’ the child a skill or ability. Sometimes the term is used as a marketing gimmick to command a higher price.

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