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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Links to books and other items on this page and elsewhere on Greg Ladens' blog may send you to Amazon, where I am a registered affiliate. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, which helps to fund this site.
We could all be carrying around cellular telegraphs!
That would be funny, but we wouldn’t know it was funny.
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Many of us are carrying around cellular telegraphs, we just call it “text messaging” now.
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.
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.
I’m always amused to hear a cell phone announcing an incoming SMS message: … – – …
From the bottom of this page:
http://www.ezzell.org/Error%20Messages/historical_examples.htm
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.