EVOLUTION OF TELEPHONES

“The day will come when the man at the telephone will be able to see the distant person to whom
he is speaking”

-Alexander Graham Bell

A google search on the word telephone indicates that A telephone, or phone, is a
telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when
they are too far apart to be heard directly. But this is a very basic definition or purpose of a
telephone. The first telephone ever created was built for the sole purpose of communication
but over the years telephones have evolved at an exponential rate and a popular subset of the
telephones is the smartphone. Smartphones not only have fulfilled Graham Bell’s vision but
also become an integral part of our lives. From capturing beautiful memories with their
powerful cameras to storing the most confidential information of our life’s phones have
become not a luxury but a necessity of the modern world. The purpose of this paper is to
describe the evolution of telephones over the years.

The first-ever telephone was created in 1876 however, the concept of telephone much
predates its creation. The evolution of telephones can broadly be classified into 3 eras as depicted
in the diagram below.

1800s

1900s

2000s
 1800s:
It’s common knowledge that Alexander Graham Bell created the telephone. It was

a regular day at work, Bell’s assistant, Thomas A. Watson, was plucking spring along 60 feet
of wire in a Boston Electrical shop, he was trying to reboot a telegraph transmitter. That is when
Bell thought that the problem could be solved by sending a human voice over the wire. That’s
when Bell had the inspiration for inventing the telephone. Bell’s idea was not new, others before
him imagined the idea of a multiple telegraph too. Other people before Bell had tried to invent
the telephone. One of them is Antonio Meucci, an Italian immigrant, who began developing a
talking telegraph in 1849. Due to hardships, Meucci could not finish developing the telephone,
but he is still honored for his contributions and his work on the invention of the telephone. The
first-ever telephone created had no hearing piece, this device could be

Figure 1: First Patented Telephone ever created

1: The First Ever Patented Telephone

Used as either a transmitter or a receiver one at a time as seen in figure:1. This was a very heavy
device and had to be held with two hands This generic model of the telephone successfully made
its first call on 10th March 1876. Another significant feat achieved by telephones in the 1800s
was the creation of the first-ever outdoor telephone. The outdoor telephones worked on a simple
system that transmitted voice electrically over a string. Hence, the first outdoor string had just a
3mile range. Even though, in current times 3 miles seems like an extremely small distance, in
1876 this was a huge accomplishment. The first telephone exchange was made available to India
in 1882 at Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. More variations of the iconic telephone are included
in the gallery.

1900s:
Towards the beginning of the 1900s, the idea of a separate transmitter and receiver were
getting more and more popularized. New features were added to telephones and AT&T
(currently America’s best telephone service provider) the first large telecommunication company
was launched. There were approximately 600,000 phones in Bell's telephone system; that
number shot up to 2.2 million phones by 1905,
and 5.8 million by 1910. In 1915 the
transcontinental telephone line began operating.
By 1907, AT&T had a near-monopoly on
phone and telegraph service, thanks to its
purchase of Western Union. By 1948, the 30
millionth phone was connected in the United
States; by the 1960s, there were more than 80
million phone hookups in the U.S. and 160
million in the world; by 1980, there were more
than 175 million telephone subscriber lines in
the U.S
A new branch of telephones emerged in
1983 called cell phones. Cell phones became a
popular concept in the USA very soon. In 1993, the first digital cellular network in the world
2: A common household phone from the 1900s
went online in Orlando, Florida; by 1995 there were 25 million cellular phone subscribers.
 Before the New Telecom Policy was announced in India in 1999, only the Government-
owned BSNL and MTNL were allowed to provide land-line phone services through copper wire
in India with MTNL operating in Delhi and Mumbai and BSNL servicing all other areas of the
country even though home telephones were a common commodity in the USA, they were still a
luxury in India. One of the common household telephones in the 1900s is displayed in figure 2.

3a: The 1st cellphone ever. (Motorola DynaTAC)

In 1965 a slimmer keypad version of

the telephones was introduced. Many more
features were added to the keypad type
telephones. In the 1980's, cordless phones
came into existence. Cordless phones
worked on battery power with no cords
and could be used as a mobile device
within a certain area. In the 1990's, sleek
versions of flip phones became popular in
the US. Some variants of the telephones
towards the mid to end period of the 1900s
are displayed below in figures 3a and 3b.

3b: A Common Cordless Telephone.

2000s:
At the turn of the 20th century, telephones
almost underwent a revolution and a new sub-
branch of telephones evolved known as
smartphones. Smartphones can be defined as a
“Mobile phone that performs many of the functions
 of a computer, typically having a touchscreen interface, Internet access, and an operating system
capable of running downloaded applications.” June 29, 2007, the smartphone revolutionizer and
pioneer, Steve Jobs (Founder of Apple) held and released the first iPhone to the world. In the
past 15 years, there have been more versions of smartphones that contain a touch screen and
many more advanced features and applications including games, video calling, camera,
information sharing, and most importantly, a GPS navigation system.

With the new and ever-improving smartphones, the

generic telephones also kept up with the technological
age by adding e-mail and video calling features as well
as an improvised keyboard for typing and a fax print
order. This made the new-generation telephone a hybrid
between a computer and a generic phone. This made it
a perfect device for office settings and largescale
organizations because this proved to be a great aid for
co-operate assistants.

5: Modernized Telephone in 2000s

In this manner, the evolution of telephones has taken place over the past 145 years from a
heavy telephone which just made calls to an extremely light-weight and complex computing
device that fits in the palm of one’s hand.
FACTBOOK:
1) In 1876, Elisha Gray also tried to invent the telephone around the same time as Bell, they
both were battling against each other for who can invent the telephone first, and Bell
subsequently won.
2) The first words ever said on a telephone was "Mr. Watson, come here, I need you."
3) In the 1880’s long-distance services expanded through this period using metallic circuits.
4) The Gower-Bell telephone was used by the post office when it entered the telephone
service in the early 1880's.
5) New systems for the telephone kept developing throughout the years, like the first coin-
operated telephone in 1900.
6) Bell died on August 2, 1922. On the day of his burial, all telephone service in the US was
stopped for one minute in his honor.
7) During the 1930's, the first modern telephone came into existence: Model 302. This type of
telephone had a ringer on it instead of it being a separate piece, the cradle was placed
horizontally, and one can listen and speak to the same piece resting on top.
8) During 1965, the traditional telephone was replaced by a slimmer design that also contained
a keypad which included a "#" and "*". It was called the ‘Trimli’.
9) The first cell phone in 1983 came with a hefty price tag of $4000
10) The first call made from a mobile phone was placed by Martin Cooper in 1973.
11) The first-ever phone call made in India was by the then West Bengal CM Jyoti Basu to Sukh
Ram, the then Union communications minister, on July 31, 1995.
12) According to Guinness World Records, Sonim XP3300 Force is recognized as the toughest
phone. It survived an 84-Foot drop with no operational damage.
13) With the world’s population at over 7.691 billion, these smartphone numbers show
approximately 20% of all people got a new smartphone last year.
14) There are smartphones in space, NASA uses a smartphone (the first was Nexus One) as a
satellite’s onboard computer. The project was called “PhoneSat.”
15) Falcon Supernova iPhone 6 Pink Diamond is the most expensive smartphone in the world
costing $48.5 Million USD.
16) The first smartphone ever was built by IBM in 1992 called Simon Personal
Communicator (SPC).

Gallery: (The Pictures

included are
referenced in various
parts of the text above)
 1:The Gower-Bell telephone

2: 1896 Telephone from Sweden

3: Ericson Table Phone

4:Candlestick Model of the Telephone

6: Trimline (1965)
7: Sonim XP3300 FORCE (Strongest Phone in the World)

8: Most Expensive Phone in the World.

10: Pictorial Representation of Generic Telephones.
11: Evolution of Phones from 1983-2019