Bells Invention and Its Impact on the World - Essay Example

Bell’s Invention and Its Impact on the World Introduction One can say that the telephone has revolutionized life a great deal since its invention. It is hard to envisage how the world would have been today without the telephone. This article highlights the historical path of the telephone showing how it changed the world at the time of its invention and how it continues to serve the society today. This paper will also elucidate the benefits and demerits of the telephone in relation to the activities of people daily. 2. Background Information 2.1. Invention In the past, the Greeks longed for a device that could assist them in talking to their distant friends and family members without using an interlocutor. The Greeks named this envisioned device a telephone. In 1838, Morse raised the hopes of the Greeks through his invention of the Telegraph, which enabled direct communication by transmitting signals over electric cables. In 1876, Bell finally introduced a speaking device and made the dreams of the Greeks true. Later the same year, Watson and Bell took to the stand and demonstrated the usage of the telephone on March 10, 1876 (Mercer, 2006). Since the time Graham Bell called Watson the through the device, the business of offering telephone services has been up and running. Various people have also claimed to be associated with the invention of the telephone, but through litigation, Bell’s stands as the true inventor. The telephone industry took several twists and turns and in 1946, AT&T developed the first cell phone ever. The mobile phone, then, was extremely expensive and undesirable, but the gadgets have developed into portable, efficient, and even more reliable than networked telephones. Major changes occurred in 1960, which defined the cellular era significantly. AT&T designed the cellular units to use radio frequencies, which are still in use today. However, at that time, the bands and channels available proved inefficient marking as the biggest challenge that prevented the popularity of the mobile phones. Demand for cellphones soon grew and countries that were in close relations tasked themselves in creating ubiquitous channels for mobile phone use. This led to the development of GSM cellphone standard, which proved to be globally successful. This saw mobile phone companies such as Ericson from Sweden and Nokia from Finland grow in the international scene (Klemens, 2010). Today, mobile phones are doing so well that people tend to forget about landlines or the original telephones. 2.2. Mechanism The telephone stands as one of the most wonderful technologies that people have in their houses. It constantly connects people at the touch of a dial making distant places seem closer. Today, the telephone network exists in every part of the world and people do not have to wait for weeks before their messages reach their intended destination. For a telephone to perform this task of relaying information, it needs to have a switch, a speaker, and a microphone. A switch performs the function of connecting and disconnecting a user from the telephone network. On the other hand, the speaker and the microphone compress and decompress sound waves enabling communication (Nobleman, 2003). The mechanism is as simple as that, even in today’s cell phones and highly intricate smartphones. Operators understand when a client picks his or her phone and dials a call, as calls have to pass through a switch. Besides the simple mechanism of a telephone, a telephone network, which includes an exchange system, enables people to make calls across large distances. By the start of the 1900, the world had embraced the telephone so much that telephone companies had busy switchboards with long queues of operators. The switchboards subsumed numerous sockets and plugs. India stood as one of the first places in the world to have an exchange system for telephones. This telephone exchange, based in Calcutta, ushered in a series of development. These developments led to enormous evolution in telephony and eventually gave rise to Subscriber Trunk Dialing (STD) (Bhattacherje, 2009). Today, telephone users located in different places can dial more than 80% of the subscribers in the world directly. Hot lines connect leaders around the world enabling them to contact each other in case of emergencies while avoiding breakdowns in case of wars or disasters. Even soldiers in battlefields can make international calls and communicate with people in isolated platforms all over the world. 2.3. Communication before the Telephone The need to communicate or pass information has always been present since the laying of the foundation of the earth. The idea of making communication easier existed for long, but the technical knowhow regarding how to make this happen was deficient. During the 16th Century, Kin, the Persian ruler, commandeered around thirty thousand people for conveying information. These people were dubbed the ruler’s “ears.” The system was organized in such a way that each of the 30,000 men were situated strategically and relayed information that finally reached the King (Briant, 2002). This form of information exchange was tiresome and inefficient, as the spies would take a long time before they could deliver simple information to the king. At different points in history, people employed different forms of communication such as drums, couriers, and secret signals. Couriers stood as the most reliable forms of communication and different societies employed the method. Couriers would send military communications and they would include runners, dispatch carriers, messengers, and relays. The method of transportation was mostly on foot, but other means would feature especially with relays. There were myriad challenges involved though. For instance, no one was willing to transmit information during bad weather, and people had to resort to different methods of communication such as shouting and using signals (Sterling, 2008). As the whole world was grappling with primitive methods of communication, a Chinese inventor, Thumtsein, developed an innovative method of sending sounds through pipes in 968 AD (Golio & Golio, 2010). One can describe his invention as an ancient rope telephone. Later, communication means improved and the dire need for efficient methods of communication led to the invention of the telegraph and the Bell’s telephone. 2.4. Changes after the Invention It did not last long before the benefits of the telephone were clear and Bell’s invention turned from a mere electric toy to a business tool. Bell had received financial support from Hubbard and Sanders in anticipation that his development would lead to something big. Hubbard and Sanders expected that Bell would receive a huge sum of money after patenting his invention. Soon after the introduction of the telephone, Hubbard and Sanders guided the Western Union into publicizing the telephone, making it accessible to the market, and supporting the development of private messages, and news. The press changed greatly following this invention, as it reduced its monopoly and increased democracy. Efforts aimed at addressing the daily communication requirements of people heightened (Mercer, 2006). Over the ages, various people publicized, promoted, and advanced the initial telephone to make communication, democracy, and national unity better than it was in ancient times. Several changes in communication have taken place since the invention of the first telephone. The telephone became popular and an endless need to increase the capacity of telephone lines and switching technologies followed. Congestion became commonplace and operators had to design avenues to ease congestion ensued. Routing decongested switching boards and facilitated communication. Switches eventually became digital and could handle thousands of calls at a go. Billing of calls also became easier and the business of facilitating communication became a lucrative one. Other advancements that we enjoy today include caller identification, call forwarding, and provision of voice mail (Mercer, 2006). Today, life is a lot different compared to life before the telephones. Telephones have revolutionized communication by their ubiquity and advancements. Other technologies such as the cellphone and the internet sprout and bear close linkages with telephones in one way or the other. 3. Impacts of the Telephone 3.1. Positive Impacts The communication industry and its associated technologies have grown over the ages leading to great changes in the world. Management at places of work has become different, as employers can relay information to workers very easily. The telephone has also changed things at the places of work by decentralizing the layout of the office and facilitating the development of big organizations and corporations. Telephones have also reduced the need to travel thousands of miles to oversee business activities and close business bargains. Moreover, the effects of cell phones reflect in the cases of employees who are mobile. At home, telephones help in the management and organization of activities just as they do in offices (Lasen, 2012). It is unimaginable what offices, organizations, and homes would be like without this invention. Besides reorganizing the office and business environment, telephones have also led to increased awareness of products through advertisements. Organizations can reach thousands of people through telephone networks and mobile communication. The ubiquity of telephones also helps in raising awareness and alarm during emergencies. Most of the cellphones today are incorporated with wireless and GSM technologies that allow users to connect to the internet where they can access a plethora of information regarding various things (Lasen, 2012). It is common to meet many people who are glued to their cell phones or who must have a telephone set at their desks. This highlights the importance that is associated with telephones and cellphones. Social interaction and methods of communicating have changed greatly since the introduction of the telephone. Myriad social skills that have become common in both private and commercial life emanate from telephones and cellphones. Telephones call for some form of adaptation of conventional rules of socialization and interaction (Lasen, 2012). For example, landlines have changed the formalities in conversations greatly as opposed to face-to-face communication, e.g. polite methods of addressing people and opening sentences. What is more, phones help people in connecting with others and in maintaining relationships with the people. 3.2. Negative Impacts Telephones have surely changed the way people relate and some of the social impacts are negative. As telephones advances and ushered in even greater technologies such as the cellphone, man has been predisposed to various diseases, which emanate from the novel agencies that manufacturers include in their products. The alarm of health risks that come from using telephones existed at the very introduction of telephones. At that time, phones were thought to interfere with the ears and hearing abilities owing to the buzzing sounds, neuralgic pains, and giddiness. Today, several studies link cellphone use and risks of developing cancer, albeit the link is not consistent. These fears are due to the radiofrequency waves that cellphones emit (Benson et al., 2013). These fears were common in the early days of the invention of the cellphones but have since dwindled and people nowadays cancer risks do not worry users overly. The connection between the advancement of communication devices and sensational crime is not a new occurrence. Fears concerning the increased use of phones concern health trends as well as social and behavior relationships. In the ancient days of the introduction of the landlines, some societies banned the use of telephones citing that it affected social relationships negatively. Many also viewed telephones as harmful as they affected social relationships and behaviors. In the United States, some religious groups, such as the Mennonites and the Amish, stood against telephones citing that they saw them as an intolerable seduction from the world (Lasen, 2012). Today, people plan and commit crimes with ease through phones. Some illegal acts actually take place solely through the phones without requiring physical appearance. 4. Conclusion This article shows that the implications of the telephone and the cellphone are many. This discussion portrays the introduction of telephones was overdue and Bell leveraged the world greatly with his single invention, regardless of its weaknesses at the time. Communication before the invention of the telephone and after its introduction is significantly different. Bell opened the path for other developers to improve communication, and years later, the cellphone emerged. Both the telephone and the cellphone are responsible for numerous advantages and handful demerits. Ever since the invention, communication has become easy, business is swifter, democracy has increased, societies have changed for the better, access to information is easy, and social interaction has changed. However, crime, health risks, and negative social influences are also attached to the invention and development of the telephone. References Benson, V. S., Pirie, K., Schuz, J., Reeves, G. K., Beral, V., Green, J., & for the Million Women Study Collaborators. (2013). Mobile phone use and risk of brain neoplasms and other cancers: prospective study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 42(3), 792–802. doi:10.1093/ije/dyt072 Bhattacherje, S. B. (2009). Encyclopaedia of Indian Events & Dates. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. Briant, P. (2002). From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns. Golio, M., & Golio, J. (2010). RF and Microwave Applications and Systems. CRC Press. Klemens, G. (2010). 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