What year did the radiotelephone appear? When was the telephone invented? The significance of the invention of the telephone

My phone rang. Who is speaking? Elephant! The telephone is an invention that changed the world. Since all our modern activities are so tied to this thing, we decided to trace the history of its development, and at the same time understand how it works.

Do you know a person who does not have a phone? Perhaps these are only very old grandparents. Or the guys from the Tumba-Yumba tribe. Although they probably already have it. The telephone appeared a century and a half ago, and here is the result: each person calls on the phone about 1500 times a year!

Telephony development

The first telephones had a range of only 500 meters, they did not have a ring, and the call had to be made with a whistle. After the introduction of a carbon microphone and an induction coil into the phone, the range of the device increased significantly.

The first telephone exchanges could not connect subscribers directly. In order to "call", you had to pick up the receiver and start turning the lever. After connecting with the telephone operator, she was told the number of the subscriber, she stuck the plug into the socket, and only after that the conversation began.

It has become possible to make direct calls since the 1920s, although an automatic switchboard capable of replacing the work of telephone operators was proposed by the Russian scientist K.A. Mostitsky.

Now we are used to 7-digit numbers and international phone codes... And the first phone numbers consisted of only 2-3 digits.

In 1927 it was already possible to call from New York to London. Telephone networks began to actively cover the globe.

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The principle of the phone "on the fingers"

Why on fingers? Because before you deal with something complex (for example, the principle of a modern mobile phone), you always need to deal with the simplest things from which everything went.

The signals in the telephone are electrical. Human speech is a sound signal. The phone converts audio signals to electrical signals and vice versa.


We speak into the microphone, the membrane vibrates, its vibrations in the magnetic field create a current in the coil, which is transmitted through the wire to the interlocutor. At the other end, the opposite process takes place: the current flows in the moving coil of the speaker, because of this, the membrane vibrates and "sways" the air. As a result, we hear sound.

Now phones can be divided into:

  • regular landline phones;
  • radiotelephones;
  • cell Phones;
  • satellite phones;
  • phones working in IP telephony.

The emergence of modern telephones, mobile communications

The significance of the invention of the mobile phone was also revolutionary. And the first mobile ones appeared in 1976. They were huge and the cost was enormous. In the 1980s, it was already possible to buy a mobile phone in America for $ 3,500. For comparison: a new Ford Mustang cost 6500.

It is believed that it was invented in the United States, but there is a version that the first prototype of the mobile was developed in the USSR in 1973. Like many interesting developments, the Soviet mobile phone remained unknown to the world.

In the CIS countries, mobile phones became widespread in the 90s of the 20th century.

Prospects for the development of phones

Scientists, futurists and social researchers believe that in the future, smartphones are likely to supersede such discrete devices as computers, laptops and cameras. The capabilities and power of phones will allow you to simply connect a monitor and keyboard to them, turning your smartphone into a full-fledged personal PC.

Even now, the modern telephone is a real research station that collects a huge amount of data. In the future, the quantity and quality of data will increase. The information collected can be used for a wide variety of studies: from the behavior of groups of people to earthquake prediction and weather forecasting. Bank cards will also become a thing of the past. There is already a technology that allows you to pay with a smartphone, using it instead of a card.


But this is all in the future. So far, no matter how smart a smartphone is, it cannot write a term paper or checklist for you. A special student service can help in this, providing services of professionals in all fields: from agronomy and accounting to electronics and nuclear physics.

The history of the phone for children is extremely interesting, since today these gadgets are an integral part of life for them. So, the day of the appearance of the telephone can be considered February 14, 1876. On this day, the American scientist of Scottish descent, Alexander Graham Bell, applied to the US Patent Office for his invention. Interestingly, on the same day, but two hours later, another inventor, Elisha Gray, applied for a similar device. Subsequently, the latter tried to sue for the rights to this invention, but lost.

The history of the phone and photos will be presented to your attention further.

"Not Bellom alone" ...

Fifteen years before Bell, in 1860, the Italian Antonio Meucci demonstrated to the Americans a device he had designed to transmit sound at a distance. However, for unclear reasons, he did not patent it. The documents he filed in 1871 were mysteriously lost.

And in 1861, the German scientist Philip Reis also invented a device for transmitting sounds. But the quality of transmission in it was so low that the invention was not accepted by the public. But it was he who introduced the term "telephone" from the Greek words "tele" - far and "phono" - sound.

The history of the development of the phone

The device presented by Bell was not very similar to modern phones. It transmitted only the sound of a voice and at a very short distance. Only after some time did he manage to improve it, using a new membrane and a Yuza carbon microphone.

Alexander Bell first presented his invention to the public at a technical exhibition in Philadelphia. This is how the history of the development of the telephone began. Then the device did not have a bell, it was the only horn-tube designed to receive and transmit speech. The amazed audience heard from the pipe a monologue of the Prince of Denmark from a Shakespeare play, which the inventor himself was reading from a nearby room. The phone was a great success, but the practical benefits were not immediately appreciated. Bella Telephone Company was founded, which after a while turned into a huge prosperous concern.

Bell had to compete with the American inventor Thomas Edison, who in 1878 finalized and improved the existing design, in particular, installed an induction coil. This made it possible to increase the distance between subscribers. The American Speaking Telephone Company was formed and began producing telephones, ignoring Bell's rights.

Be that as it may, already in 1877, the first telephone exchange was established in New Hay Vienna. And over the next 10 years, more than 100 thousand phones were installed. 25 years later, there were over a million. Over the years, telephones have improved, the quality of communication has improved. In the 1920s, the first automatic telephone exchanges - automatic telephone exchanges - were installed. Before that, telephone operators connected subscribers. And in 1956, the first transatlantic cable was laid, linking Scotland and Canada. Since then, more than 100 thousand kilometers of transatlantic cables have been laid connecting countries and continents.

The history of the emergence of automotive communications in America

Soon after the creation of the telephone, technical and scientific circles began to discuss the possibility of creating mobile communication devices. However, the experiments and studies carried out did not give practical results and this topic was forgotten for some time. At the beginning of the 20th century, radio broadcasting began to develop rapidly, and scientists again returned to the ideas of portable communications.

On June 17, 1946, AT & T launched a radiotelephone system mobile communications Mobile Telephone Service. The equipment for it weighed about 40 kg and was installed in the car. It was a radio transmitter with the help of which it was possible to make a call to a PBX and contact any subscriber of a fixed telephone. This line of communication had limited throughput and was very expensive, so it had no commercial success.

However, further research continued not only in America, but also in England, France and the USSR. This was the beginning of the history of the mobile phone.

In particular, in 1957, the Soviet radio engineer Leonid Kupriyanovich registered the copyright certificate for his own development, which he called the radio telephone LK-1. The device weighed about three kilograms and included: a dial for dialing, four switches and a microphone. The battery provided the radio phone with 20-30 hours of operation, and the range was 20-30 kilometers. Kupriyanovich's apparatus communicated with city lines through an automatic telephone radio station. And already in 1958 new model the radio phone weighed, together with the battery, only 500 grams. Despite the obvious progress in development, radio phones did not receive mass distribution and remained in the experimental stage.

It is worth noting the Altai mobile communication system created in the 60s with the Soviet Union. Unlike the amateur developments of Kupriyanovich, the Altai system was ordered and financed by the state. It differed from its American counterpart in that it was fully automatic, and the weight of the equipment was only 13 kg. It was first mounted in the trunk, and later on the dashboard of the car. The Altai system was introduced in more than a hundred cities of the USSR, but mobile subscribers could not move more than 60 km from the central station, otherwise the connection was interrupted.

cellular

Mobile communication in its modern form appeared only with the advent of a fundamentally new communication technology - cellular communication... This idea was voiced back in 1947, but it was only in the 70s that the employees of the Bell Labs research laboratory Richard Frenkel, Joel Engel and Amos Joel were able to implement it. The history of the creation of the phone had a happy continuation, as they developed layouts of transmitting stations and technologies that allowed them to move between cells without interrupting communications.

During this time, two large companies were seriously engaged in research in the field of mobile communications. This is AT&T corporation and motorola... The first one was more concerned with the improvement and promotion of its own automotive communication systems, considering the topic of portable communication devices unpromising. Motorola, on the other hand, focused on the development of compact communication devices with mobility. The company has spent 10 years and more than $ 100 million on research.

Finally, on April 3, 1973, Martin Kupper, who led the development team, made a historic landline call from the street. He called Joel Engel of rival AT&T to boast of his success. This day is considered by many to be the day of the beginning of the history of the mobile phone. And yet, cellular communication devices took 10 long years of improvements and bureaucratic red tape before the first of them hit store shelves. Despite the shortcomings and high cost, they have gained immense popularity, especially in the business community. How did the history of the mobile phone develop? More on this later in our article.

Motorola's first mobile phones

In 1928, businessman Paul Galvin from Chicago registered the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, which was engaged in the manufacture of network rectifiers. The company employed only five employees. Several years later, the product range has expanded. The company began producing Motorola car radios. This is how the history of Motorola phones began. Things started to work, the company constantly made research and introduced new developments into production. In 1947, the company changed its name to Motorola Inc. Gradually, they become the leading manufacturers of radio and television equipment. Not surprisingly, it was Motorola Inc that developed and released the first working model of a mobile phone.

This first model was called the DynaTAC 8000X and went on sale in 1984. The first mobile weighed 794 grams and operated on a single charge for no more than an hour of talk time. It took 10 hours to charge the battery. The novelty was a resounding success. The registration for its purchase was several months in advance. Telephones improved rapidly. Already in 1989, the much lighter Motorola MicroTAC models went on sale. It was the first flip phone. And in 1996 the Motorola StarTAC, the first clamshell phones, saw the light. Due to the enormous commercial success, many modifications of this model were released over the next six years. Gradually, Motorola had more and more serious competitors stepping on its heels. The last truly successful model was the RAZR V3, which went on sale in 2004. The ultra-thin body provided her success. But it became increasingly difficult to compete in the growing market, and in 2011 the company split into Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility. The latter was immediately absorbed by Google, and in 2014 the company's assets were bought by the electronics manufacturer Lenovo.

The Finnish success story of Nokia. Takeoff

How did the history of Nokia phones begin? The Finnish company Nokia was registered on May 12, 1865 and was a pulp mill. In 1922, the major rubber manufacturer Finnish Rubber Works bought out a controlling stake in Nokia, which also bought another company that made electrical cables. It was this acquisition that determined the telecommunications direction for the further functioning of enterprises. For a long time, the three companies worked separately, releasing products under a single Nokia brand. The final merger took place only in 1967. In the same year, the corporation created a division that specialized in industrial automation and communication systems. In collaboration with Salora, they are developing high-frequency radio broadcasting technology and creating the ARP cellular standard.

The company released its first handheld phone, Mobira Talkman, in 1984. It looked a little like a mobile phone. Weighed 4.7 kg and consisted of a transmitter with antenna and battery, and a tube. But three years later, the next Nokia Cityman model turned out to be much lighter and already fit comfortably in the hand. The company gradually switched from the ARP standard to the GSM standard, and in 1992 the first GSM-phone Nokia 1011 was produced. And two years later a new product of the Finnish company was released - the Nokia 2100 phone with a branded call Nokia Tune. It is with this model that the company enters the Japanese market, where until then local manufacturers dominated. More than 20 million Nokia 2100 have been sold worldwide.

By the end of the 90s, Nokia, thanks to the release of successful new products, became the leader in the mobile communications market. In 1996, the company released the world's first communicator, the Nokia 9000 Communicator. It has advanced features and a high definition screen. In 1999, the Nokia 7110 was released, which had access to mobile internet WAP.

Until that time, mobile phones were quite expensive and high-profile, but by the early 2000s, the market began to need more budgetary and affordable models. Therefore, the Finnish company produces a number of low-cost phones, such as the Nokia 3210 and 3310. These models have become the world's best-selling phones. For example, the Nokia 3310 has sold over 120 million units. This phone had limited quantity functions, but was reliable and convenient.

The fall of the Finnish giant

Over the next few years, the company managed to release many more successful models, both budget and premium line. But the emergence of other, more dynamically developing manufacturers, gradually made Nokia's products less competitive. In 2013, Nokia's mobile phone division was acquired by Microsoft. But already in 2016, the other two companies Foxconn and HMD Global, which bought production facilities and the name "Nokia", announced the revival of the brand.

History of Samsung mobile phones

The South Korean company Samsung was founded in 1938 by Lee Byung Chol, who started by serving noodles of his own production. The company grew, expanded and in 1960 began to conquer the electronics market. The company began producing consumer electronics: TVs, refrigerators, VCRs, etc. With the beginning of the mobile era, a new division of Samsung Telecommunications Corporation was opened, and 10 years later, in 1988, the first cellular telephonemanufactured in South Korea SH-100. It was then that the history of Samsung phones began.

In 1993, the ultra-light SH-700 for that time appeared on the market, which weighed only 100 grams. In 1996, the company entered the American market, and a couple of years later sold its phones in South America and Japan.

Samsung has always paid great attention to the design of its models. Therefore, their products are distinguished by elegance and original appearance... Among the memorable products of the company, one can recall the first purely female clamshell phone A400. It was very light, beautiful and featured a set of feminine functions, such as calculating calories burned or biological cycle.

The Samsung V200 was equipped with a rotating camera. A revolutionary solution at the time. The company used this mechanism for several of its next models. In 2009, one of the first Android phones, the I7500, appeared. And in 2010, the Samsung Galaxy S came out. So the era of smartphones began. Today the company is one of the leaders in the sale of smartphones and other mobile communication devices in the world.

The history of the iPhone. The beginning of an era

Everyone, for sure, is interested in the history of the creation of the iPhone, as it is today the "trend of the season". Apple Inc, founded on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steven Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, specialized in the production of computer technology... Apple gradually grew into a huge corporation, a leader in manufacturing software, electronics and online services.

In 2002, Steve Jobs announced his intention to create a device that would combine the functions of a mini-computer, a communicator and a music player. And in 2007 he presented the first iPhone model. Distinctive feature the new device was a complete lack of a keyboard and stylus. The phone could only be operated with the fingers. But there were also disadvantages: lack of access to 3G, inability to record video, etc. But despite this, about 7 million copies were sold.

The developers took into account some shortcomings in the next model, released through year IPhone 3G. The phone got access to 3G, GPS and new center for download apps App Store.

Every year Apple introduces a new, improved iPhone model and every time it becomes a landmark and discussed event in the world. mobile technologies... The company not only keeps pace with the times, but is ahead of it. This is what allowed iPhones to become iconic and highly salable devices.

The journalist Seth Shulman argues that the Englishman Bell was not the inventor of the telephone.

The history of phone patenting is amazing in its own way. It is known that Alexander Bell and Elijah Gray appeared at the US Patent Office in Washington on the same day, February 14, 1876. Bell applied for "A telegraphic device that can transmit human speech." And two hours later, a well-known electrical engineer from Chicago, Elijah Gray, came. His application was called "A device for transmitting and receiving vocal sounds by telegraph."

And on March 7, 1876, Bell received inventor's certificate number 174465 for an "improved model of the telegraph", consisting of a wooden stand, an ear tube, an acid reservoir (battery) and copper wires. In other words - the phone, the first working model which for its characteristic form the creator dubbed "the gallows". Gray was denied a patent.

Schulman claims that Gray was the "father" of the phone. The journalist refers to Bell's laboratory diary, which has recently become available to a wide range of researchers. Prior to that, access to Bell's diary was denied at the request of his heirs. Examining the diary entries, Shulman found that the idea of \u200b\u200bthe invention appeared in Bell's notes only 12 days before the application for the device was sent. Previously, he unsuccessfully tried to implement another principle of transmitting sounds through wires.

Moreover, Bell's application contains a drawing of a man with a telephone set - an almost exact copy also appeared in the package of documents for the invention, which Gray transferred to the Patent Office. Schulman also argues that subjective evidence that Bell borrowed the idea of \u200b\u200ba telephone from Gray is provided by the memoirs of the inventors' contemporaries. In them, Bell refused to testify at the trial, during which Gray tried to prove his right to the invention.

At the same time, the author of the book notes, even if the very idea of \u200b\u200bthe phone did not belong to Bell, it was he who created the first working model of the device. Gray, if we assume that it was he who invented the principle of the telephone, did not advance beyond theoretical research.

I must say that the primacy in the invention of the telephone was contested by many, including the Italians Manzetti and Micci. Already in 1878, trials began in the United States, where Bell's primacy was contested. Almost three dozen people opposed him, claiming the invention of the main parts of the telephone. The court initially dismissed six claims. The claims of a number of scientists were taken into separate court proceedings, divided into 11 points, on each of which an independent decision was made. The court recognized Bell on eight counts, Edison on two, and McDonnaught one on one. Gray didn't win a single point.

Bell's brainchild remained in the shadows until he decided to present the "newborn" in June 1876 at an industrial exhibition in Philadelphia. At first, all the visitors indifferently walked past his apparatus. And just at the very close of the exhibition, the distinguished guest, the Emperor of Brazil Pedro II, stopped at the stand with the telephone. Interested in a technical novelty, he took the earpiece and put it to his ear. And he was so amazed to hear a human voice in it that he exclaimed: "My God! This thing talks!" And in an instant, Bell's invention became one of the sensations of the exhibition.

Curiously, for the last 40 years of his life, Bell flatly refused to install his creation at home, each time claiming that "at work this is a useful device, but at home it can turn your family life into hell."

Everyone knows that the Americans invented the telephone. Few remember that the inventor's name was Alexander Graham Bell. However, both are wrong. A US citizen appropriated the idea of \u200b\u200bthe Italian scientist Antonio Meucci, which he expressed even when Bell was a foolish kid. Bell was indeed an inventor, and he did not get those laurels entirely for nothing.

A. Meucci

This happens not only in science. For example, the musician and singer Boris Grebenshchikov, who wrote many of his own songs, remains in musical memory thanks to the song to the music of Vladimir Vavilov) and the words of Anri Volokhonsky, sounded in the movie "Assa", and the performer and composer Igor Talkov, despite his original work, was best known for the hit of composer David Tukhmanov "Chistye Prudy".

The first to profit from the appearance of the telephone was the American inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who was born in Scotland in 1847. But before the talented inventor and founder of the still-published magazine National Geographic the telephone invented by him was not patented, let's remember its predecessors.

The invention of the telephone would not have been possible without converting sound vibration into electrical impulses. Already in 1833, such a transformation was carried out in practice in German Göttingen by Carl Friedrich Gauß and Wilhelm Eduard Weber.

American physicist Charles Grafton Page (1812-1868) discovered in 1837 a phenomenon he called galvanic music - "galvanic music". In an electrical circuit consisting of a tuning fork, a horseshoe magnet and a galvanic cell, when the tuning fork vibrated, which opened and closed the circuit, the electromagnet made a singing sound.

In general, in the history of the invention of the telephone, one can find a complete European international: Germans, French, British, Italians. Among the fun facts is, for example, the following story.

The first words transmitted over the phone were the phrase in German: Das Pferd frisst keinen Gurkensalat ("The horse does not eat cucumber salad"). This historic phrase was uttered on October 26, 1861 by the German physicist and inventor, the son of a baker from Gelnhausen, Johann Philipp Reis. Still, the immediate predecessor and inventor, whom fortune did not allow to obtain a legal patent, was another person.

A. G. Bell

A native of Florence, Antonio Meucci was a genius scientist and a lousy businessman. He was born on April 13, 1808. In addition, this resourceful mind sympathized with revolutionaries of all stripes, especially the Garibaldians who fought for the liberation of Italy. For which he was sentenced to a month in prison, and in 1835 he went to the island of Cuba. Shortly before his departure for the New World, Meucci married Esther Mochi.

Doca worked for some time in Havana as a leading stage mechanic for a local theater in various technical innovations. Then the couple moved to New York, where in 1851 he founded one of the first factories for the production of stearic candles, then in 1856 Meucci founded a brewery for the production of lager beer, and in 1860 created the world's first factory for the production of paraffin candles.

In 1854, Antonio Meucci for his wife Esther, suffering from rheumatism attacks, who often did not leave her room because of pain, came up with a way to transmit a sound signal at a distance. He wrote an article about this to the editorial office of an Italian-language newspaper published in New York.

The financial independence of the successful inventor was undermined by the failure of the stock exchange and the explosion of the boiler. As a result of this accident, Meucci ended up in a hospital bed for three months in 1866, which led to dismissal from his job and forced his wife to sell some of his working models, including the telephone. Nevertheless, Meucci later continued his work and in 1871 filed an application with the US Patent Office. Financial costs prevented the final registration of the invention, and the patent expired in 1873.

Meucci offered his "telephone" to the development of a large American company Western Union Telegraph... Presumably, they did not show any interest in the invention for a long time. Moreover, in 1874, the author was notified that the description of the technical novelty had been lost. Antonio Meucci died in 1889 in poverty.

On June 11, 2002, the House of Representatives of the US Congress adopted a resolution in which it recognized Antonio Meucci as the real inventor of the telephone. One of the reasons why the Italian was never recognized as the author of the pioneering invention during his lifetime, the bill states that "Meucci never learned English well enough to navigate the intricacies of American business politics." In other words, Meucci lacked not only knowledge of English language, but also money for a decent solicitor.

We cannot imagine modern life without using a cell phone, it has become an integral part of it. But some ten years ago, not everyone could afford to buy a cell phone, basically it was considered a luxury item.

Currently, the mobile technology industry is developing dynamically, every year more and more new models are being created. However, the real revolution in this was steel, which gained wide popularity among users and practically replaced the usual "push-button" ones from sales.

Creator of the first touchscreen phone

Few people know this, but in reality the first was invented in 1993 by the IBM corporation, which devoted most of its activities to the creation of computer technology.

This company was founded back in 1896 by the engineer Herman Hollerith. Initially, it was called the Tabulating Machine Company and was engaged in the production of calculating and analytical. In 1911, TMC merged with Charles Flint's companies, the International Time Recording Company and the Computing Scale Corporation. As a result of this process, the Computing Tabulating Recording (CTR) Corporation was formed. In 1917, CTR entered the Canadian markets under the International Business Machines (IBM) brand, and in 1924 the American division also changed its name.

IBM Simon

The first phone was named IBM Simon. In those years, he seemed the highest invention among telephones and made a real sensation, although it weighed more than 0.5 kg and resembled a "brick" that has nothing to do with modern light gadgets. With all that his touch screen was created to work with a stylus, most of the operations could be carried out with your fingers.

Simon was equipped with a 160 * 293 black and white screen and a built-in modem. Accumulator battery was designed for one hour of continuous talk or 8-12 hours of standby time. In addition, the phone has a special slot for additional memory.

The operating system was a version of DOS that was developed by Datalight. The phone had 1 MB of RAM and 1 MB for various data and applications. The IBM Simon system provided for receiving faxes, e-mail, it could function as a pager, and also run embedded applications.

The cost of such a phone was prohibitively high - about 900 US dollars, subject to the conclusion of an agreement with the operator for up to two years or 1100 without this condition. Despite all its uniqueness, the gadget often failed and did not receive widespread distribution among users. As a result, IBM abandoned the idea of \u200b\u200bmobile production.