History of phones: the emergence and development

The history of telephony is interesting both in terms of the invention of various devices, and in terms of the stages of deploying communication networks of various types around the world. In some aspects, the dynamics of the distribution of the corresponding technologies seem revolutionary, while in others, it is characterized by a progressive development. What are the most noteworthy facts about the global telephone industry?

Who invented the phone?

Traditionally, the history of the origin of the phone is associated with the name of Alexander Bell, an American inventor of Scottish descent. Indeed, the famous researcher took a direct part in the development of a revolutionary apparatus for transmitting sounds at a distance. However, there are facts that other designers have played an important role in the creation of the phone. So, for example, Johann Philippe Reis, the famous German inventor, at a meeting of scientists of the Physical Community, conducted in 1861, reported on the prototype of an electric device he created for the transmission of sound at a distance. The name of the invention was also called "telephone", which is familiar to us today. Contemporaries Flight, however, the device was received without due enthusiasm. But this is the most important fact that the history of the phone has.

After 15 years, two American researchers, Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell, acting independently, discovered the effect of telephoning. Both scientists, interestingly, on the same day, namely on February 14, 1876, applied for the patenting of their discovery. At the same time, the working apparatus that would use telephony has not yet been developed by them. Presumably, Bell about 2 hours ahead of Gray in the application, and many historians attributed this fact to the fact that the history of the creation of the phone today is associated with the name of the American inventor.

Appearance of the first phone

Alexander Bell lived in Boston and worked with people who have problems with hearing and speech. In 1873, he became a professor of physiology at Boston University. According to his work, he was probably an expert in the field of acoustics and had an excellent ear.

The history of the first phone, created by Alexander Bell, is connected, therefore, with his work. Among the noteworthy facts related to the invention of the device is the same telephony effect detected by the researcher with the direct assistance of his assistant. So, a specialist working with Bell once pulled a plate out of the transmitting device, which, as Bella thought, made some jarring. As the researcher later found out, this was due to the fact that the element made periodic closing of electrical contacts.

Based on the revealed effect, Alexander Bell created a telephone set. It was arranged very simply: as a membrane made of leather, equipped with a signal element to increase the volume of sound. The device could transmit only the sound of a voice, but this seems to be enough to patent the device - the corresponding document fixing the authorship of the invention, Bell received March 10, 1876.

The history of telephones is also interesting in the aspect of their commercial exploitation. A few days later, the inventor finalized the phone so that he could transmit clearly audible individual words. Later, Alexander Bell showed his device to the business community. The device made an incredible impression on people of business. The American inventor soon registered his company, which later became prosperous.

First telephone lines

The history of the emergence of the phone is now known to us. But how did Bell's invention take root in everyday life? In 1877 - also in Boston - the first telephone line was launched, and in 1878, in New Haven - a telephone exchange. In the same year, another famous American inventor, Thomas Edison, created a new model of the device for voice transmission at a distance. In its design there was an induction coil, which allowed to significantly improve the quality of communication, as well as to increase the transmission distance of sound.

Contribution of inventors from Russia

The history of the development of the phone is also connected with the names of Russian designers. In 1885 Pavel Golubitsky, an inventor from Russia, developed a fundamentally new scheme for the work of a telephone exchange, in which the power to the devices was supplied from outside - from a central source. Before that, each phone worked from its electrical outlet. This concept allowed to create stations that simultaneously serve a huge number of subscribers - tens of thousands. In 1895, the Russian inventor Mikhail Filippovich Freidenberg offered the world the concept of automatic telephone exchange, which assumes automatic connection of one subscriber to another. The first operating automatic telephone exchange was introduced in the USA, in the city of Augusta.

Development of communication lines in Russia

The history of the appearance of the telephone in Russia is connected with the construction of a line for the transfer of communication between St. Petersburg and Malaya Vishera. The first conversation between Russian subscribers via this channel took place in 1879, that is, only 3 years after the invention of the phone. Later, one of the first civil communication lines connected the Georgievskaya pier, located in Nizhny Novgorod, and the apartments belonging to the leadership of the Druzhina steamship company. The length of the line was about 1547 m.

On a regular basis, city telephone exchanges - in St. Petersburg, Moscow, as well as in Odessa - began to function since 1882. In 1898 a long-distance line appeared that connected Moscow and St. Petersburg. The history of phones in Russia is interesting because the station that served the communication channel between Moscow and St. Petersburg exists and still works. It is located on Myasnitskaya Street in the Russian capital.

The pace of telephony development in the Russian Empire was very decent - for example, by 1916, there were an average of 3.7 phones per 100 inhabitants of Moscow. In 1935, already under the USSR, all the Belokamennaya metro stations were telephoned. Beginning in 1953, all houses put into operation in the capital of the USSR were supposed to have a failed telephone cable.

The history of phones is fascinating. It is always interesting to study its details. Having learned how wire telephones have appeared, we will consider the most noteworthy facts concerning the development of mobile devices, which are no less in demand today than traditional ones.

How did mobile phones

The first fixed telephone conversation via the radio channel, according to a number of key characteristics, consistent with the principles of the organization of modern cellular communications, was held in 1950 in Sweden. The inventor Sture Laugen, who was driving the company Televerket, successfully phoned to the service of the exact time with the help of the appropriate type of device. By the time Sture Lauren had several years to work at Televerket, working on the development of this device. The history of the creation of a mobile phone is also connected with the name of Ragnar Berglund, Lauren's colleague.

The goal is a mass market

By the time Lauren made the call, which we mentioned above, telephone radio as such was already in use, but it was only available to special services and military structures. The company Televerket has set a task - to create a device that is accessible to every citizen.

On the mass market the Swedish development was withdrawn in 1956. At first she worked only in two cities - Stockholm and Gothenburg. During 1956, only 26 subscribers joined it, which was not surprising due to the high cost of the "mobile phone", the cost of which was comparable to the price of the car.

Development of mobile communication

The history of the development of mobile phones is, in a number of ways, inferior to the dynamics of the spread of telephone communications. If, for example, after 3 years, devices created by the principles of Alexander Bell, were actively exploited in Russia, then for quite some time mobile phones did not enjoy mass demand.

Only in 1969 the world leaders of the telecommunications market began to think that it would be nice to somehow unify the corresponding communication systems. So, for example, it was assumed that each subscriber - like landline phone owners - will have his number, and relevant not only in the country where it is issued, but also abroad. Thus, we can note that the history of the mobile phone actually from the very beginning reflects the interest of the engineering communities in the implementation of roaming concepts.

Among the first inventors who proposed the practical implementation of the technology on which the relevant inquiries were formed is the graduate of the Stockholm technical school, Esten Mäkitolo. The history of creating a mobile phone in its usual form is directly related to its name. However, to implement the concept of Mäkitolo, very powerful technologies were required. They appeared only in the early 80's.

The first cellular network

The history of cellular phones includes a remarkable fact: Saudi Arabia became the first country in which the cellular network was deployed. It was there that Ericsson, which actively participated in the practical implementation of the concepts proposed by Myakitolo, in 1981 signed a contract for the delivery of related services. The network, launched in Saudi Arabia, was characterized by the main criterion - mass. Gradually the standards of cellular communication were being improved, the networks began to function in other countries of the world.

Development of common standards

As the mobile communication market grew, the need to develop uniform standards for the provision of relevant services was brewing. In Saudi Arabia, Scandinavia, the concept of NMT became popular in Benelux, the C-Netz system was used in Germany, in the UK, France and Italy, their concepts were realized.

The appearance of GSM

To integrate the European mobile space, the GSM standard was created. It can be said to have absorbed all the best from other "national" concepts, and therefore, albeit not without difficulties, but was adopted by the European technological community in 1986. But the first GSM-network was introduced only in 1990 in Finland. Subsequently, this standard became the main one for Russian mobile communication providers.

The history of phones - both conventional and cellular - is incredibly fascinating. But no less interesting is how the corresponding technologies are developing. We will study how the lines of cellular communication were improved.

Development of the cellular communication market

In the first years after the introduction of GSM-standards in consumer practice, the use of appropriate services was very expensive. But gradually the devices necessary to work with mobile networks, have become cheaper and have become truly massive. Phones improved, decreased in size. In 1996, Nokia introduced, in fact, one of the first smartphones - a device through which it was possible to send mail, faxes, use the Internet. In the same year appeared the legendary StarTac book from Motorola.

Smartphones and mobile internet

In 1997, Philips released the Spark phone with a very large battery life - about 350 hours. In 1998, the mobile device Sharp PMC-1 Smartphone appeared, which has a touch screen. It was expected that he would be a direct competitor to the above mentioned gadget from Nokia. In 1999, mobile operators began to implement WAP technology, which made it easier for subscribers to access mobile Internet. In 2000, the standard appeared GPRS, and UMTS - one of the main ones that are used in the architecture of 3G networks.

In 2009, the Swedish company TeliaSonera launched the world's first network in the standard 4G. Now it is considered the most modern and actively implemented by operators around the world.

Perspectives of phones

What will be the next step in the development of the cellular industry? The history of the mobile phone indicates that effective revolutionary solutions can appear at any time. It may seem that the 4G standard is the limit of the capabilities of modern technologies. It would seem that data transmission with a speed of tens of megabits, excellent communication quality - what can be a level higher?

However, the world's leading research laboratories continue their active work in the field of improving mobile technologies. Perhaps, in the near future, in the hands of any interested subscriber, there will appear an equally sensational device for the modern inhabitant, such as Bell's phone in the 70s of the 19th century, or the device through which he telephoned from the car to Sture Lauren's city number . And after a while, people will stop to be surprised. This dynamic technology is so dynamic.