The Telephone
The Morse code telegraph had been in use for over 30 years and spread virtually world wide by the time Alexander Graham Bell made his first successful voice transmission in 1876.
The first telephones were rather crude. There was just one device at each end of the line. It was held in front of the mouth when speaking and held to the ear to hear the reply. Later somebody got the idea of a second instrument, one for the mouth and one for the ear. At this stage however, there were no telephone exchanges. Some of the earlier experiments temporarily used telegraph lines, but it was discovered there was a limit to just how far a voice would travel. These first telephones were simply operated between two points. Australia's first phone exchange was in Melbourne in 1880, and other States quickly followed.
Whilst the earpiece was apparently little changed from earliest times to recent times, a lot of experimenting took place to develop the microphone.
The first telephones were rather crude. There was just one device at each end of the line. It was held in front of the mouth when speaking and held to the ear to hear the reply. Later somebody got the idea of a second instrument, one for the mouth and one for the ear. At this stage however, there were no telephone exchanges. Some of the earlier experiments temporarily used telegraph lines, but it was discovered there was a limit to just how far a voice would travel. These first telephones were simply operated between two points. Australia's first phone exchange was in Melbourne in 1880, and other States quickly followed.
Whilst the earpiece was apparently little changed from earliest times to recent times, a lot of experimenting took place to develop the microphone.
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