Keith Lirette
English 150
10/24/14
How Telephones Affected Society
The telephone is one of the most important inventions to come out of the
nineteenth century. It was created in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. Its creation slowly
created a widespread change in culture and society by allowing people to immediately
communicate through sound with another person not in their presence. It is difficult to
comprehend the impact the telephone had on society because of how commonplace it is
today. People are used to having their phones in their households. It is very easy to take
this important product for granted, but it is crucial to recognize the impact the telephone
has made on society. As a result of the creation of the telephone, society changed in the
following ways: Telephones made communication quicker and easier, created new
businesses, and changed the way businesses work by allowing people to communicate
over great distances.
Prior to the invention of the telephone, the telegraph was the only means of
immediate long-distance communication. Rather than sound, however, it communicated
through Morse code, which was a code used to send a message with a series of dots and
dashes in place of letters from the alphabet (“Morse Code & the Telegraph,” 1). The need
for the telephone emerged because the telegraph was limited to sending one message at a
time. Conversely, a phone call allows people to have full conversations.
The telephone’s creation is credited to Alexander Graham Bell, a Scottish-born
American scientist. The idea for the telephone emerged as a result of Bell trying to
improve the already-existing telegraph. Bell developed the idea for the telephone in 1874,
and began to work on creating the device with his assistant, Thomas Watson. However,
Bell and Watson were not the only people working to develop such a device. Another
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Keith Lirette
English 150
10/24/14
inventor, named Elisha Gray, was working independently of Bell to develop the
telephone. Both inventors submitted their patents within hours of the other on March 7,
1876, but Bell received the patent first (Bellis 1). On March 10, Bell successfully tested
his device by famously saying his first words into a telephone, “Mr. Watson — Come
here — I want to see you (Bellis 2).”
The growth of the telephone was turbulent because the early designs of the
telephone had problematic issues. The telegraph had fewer issues and could travel greater
distances, so the general public was reluctant to change from the telegraph to the
telephone. Early designs of the telephone resembled the telegraph and eventually
underwent changes as many problems emerged from the telephone’s use. Issues that arose
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