subject: How Telephones Are Continually Making The World Smaller [print this page] With human civilisation rapidly expanding and progressing, the world seems to be getting smaller every day, (good thing the universe is constantly expanding). Before Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876, the thought of being able to speak with someone over 20 miles away seemed impossible. Nowadays we cant imagine what life would be like if we couldnt communicate across oceans and continents. Phones have become an extension of us to the point where people feel naked without them.
There was time when phones could only move as far as the cord would let them. Today we can talk anywhere in our house, even whilst on the toilet if we choose, though this is probably not the greatest merit attributed to the cordless telephone. Then there was the car phone, something that seemed to be the height of technology at the time. Though even with these cordless phones we were still attached to something, e.g. the car or the house.
Then suddenly complete freedom; mobile phones were invented. The reign of the mobile phone would be quite different from the days where important messages would be communicated via letters. Maybe this lack of responsibility is partly to blame for the deterioration of quality in the royal mail postal service. So we are the children of the communication era, with instant communication available at the touch of a button. We are no longer tied down by telephone cords, we are able to move freely from place to place and communicate with virtually anyone with we please.
Portability and accessibility seem to be the defining features of modern civilisation. Now with VoIP, (Voice over Internet Protocol), people can stream telephone calls over the web. It is really quite accessible; all that is required is certain software and an Internet connection. The beauty is that once you are connected to the net there is no cost. Video calls can also be achieved this way with a webcam, or through Wi-Fi on a smart phone; the world truly is shrinking more and more as technology rapidly develops. Whether or not this is good is debatable, many people might argue that while bringing people closer is useful, the idea of a smaller world is less exciting.
So mans unquenchable thirst to invent new things combined with an impatience that seems to be growing with every generation has led us here. And who said patience is a virtue?
