If you thought Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone think again. This book starts with the invention of the telegraph in 1840 and follows the developments right through to the introduction of mobile phones in 1980. It is a tale of skulduggery, court cases and many supposed experts saying “It will never catch on”.
When he first saw the telephone American President Hayes summed up the sentiment in 1876:
“That’s an amazing invention but who would ever want one?”
Many fortunes were made but even more lost and as we shall see there is nothing new with Google, Spotify or Fake News, they all had their forebears over 100 years ago.
The last book on the History of the Telephone was written in 1910 by Herbert Casson, it seems it is about time for an update. It is a good story, written in a non technical way with many interesting stories and anecdotes.