The history of telephone

   About 130 years ago, people started to use telephones in their houses. The first telephone had one part that people held to their ears and another part they talked to. There were no numbers on these telephones. People just talked to anyone who had a telephone. The biggest problem was that it was expensive to have and use a telephone, so not many people had them.

　As more and more people got telephones, telephone companies started using operators¹ to connect people. With operators, people had to tell the operator the name of the person they wanted to call. Then the operator would connect the caller to the other person. It sometimes took a long time to make a call.

　In 1892, in Indiana, the United States, the first telephone system that did not need an operator was built. This was the first time people just called a certain number to get the person they wanted. This was when telephones started to have numbers on them.

　The new system was easy to use, so more people wanted telephones in their homes. Telephones also became less expensive, so more people bought them. By 1970, nearly every house in the United States had a telephone. In fact, people thought it was strange if a house did not have a telephones for people to use on the street, in stores, and in office buildings.

　Today, things are changing again. Now, some people do not want telephones in their homes. Why? It is because they have cell phones. Today, some people say that they do not need an “old style” telephone. With a cell phone, people can call anyone from anywhere. As cell phone services become less expensive, people have fewer and fewer reasons to keep telephones in their homes.

Note: