Script for Presentation

Hello, My name is Katie Whelan and today I am going to be analyzing Alexander Graham bells invention, which is the telephone.

What is is? 20

It is a modified version of a telegraph. A telegraph is a system for transmitting messages from a distance, along a wire. Bell’s patented telephone design is similar to the telegraph but instead transmits sound. 

At first glance can you tell what it is?20

Honestly, no. At first glance I thought it was something you look through and was possible an early invention of the camera. It does not resemble the telephones or mobile you see everywhere nowadays. The design, style and technology of the telephone have changed dramatically over the years. So much that is was surprising to find out that this was the look and design of first telephone invented. 

What is the technology?20  1min

The telephone consists of two main parts, the transmitter and receiver. The transmitter and receiver each contain a diaphragm, which is a round metal disk. During a phone call, the sound waves of the callers voice cause the diaphragm in the transmitter to vibrate. This motion is transferred along the phone line to the receiver. The receiving diaphragm vibrates according to the speaker’s speech pattern and produces the sound waves that were sent into the transmitter.

Is it new technology? 20

It is a modified version of the telegraph. The purpose of the harmonic telegraph was to transmit several messages over a single telegraph wire at the same time without interference. The main difference was that Bell’s telephone could transmit sound. 

What is it made of?20

The telephone consists of:

Transmitter

Receiver,

Single microphone,

Stationary speaking tube

Wires,

Ranged from glass, ceramics, paper, metals, rubber and plastic

What about it’s style?20   2mins

It is clear that the function and how the person would use the telephone was the main inspiration for the style and look of the phone.  Thomas Edison introduced a model that had a moveable listening earpiece and a stationary speaking tube.

Is it necessary for the technology to take this shape and form?20

No. The evolution of the design of the telephone has transformed over the years and this proves how the shape and form can differ from the original telephone design. As long as there is enough distance between the receiver and transmitter so that the user can hear the caller through the receiver and still be able to talk into the transmitter then it will work successfully. 

What other things could influence the style of the object?20

The main factor that would influence the style would be the user. Age and disabilities would change the style of the phone. For example telephones for the blind and hearing impaired have been created. With the new smart phones you could go hands free and command the virtual assistant to call people, send msg and so on. There are phones with larger buttons and text for older generations. 

Who is the maker of the object?20   3mins

Alexander Graham Bells patent, for his invention of the telephone, was issued on March 7, 1876 by the US patent office. Nowadays there are many companies that create phones such as Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Google, blackberry and so on. 

How was the object invented? 20

Alexander graham bell was in the city of Brantford, Ontario, Canada where he was working on a harmonic telegraph with Watson. A reed struck on Watson’s transmitter and an intermittent current was converted to a continuous current. Bell was able to hear sound on his receiver. This confirmed his belief that sound, could be transmitted and reconverted through an eclectic wire using a continuous electric current. 

What does the object tell you about the person who made it?  20

The object reveals that the creator expressed an interest in speech, hearing and communication. Furthermore this object shows that they were interested in the development of the communication technology at the time. This object allows the user to communicate with another human at a distance. 

How is the object used? 20   4mins

The main function of the telephone is to communicate with another person at a distance. In today’s society, phones have many functions such as researching content online, play music, games, videos and communicating with others. People can text, call, email, send a Snapchat or tweet someone. Society has become accustomed to this distance and uses the phone for their main way of communicating with others. 

 Who are the stakeholders? 20

Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders funded Bell’s invention. Hubbard saw great promise in the harmonic telegraph and backed Bell’s experiments. He agreed that Bell could develop his telephone concept as long as he devoted most of his time to the harmonic telegraph. 

Additionally another main stakeholder is the customer because they have influence over the style, design, function, and features of the telephone. 

In what way is the object valuable? 20

The telephone is considered valuable because it allows communication at a great distance. At the time the telegraph and letters were the main sources for communicating at a distance. With the development of the technology, people could communicate to someone in another town or location.  

Has the object changed in relation to any stakeholder? 20    5mins

Ye,s since the first telephone was created, the customers and competitors have grown. With the growth and development of technology, this product is in demand. The customers and competitors have an influence over the design and technology of the telephone. There are more competitors, which put pressure on phone companies to develop something new for the phone.

The latest phones have virtual assistants, facial recognition, cameras built in and so much more. It’s like a mini computer that fits in your hand. 

Does it have monetary value? 20

According the the Independent.co . UK, The number of active mobile devices is around 7.22 billion. That means there are more phones than people in the world. With phone companies producing new models there is a high revenue income because the phone is in demand. People want the latest technology and are willing to pay a high price for it. 

Cultural context

How the telephone has changed society? 20

The telephone has shaped the way we communicate with one another. With the use of phones you can communicate with another person at a distance. However as a society we have become dependent on the phone and use it as a barrier from other people. We rather communicate through a screen then talk face to face. 

We are alone together 20 6mins

If you look at a group of people at the bus stop or in pub or even look at a group of friends, you are guaranteed to see some of them on their phones. We are slowly loosing our ability to talk to one another and have become socially awkward. We can’t go more than a few minutes without checking our phones. 

Conversation happens in real time 20 

With texting you can control what you want to say and when you want to say it. Furthermore you can edit it and maybe even deleted it. Conversations happen in real-time. There is no editing or deleting and maybe that’s why we fear communicating face to face. 

Filtering conversations 20

As a society we have this need to filter everything. We Photoshop images, manipulate voice recordings and edited what we text until we are satisfied with it. Because of phones we have   this desire to filter how we communicate with one another. We need to learn that you can’t filter real life or real life conversations. 

Future of the telephone 20  7mins

There is no doubt that the technology of the telephone will continue to grow. Younger generations are introduced to phones from as young as baby's because it is used as a distraction. All we can do now is watch our screen to see how we are slowly loosing the ability to communicate with one another. 

What is the style of the object?

It is clear that the function and how the person would use the telephone was the main inspiration for the style and look of the phone.  Thomas Edison introduced a model that had a moveable listening earpiece and a stationary speaking tube.

Is it necessary for the technology to take this shape and form?

No. The evolution of the design of the telephone has transformed over the years and this proves how the shape and form can differ from the original telephone design. As long as there is enough distance between the receiver and transmitter so that the user can hear the caller through the receiver and still be able to talk into the transmitter then it will work successfully. 

What other things could influence the style of the object?

The main factor that would influence the style would be the user. Age and disabilities would change the style of the phone. For example telephones for the blind and hearing impaired have been created. With the new smart phones you could go hands free and command the virtual assistant to call people, send msg and so on. There are phones with larger buttons and text for older generations. 

What does the object tell you about the person who made it?

The object reveals that the creator expressed an interest in speech, hearing and communication. Furthermore this object shows that they were interested in the development of the communication technology at the time. This object allows the user to communicate with another human at a distance. 

Has the object changed in relation to any stakeholders, or have the stakeholders changed in relation to the object?

Since the invention of the first telephone the phone has changed dramatically.

There are many telephone operating companies today.

Here are just a few of the top companies with the highest revenue:

• AT&T
• Desutsche Telekom
• Vodafone
• Orange
• Telekom Italia
• China Telekom
• 3
• Megafon
• and so on.  

Here are a few brands that make phones:

• Apple
• Samsung
• Nokia
• Sony
• Asus
• Google
• Blackberry
• and so on

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_telephone_operating_companies

Each company has their own stakeholders. I believe the object has changed because of the amount of competitors. Each company are trying to match what their competitors have and have an extra feature. The teleology of the phone is constantly being developed.



There is always a comparison between phone brands and features. It's a constant competition.

https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/mobility/head-to-head-apple-iphone-xs-vs-samsung-galaxy-s9/2

What does the object reveal about stakeholders values, beliefs and habits?

"When Bell mentioned to Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders that he was working on a method of sending multiple tones on a telegraph wire using a multi-reed device, the two wealthy patrons began to financially support Bell's experiments."



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Graham_Bell


"Hubbard saw great promise in the harmonic telegraph and backed Bell’s experiments. Bell, however, was more interested in transmitting the human voice. Finally, he and Hubbard worked out an agreement that Bell would devote most of his time to the harmonic telegraph but would continue developing his telephone concept."
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-Graham-Bell


I believe when Hubbard and Sanders invested in Bell's invention they believed this was the next step in the telegraph technology. They could see how a harmonic telegraph would be valuable and it was literally a race to see who could achieve creating a device like this. I imagine they valued the development and evolution of this technology.

Even modern times it's always about the next step in technology. What will be the next feature in telephones.

Consider the view of all the stakeholders and the relationship between each stakeholder and object

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Graham_Bell

Who were the stakeholders?

Bell mentioned to Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders that he was working on a method of sending multiple tones on a telegraph wire using a multi-reed device, the two wealthy patrons began to financially support Bell's experiments.^[76] Patent matters would be handled by Hubbard's patent attorney, Anthony Pollok.^[77]
77-The Telephone Patent Conspiracy of 1876

"With financial support from Sanders and Hubbard, Bell hired Thomas Watson as his assistant,^{[N 14]} and the two of them experimented with acoustic telegraphy"."On June 2, 1875, Watson accidentally plucked one of the reeds and Bell, at the receiving end of the wire, heard the overtones of the reed; overtones that would be necessary for transmitting speech. That demonstrated to Bell that only one reed or armature was necessary, not multiple reeds"

"Bell's patent 174,465, was issued to Bell on March 7, 1876, by the U.S. Patent Office.
 He had agreed to share U.S. profits with his investors Gardiner Hubbard and Thomas Sanders."

The relationship between the stakeholder and the object
Thomas Sanders and Gardiner Hubbard funded Alexander Bell's invention. Because of the financial support that led Bell to hire an assistant. This resulted in the accidental discovery which led to the creation of the first telephone. 

Is it a completely new kind of tech, or and improvement on older tech?

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone he was working on a harmonic telegraph. The primary difference between the harmonic telegraph and Bell's telephone is that it could transmit sound. The purpose of the harmonic telegraph was to make it possible to transmit several messages over a single telegraph wire at the same time without interference.


https://www.americanheritage.com/content/voice-heard-round-world

Since then the telephone has evolved and we now have a portable mobile that has many functions. It's like a mini computer that fits in your pocket. We can take calls from the other side of the world. Send emails and letters to people around the world and more. The technology has improved dramatically since the first telephone but we are always searched for the next new phone that has the latest technology . The newest iPhone has facial recognition to unlock your phone. We can FaceTime people and talk to their face through the screen. We are putting a barrier between each other when communicating with one another.

Monetary value?

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/there-are-officially-more-mobile-devices-than-people-in-the-world-9780518.html

" The GSMA real time tracker puts the number of mobile devices at 7.22 billion whilst  the US Census Bureau says the number of people is still somewhere between 7.19 and 7.2 billion."

This figure shows how much phones are in demand. Companies are constantly developing new models for their customers. They are competing with competitors and the features competitors phones have.

Apple's last iPhone cost over €1000 and people are willing to pay that much for a phone.

How is the object used?

Telephone was first created to transmit sound waves across a wire from a transmitter to a receiver. The telephone has evolved over the years. Nowadays it is used to communicate with people at distance. There are multiple ways one can do this on a phone. They can call, text, email, send a snapchat, tweet even. Phones are used to research anything online, play games, listen to music, read, watch videos and so much more. The Phone has multiple functions.


In society the phone is used in a way to put the user in a bubble and isolate them from others around them. People have become social awkward and automatically go on their phones to avoid communicating with others. We are more familiar with communicating through this device than face to face.

In what way is the object valuable?

I believe this object is valuable because it allows people to communicate from long distances. I have family in New Zealand that I FaceTime every weekend. If telephones didn't exist we would still be relying on letter writing in order to get in contact with someone who lives far away.

I feel as though the telephone/mobile phone brings us closer together but also puts a distance between us. It's like Sherry Turkle said, not too far, not too close, just right. My generation are so used to using our mobile phones that we are almost use them more than actually communicating with the person face to face. I am in my final year so I don't really have time for a social life. I have gone weeks without seeing some of my friends and the only way I am in contact with them is through social media.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to phone. With new technologies your phone is a mini computer with all the information in the world in it. On the other side you start to depend on it. It's glued to you hand and is by you at all times. It's almost like another limb that you can't live without because otherwise you'll feel lost. I was 11 when I got my first phone and my mother was in her 20s when she got her first phone. I remember asking her how did you find out information for projects, etc. She told me she went to the library. With the Internet on your phone you can find out the weather in a country on the other side of the world. I just couldn't imagine a time without the Internet. I asked my grandmother how they got in contact with someone if they wanted to meet up. With phones you could just send a message and get a reply almost instantly. She said they wrote letters or else when they saw each other made a plan to meet up again. It's so bizarre to hear what life was like before technology took over.

What other things could influence the style of the object

I think there are many factors that have influenced the style of the telephone over the years. The first one was created to transmit sound at a distance. I believe when developing the style of the object they had to take into consideration the different types of people using this object. Age, disabilities such as blindness and deafness would have been a factor.

On this website there are many different types of telephones for the blind and people who are hearing impaired. https://assistech.com/store/telephones-for-the-blind-and-visually-impaired

With the new smart phones you can go hands free and command the virtual assistant to call people, send msg, book appointments, send emails and so on.

https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/deaf-blind-woman-first-to-use-new-phone/2777539.html
In 2013 a woman in Australia who is blind and has poor hearing was the first person to use a braille phone.

Ted Talks: Sherry Turkle

https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together#t-1038042

I watched this Ted talk by Sherry Turkle about humans and technology. A lot of the things she was saying were completely true.

The object I chose is the telephone and more specifically the first telephone. I wanted to explore how it was made and its main purpose and how over the years its changed. I believe its original purpose was to communicate at a distance with other people and over the years we have become familiar with this distance and we need this distance (Goldilocks effect). Sherry said that we are "alone together". If you look at a group of people at the bus stop, in a pub, in the canteen you are guaranteed to see people on the phones, possibly with headphones in. Completely isolating themselves from everyone else. I have experienced on the bus, an older person striking up a conversation with me and I really enjoyed it. It never happens with anyone my own age. We are so socially awkward because we are used to communicating through a screen. I don't see most of my friends because I'm busy with college and they have work. Our only form of communicating is on social media. When you are talking on social media you can take as much time as you want replying to them, edit what you are saying. You are literally putting a filter over everything. Even writing this blog post, I'm editing words around.
Sherry stated that "conversations happens  in real time and you can't control what you are going to say."
Now if you grow up spending most of your time communicating on a digital device where you can edit everything you say and post, you won't have the complete confidence to communicate face to face with someone. I know that I get a bit flustered when I'm talking and at the end of the conversation, in my head I'm thinking of how I could have phrased that better.

Another thing Sherry said is that "no-one is listening to me".
I agree with her. I find sometimes when I'm talking to certain people they are bored with what I'm saying. I go on a passionate spiel about a topic or story and the response I get is a bored yeah. Sherry said that we" control where we put our attention". I can read peoples facial expressions, body language and I am well aware when they aren't interested in what I am saying or if they are annoyed with what I am saying. I am in my final year where I am pretty much glued to my laptop working. I don't have time for a social life. Most of the time I find that I am just talking about assignments or modules. Recently I came to the conclusion that people are finding this annoying. So I made the decisions to not talk about college with anyone. But it's all I am doing at the moment so what else can I talk to people about? This goes back to Sherry's point about "no-one listening to me". I feel as though I can't talk about certain topics to people and they are topics I need to talk about. So therefore I post my tweets online where there's "automatic listening".

"We expect more from technology and less from other".

What is the technology?

In previous blog posts I have talked about how the first telephone works. In this post I am going to look at how newer phones work just to show the comparison between the old and new.

Similar to the first phone, the person speaks into the telephone, the sound waves created by their phone enter the mouthpiece. An electric current carries the sound to the telephone of the person you are talking to. the telephone consists of two main part: the transmitter and the receiver.

"The transmitter acts as an electric ear. It lies behind the mouthpiece of the phone. It has a 14 eardrum. The eardrum is a thin, round metal disk called a diaphragm. When a person talks into the phone, the sound waves strike the diaphragm and make it vibrate. The diaphragm vibrates at various speeds, depending on the variations in the air pressure caused by the varying tones of the speakers voice.

Behind the diaphragm lies a small cup filled with tiny grains of carbon. The diaphragm presses against these carbon grains. Low voltage electric current travels through the grains. This current comes from batteries at the telephone company. The pressure on the carbon grains varies as sound waves make the diaphragm vibrate. A loud sound causes the sound waves to push hard on the diaphragm. In turn, the diaphragm presses the grains tightly together. This action makes it easier for the electric current to travel through, and a large amount of electricity flows through the grains. When the sound is soft, the sound waves push lightly on the diaphragm. In turn, the diaphragm puts only a light pressure on the carbon grains. The grains are pressed together loosely. This makes it harder for the electric current to pass through them, and less current flows through the grains 
Thus, the pattern of the sound waves determines the pressure on the diaphragm. This pressure, in turn, regulates the pressure on the carbon grains. The crowded or loose grains cause the electric current to become stronger or weaker. The current copies the pattern of the sound waves and travels over a telephone wire to the receiver of another telephone. For more modern phones that have a telephone answering service, the sound wave is captured on a recording device which allows for the operator of the phone to playback at a later time.

The Receiver serves as an "electric mouth." Like a human voice, it has "vocal cords." The vocal cords of the receiver are a diaphragm. Two magnets located at the edge of the diaphragm cause it to vibrate. One of the magnets is a permanent magnet that constantly holds the diaphragm close to it. The other magnet is an electromagnet. It consists of a piece of iron with a coil of wire wound around it. When an electric current passes through the coil, the iron core becomes magnetized. The diaphragm is pulled toward the iron core and away from the permanent magnet. The pull of the electromagnet varies between strong and weak, depending on the variations in the current. Thus, the electromagnet controls the vibrations of the diaphragm in the receiver.

The electric current passing through the electromagnet becomes stronger or weaker according to the loud or soft sounds. This action causes the diaphragm to vibrate according to the speaker's speech pattern. As the diaphragm moves in and out, it pulls and pushes the air in front of it. The pressure on the air sets up sound waves that are the same as the ones sent into the transmitter. The sound waves strike the ear of the listener and he hears the words of the speaker."

https://www.antiquetelephonehistory.com/telworks.php

What materials is it made of?

http://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_704159
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alexander-Graham-Bell
https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/computers-and-electrical-engineering/electrical-engineering/telephones


The Internet is an endless hole of information and sometimes you don't get the answers you're looking for. Today I tried to find out what materials the first telephone was made out of. The Internet gave me many different answers. This answer appears in more than one website so I hope this is true.

"Bell created a magnetic telephone which was the precursor to modern phones. This design consists of a transmitter, receiver and a magnet. The transmitter and receiver contain a diaphragm which is a metal disk. The vibrations of the callers voice cause the diaphragm in the transmitter to move."

Nowadays phones contain a microphone, an earpiece and are touch screen

Phones have gone through many design changes over the years and they keep getting smaller and more high tech.

At first glance can you tell what this object is?

Alexander Graham Bell Telephone

At first glance can you tell what this object is?

Honestly if I saw this invention with no label, I wouldn't have a clue what it is. My first thought would be to look through what looks like an eyepiece. It looks like an object that you would look through and maybe twist the gold section in the middle to change the focus. The top two images show the same object and the third image shows an additional object which is connected to the top object. If I saw these two objects side by side, I might have a better idea of what it is used for. With the second part of the object I would, once again try and look into the section where he is clearly talking into. If sight is not its intention then I would try my other senses. Hearing is next so I would attempt talking into it which is what it's intended for.

As humans I think we are curious creatures and our method of figuring out what something is, is to test our senses on it. The first is sight, then maybe picking up and touching the object. Next we might use our voices to create sound and talk into it. I doubt we would smell it or lick it but you never know. Depends how curious you are.

The first telephone

Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell is the inventor of the first telephone and received his first patent in 1876. There have been hundreds of lawsuits for copyright but none have been successful. While he was a teacher for the hearing impaired, he was asked by a group of investors to perfect the perfect harmonic telegraph.
A telegraph is a system for transmitting messages from a distance along a wire, especially one creating signals by making and breaking electrical connection. Bell was set on creating a voice transmitting device. On March 7, 1876, Bell was awarded a patent on the first device and 3 days later called his assistant and electrician, Thomas Watson. The famous words were: "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you."

https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/alexander-graham-bell

 How it was made
Bell and Watson were working on a harmonic telegraph. When a reed struck on Watson's transmitter an intermittent current was converted to a continuous current. Bell was able to hear sound on his receiver confirming his belief that sound could be transmitted and reconverted through an electric wire by using a continuous electric current.

The original telephone design that Bell patented was a modified version of a telegraph. The primary difference is that it could transmit sound. Two years later he created a magnetic telephone which is consisted of a transmitter, receiver and a magnet. The transmitter and receiver each contain a diaphragm which is a metal disk. During a phone call, the vibrations of the callers voice cause the diaphragm in the transmitter to move. This motion is transferred along the phone line to the receiver. The receiving diaphragm begins vibrating thus producing sound and completing the call.

Drawbacks
Callers had to shout to overcome noise and voice distortions.
Time-lapse in the transmission.




Solution: The first phones contained a single microphone.
Thomas Edison introduced a model that had a movable listening earpiece and a stationary speaking tube.





Phones nowadays
Telephones still work on the same basic principles. The person picks up the handset and this causes the phone to connect to a routing network. When the numbers are pressed on a touch-tone keypad, signals are sent down the phone line to the routing station. Each digit is recognized as a combination of tone frequencies. The specific number will be sent to another phone and cause it to ring. When the phone is picked up, a connection between the two phones is initiated. The mouthpiece acts a microphone and sound waves from the users voice cause a thin, plastic disk inside the phone to vibrate. This changes the distance between the plastic disk and another metal disk. The intensity of an electric field between the two disks is changed as a result and a varying electric current is sent down the phone line. The receiver on the other phone picks up this current. As it enters the receiver, it passes through a set of electromagnets. These magnets cause a metal diaphragm to vibrate. This vibration reproduces the voice that initiated the current. An amplifier in the receiver makes it easier to hear. When one of the phones is hung up the electric current is broken, causing all of the routing connections to be released.

Materials
Range from glass, ceramics, paper, metals, rubber and plastic. 
Primary components on circuit board are made of silicon. 
Outer is made of a strong, high-impact resistant polymer.
Speakers require magnetic materials.
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-5/Telephone.html

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. I will be talking about my object analysis for my digital culture module in this blog. There are a few possibilities I could choose from that I am interested in. One is a virtual reality head wear, another is a camera and the last is a telephone. The one I am leaning towards more is the telephone and the evolution of the telephone.

 Before I even research anything about the telephone my understanding of it is that it was created to allow humans to communicate with one another from a distance, but we have become so familiar with that distance that we are relying on the phone to communicate with others than actually communicate face to face with someone. I definitely do this! I avoid answering the land line and hate talking on the phone. I rather send a long text MSG then tell the person in a voice call. Therefore I am curious to research this behaviour. I am interest in exploring how the telephone actually works and additionally its cultural context.