THE INTRO

As much as humans seek to be independent, there is always at least a tiny little urge to communicate and reach out to the world, as no one is an island that can exist alone. Humans' needs to communicate dates back to time immemorial. This series-wise piece takes us down memory lane and offers a sneak peek into how humans have communicated over time and how these means of communication have evolved over decades.
Before crashing into history, I'd like to introduce two Greek words: "tele" meaning remote and "fonos" meaning sound. Crudely put together gives "remote sound" which is exactly what a telephone gives to its users!

Long ago, as far back as the 1600s, the need to send voice messages arose among various parties including warriors, chieftains and even lovers. During those eras, communication was actualized based on the theory of mechanical vibrations in strings, pipes and wires, developed by Robert Hooke in 1664. This theory gave rise to the invention of the ACOUSTIC STRING PHONE.

Two diaphragms serving as transmitter and receiver, connected via a taut string or wire are the essential components of the acoustic string phone. Voices spoken into one end of the diaphragm cause air around it to vibrate. These air vibrations are then propagated as waves through the string. At the other end of the string, the air vibrations reach a dead end (the other diaphragm) and cause sound to be heard at the receiving diaphragm. Thus creating a simple mechanism for communicating over distances. This means of communication was effective for distances of about half a mile (approximately 800 m).

At greater distances, the device was less effective as the air vibrations began to dwindle, a phenomenon known as attenuation; whereby the intensity of the vibrations reduces as the distance of propagation increases. Due to the relatively short distance limit, coupled with the rising need for farther distances voice dissemination, the acoustic string phones were soon commercially replaced. Already, it had made its mark as the first improvisation for communication and what's more, it serves as toys and mini communication kits for kids, till this present day. Surprisingly, it was a mechanical device. This goes against the usual belief of telephones being strictly electrical devices.


To know more about the replacements for the acoustic string phones, be sure to make it a date with us next week as we bring the next in series of the EVOLUTION OF TELEPHONE...Thanks for reading!