In the 1870s, Elisha Gray and Alexander Graham Bell independently designed devices that could transmit speech electrically.
Both men rushed their respective designs for these prototype telephones to the patent office within hours of each other. Bell patented his telephone first and later emerged the victor in a legal dispute with Gray.
The first regular telephone exchange was established in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1878. Early telephones were leased in pairs to subscribers. The subscriber was required to put up his own line to connect with another.
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In the 1970s, the very first cordless phones were introduced, and in 1973 Motorola introduced the first hand-held cellular phone, although they were expensive and cumbersome, and had extremely limited range.
In 1983, Martin Cooper is credited with developing the first cell phone approved for commercial use.
By 1993, the IBM Simon was released, and considered the first smartphone. It acted as a mobile phone, PDA, and fax machine all in one. It offered a touch screen, which is the precursor to the Apple iPhone which would come 14 years later. It sold for $899.
With the evolution of the phone over the years, many people have become more reliant on their cell phones, and fewer numbers of people remain connected to a “landline.”