History of the telephone in the United States information
The telephone played a major communications role in American history from the 1876 publication of its first patent by Alexander Graham Bell onward. In the 20th century, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) dominated the telecommunication market as the at times largest company in the world, until it was broken up and replaced by a system of competitors. Originally targeted at business users and upscale families, by the 1920s the "phone" became widely popular in the general population. Ordinary people either subscribed to telephone service themselves, or used a telephone in the neighborhood, including public pay telephones. Long-distance service was metered and much more expensive than local, flat-rate calling. Ordinary Americans contacted businesses, friends, and relatives. Business-to-business communication was important, and increasingly displaced telegrams.[1]
The technology steadily advanced. Starting around the turn of the century, the dial telephone allowed users to place calls themselves without operator assistance. By mid-century, mobile radio telephone service became available to free users from fixed locations in some cities. The arrival of the smartphone in the early 21st century provided every user a small mobile computer with microphone and speaker, that was bundled with powerful features, such as cameras and Internet access by operation of apps. It could easily send text messages, which tended to displace voice calls.[2]
In 1890, 1 percent of U.S. households owned at least one telephone while a majority did by 1946 and 75 percent did by 1957.[3][4] In 2002, a majority of U.S. survey respondents reported having a mobile phone.[5] In January 2013, a majority of U.S. survey respondents reported owning a smartphone.[6]
^John Brooks, Telephone: The first hundred years (Harper & Row, 1976). online
^Alan J. Reid, "A brief history of the smartphone." in Reid, The Smartphone Paradox: Our Ruinous Dependency in the Device Age (2018): 35–66.
^Putnam, Robert D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 167. ISBN 978-0684832838.
^Putnam, Robert D. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 217. ISBN 978-0684832838.
^Tuckel, Peter; O'Neill, Harry (2005). Ownership and Usage Patterns of Cell Phones: 2000–2005 (PDF) (Report). JSM Proceedings, Survey Research Methods Section. Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association. p. 4002. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
^"Demographics of Mobile Device Ownership and Adoption in the United States". Pew Research Center. 7 April 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
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