PHONE CALLS

Telephone

It is amazing to sit back and look at the world of electronics and electricity has taken society.  If ya wanted to talk with someone years ago, hook the horse up and ride over and talk with the neighbor.  Then came the talking machine, ring, ring…. Hi .. is this Alexander?  With some effort and the aid of singing wires, you could talk to your neighbor in the next town.  The isolation of life was coming to an end and soon the singing wires would reach round the world. 

During WWII, communications was critical among the troops and their commanders.  Phone lines were difficult to lay, so radio communications was polished up and information was radioed back to headquarters’ via various relays.  At the end of the war, lots of this new technology became available to the public. 

One could pick up the phone and dial directly without having to call Maggie the operator first to connect ya to Mildred.  With transcontinental cables one could make phone calls from coast to coast.  The singing wires of the telegraph no longer had a monopoly on communications.  The phone allowed people to make phone calls in the comfort of their homes.  News from around the world was almost instantaneous...   

Technology was transforming how society interacted.  The war had created massive machines of destruction but it had also brought machines to change how people lived.  Before the war, a telephone was a luxury item.  After the war, mass production and the stringing of more lines, the phone became available to all at an affordable price. 

This was also the beginning of the computer age.  Look where that has taken us.  Our phone is now personal, wireless, television, video calls and world wide web is available. 

Until the phone came along, letters the primary method of correspondence and dispatches.  Even with the telegraph, one had to write out the message and because of the rates, words were few and very precise.  The pen is still around but writing has lost is glamour.  The art of letter writing is becoming a dim memory.  One can pull out their phone, send a text, e-mail, video call of just a phone call.  Even conversation is less and less, with texting. 

There were dramatic changes after the war but they have not slowed down.