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Telephone

Two unidentified telephones

Antonio Meucci

The telephone or phone is a telecommunications device designed to transmit speech by means of electric signals. It was invented around 1860 by Antonio Meucci who called it teletrophone, as recently recognized by the US Congress in the resolution 269 on June 15th, 2002. Before that resolution it was generally attributed to Alexander Graham Bell. The first recorded public demonstration of Meucci's invention took place in 1860, and had a description of it published in New York's Italian language newspaper. --http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone

See also

sounds, music, and voice.

Cyberspace is the place where a long distance telephone call takes place [...]

Q: "Is there any situation when people actually enter cyberspace?"
A: "Well, you know, I think in a very real sense cyberspace is the place where a long distance telephone call takes place. Actually it's the place where any telephone call takes place and we take that very much for granted." --William Gibson, November 23, 1994

"Cyberspace is the `place` where a telephone conversation appears to occur. Not inside your actual phone, the plastic device on your desk. Not inside the other person's phone, in some other city. _The_place_between_ the phones. The indefinate place _out_there_, where the two of you, human beings, actually meet and communicate." --Bruce Sterling [The Hacker Crackdown]

Ericofon

Ericofon, introduced in 1956

The Ericofon is a "cult" telephone handset created by Ericsson. It was designed in the late 1940s by a design team including Gösta Thames, Ralph Lysell and Hugo Blomberg. A specific feature of the telephone is that the plastic cover is molded in one piece, and it is considered a landmark in plastic industrial design. The serial production began in 1954. The earlier models were only sold to institutions, but in 1956 production for the open market begun in Europe and Australia. In Sweden it is known as the cobra telephone, due to its similarity with the serpent.

Bell Telephone Laboratories would initially not allow the introduction of the Ericofon to USA, but it soon became a best selling model. When it was introduced on the USA market, it was available in 18 different colors, but after subsequent transfer of the production to North Electric, the number of colors were reduced to 8.

The first Ericofons were entirely mechanical, whereas later versions were increasingly electronic. In 1967 a push-button version was introduced, called the TouchTone, and a later redesign attempt, the 700 model, was never very successful. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ericofon [Nov 2005]

See also: cult objects - telephone

Films with prominent role for telephone

1. Phone Booth (2002) - Joel Schumacher [Amazon US] [FR] [DE] [UK]
   By some lucky quirk of fate, Phone Booth landed on Hollywood's A-list, but this thriller should've been a straight-to-video potboiler directed by its screenwriter, veteran schlockmeister Larry Cohen, who's riffing on his own 1976 thriller God Told Me To. Instead it's a pointless reunion for fast-rising star Colin Farrell and his Tigerland director, Joel Schumacher, who employs a multiple-image technique similar to TV's 24 to energize Cohen's pulpy plot about an unseen sniper (maliciously voiced by 24's Kiefer Sutherland) who pins his chosen victim (a philandering celebrity publicist played by Farrell) in a Manhattan phone booth, threatening murder if Farrell doesn't confess his sins (including a mistress played by Katie Holmes in a thankless role). In a role originally slated for Jim Carrey, Farrell brings vulnerable intensity to his predicament, but Cohen's irresistible premise is too thin for even 88 brisk minutes, which is how long Schumacher takes to reach his morally repugnant conclusion. --Jeff Shannon for amazon.com

2. Denise Calls Up [1VHS Amazon US]
   Never judge a book by it's cover-that's what you learn from watching this trendy little grinfest. Although it's quite brief and it's got a cast of unknowns-it succeeds. In my opinion, a movie is a winner if it delivers effects that it's genre promises. For example, a horror movie is good if it scares you-a drama is good if it makes you cry or at least grabs your full attention. This parody of human communications IS funny, and it has the power to KEEP you staying in tune with the storyline. So many things happen in the characters' lives and we learn this by listening to dozens of brief phone conversations. With it's amusing subplots and charismatic characters, you will like this film. - Emily Price for amazon.com

   More films

   Telephone: Bells Are Ringing (1960), Denise Calls Up (1996), Pillow Talk (1959) , Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

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