Telephone

Telephone

The telephone, or phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other. Developed in the mid-1870s by Alexander Graham Bell and others, the telephone has long been considered indispensable to businesses, households and governments, is now one of the most common appliances in the developed world. The word "telephone" has been adapted to many languages and is now recognized around the world.

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Famous quotes containing the word telephone:

    Men will not give up their privilege of helplessness without a struggle. The average man has a carefully cultivated ignorance about household matters—from what to do with the crumbs to the grocer’s telephone number—a sort of cheerful inefficiency which protects him better than the reputation for having a violent temper.
    Crystal Eastman (1881–1928)

    My sole inspiration is a telephone call from a director.
    Cole Porter (1893–1964)

    But even in a telephone booth
    evil can seep out of the receiver
    and we must cover it with a mattress,
    and then tear it from its roots
    and bury it,
    bury it.
    Anne Sexton (1928–1974)