Early Telephones
Experimentation and the first networks
The earliest telephones were, from a technical point of view, extremely diverse, as there was still a huge element of experimentation going on to determine the best technologies. Early phones derived their power from a local battery. This lasted until the twentieth century, when the power began to be transmitted over the wires from the telephone exchange.
Many of the earliest phones also only have one wire for both the transmission and reciept of audio messages. Therefore people were required to alternate between listening and speaking via the same aperture – and to take turns speaking to avoid drowning each other out.
At first, the pre-existing telegraph network was not exploited, and customers wishing to have a telephone connection would need to buy two or more telephones, one for each required location, and then arrange for lines to be fixed between them, without the possibility of calling others’ lines.
