On this edition of “This Week in Tech History”, we head back to the 19th century to remember the invention of the telephone. Also, CDs give us a new way to listen to music.
This was a big week in tech history for Alexander Graham Bell. First This week in 1876 – He ‘rang’ up a patent for his invention, the telephone. It was an invention, incidentally, that almost bankrupted his company in the beginning.
A year later, in 1877 – Emile Berliner came up with a thing called the microphone. Good thing, too, because the Bell System — run by Alexander Graham Bell, of course — was in desperate need of something to help the progress of the telephone.
Then, in 1885 – The American Telephone & Telegraph Company is incorporated in New York by Alexander Graham Bell. 133 years later, after going through numerous divestitures, mergers and name changes, AT&T is still around.
This week in 1983 – After being available only in Japan, Compact discs and players were released for the first time in the United States and other markets.
And this week in 2017 – Nintendo released the hybrid Nintendo Switch video game console worldwide to critical acclaim, later becoming the fastest selling console in the United States.