Using a telephone is only partly shaped by what the instrument itself is like. Much more it's about what happens when you lift the receiver. Who is on the other end - and how do you reach them?
That part of the experience has changed out of all recognition since the early days.
There are always at least two layers of telephone conversation. The first is the one you have with the people you're calling - the second is the one you have with the people operating the network.
The telephone came to people more than they came to the telephone. The initial priority of the GPO in the 19th century was to extend the telegraph to every village. This was the ABC system and took more than 30 years to ...
For decades the telephone kiosk - or telephone box as it soon became known - was not so much the telephone you used when you were out and about. For people who didn't have their own telephones at home - in other words, ...
The telephone has been a lifesaver from the outset. For the first time people at risk in homes or offices were able to call for help without having to run out to the street.
Another constant theme of life with the telephone is stopping the thing from ruling your life.
From the outset, people have gone to various lengths to find ways of not ...