In 2018, the first millennials will come of age. They grew up in a world where the wireless mobile phone has long become commonplace, most of them are accustomed to treating a landline telephone with a rotary dial as exotic. And those whose childhood and youth were spent in the “pre-mobile era” perfectly remember the advantages and disadvantages of such devices. Let's remember the features of such devices, and also find out the history of their appearance.
History of telephones
Humanity has always dreamed of finding a way to quickly transfer information. The first great breakthrough in this area was the invention of the telegraph. Inspired by this device, many dreamed of a device that would transmit not only signals, but also sound.
For the first time, the concept of a telephone and its name (a combination of the Greek words for "far" and "voice") were coined by a French mechanical engineerCharles Boursel in the middle of the 19th century. However, he did not go beyond theory.
The first device that can be considered a telephone in the usual sense for us was invented in 1860 by the American Antonio Meucci. Being a pioneer in this field, Meucci tried to patent his invention, but Alexander Bell, who until 2002 was considered the designer of the first telephone, was ahead of him. Not only was he an excellent inventor, but also a great businessman, Bell managed to make a fortune on the phone. For many years he was a leader in this field. This was achieved not only due to the original ideas of the scientist himself, but also due to the fact that his company successfully bought up and implemented the ideas and patents of others.
The first telephones were connected directly to each other. Because of this, subscribers could not call anyone else, which was very impractical. In the future, all devices began to be connected to the central station, in which telephone operators distributed calls by numbers. Over time, this system became automated.
Invention of rotary telephones
The world owes the appearance of the disk apparatus to the paranoia of an undertaker from Kansas City named Almon Strowger. During the next crisis, he decided that the decrease in the number of his clientele was due to the fact that a bribed telephone operator connects all callers to Strowger's office with his competitors. Whether he was right or wrong, history is silent, however, in order to protect himself, the undertaker began to look for a way to call without intermediaries.
After six years of work on this project, in 1897 Almon Strowger's company introduced the world's first working rotary telephone. The success of his invention was colossal, and soon the undertaker's company became a serious competitor to Bell's company. However, Strowger had lost interest in his idea by that time. Having profitably sold his patents, he retired.
The first rotary telephones did not have finger holes. Instead of them, special teeth were present on the apparatus. Only since 1902 did the usual holes appear, and at that time they occupied almost the entire circumference of the disk.
Later, Alexander Bell's company bought Strowger's patents and began to produce new-style devices.
The appearance of a rotary telephone in the USSR
In the Soviet Union, the first devices with rotary dialing were introduced by order of V. I. Lenin in 1918 in the Kremlin. They were part of the government's secret communications system and were called "turntables". This term is still used to this day in the sense of "the boss's phone."
Until 1968, in the USSR, subscriber numbers were hybrid, for this reason, not only ten digits (0-9), but also letters (A, B, C, D, D, E, F, I, K, L).
Throughout the existence of the Soviet Union, communication devices have always been in short supply, however, as well as getting your own subscriber number.
In the early eighties, devices with a disk set gradually began to be replaced by push-button analogues. Most often they were imported.production.
In the nineties, an avalanche of push-button telephones from China poured into the expanses of the former USSR, which were simpler and more convenient than their disk counterparts. Over the course of a decade, the latter were almost completely ousted from use. And with the advent of mobile and CDMA communications, landline telephony generally began to lose ground.
What is pulse dialing and how is it different from tone dialing
The main difference between a disk phone and a push-button phone was the mechanical method of dialing - pulse. Its essence is that each of the digits is transmitted to the PBX using a series of closing / opening of the telephone line - pulses. Their number corresponds to the number selected on the disk. In order to separate the number of impulses of one number from another, longer pauses were left between them. This principle is similar to tapping Morse code.
In push-button landlines and mobile phones, everything is much simpler, here communication uses tones of different frequencies for each digit.
Key or dial: which is faster
In addition to the tone signal, the rotary phone is inferior to the push-button and in the speed of communication with the subscriber.
The fact is that in a device with keys, the desired number is dialed in a matter of seconds by simply pressing the buttons. In the case of a rotary telephone, more time is needed. The fact is that to set each of the numbers, you have to turn the dial all the way and wait until it returns to its original position.
Modern analogue
Although today rotary dialing machines are only found in some state organizations (which do not have the funds to replace them), as well as among the elderly, in recent years they have begun to become popular again. But not because of their functional features (in this category they have long been obsolete), but because of the promoted love for antiques.
Submitting to modern trends, many companies today resumed the production of retro disc phones. There is also a whole line of accessories with a disk device for smartphones, as well as programs that mimic this device.
It is worth noting that this demand is just a tribute to fashion and nothing more, since the push-button device is still superior to the rotary phone in all respects.
