Diffusion of Innovations

 The Telephone 

The telephone is one invention that changed the world and opened a wide world of communication. Before the invention of telephones, we used the postal service, carrier pigeons, newspapers, and telegraphs to communicate and get our information. In 1876 the first telephone was invented by alexander graham bell although he was not the first inventor to come up with the idea of a talking telegraph. The telephone was invented to improve the capabilities of the telegraph.

The invention of the telephone caught on and spread so quickly because the telephone allowed for faster and more efficient communication. Before the invention, mostly used telegraphs to communicate which took a lot longer to get the message to the receiver unlike how the telephone is instant. There were early adopters for these reasons as well. 

The invention of the telephone shocked the world because now anyone could talk to anyone instantly no matter the distance. Another reason people adopted the invention so quickly is because it was expensive to send a short telegraph somewhere that wouldn't reach the intended receiver for weeks or even months. The telephone was a single larger that expense that allowed consumers to talk as much as they want with no additional cost. 

After the telephone was invented, there was a huge debate on whether the technology could cause harmful health effects which is still an on going debate today. For this reason many people were late adopters. 

Even though about 90% of the world owns a cell phone today, some are still concerned for their health so they won't use a telephone. Another reason that some people won't adopt the telephone is because they value face to face conversation and not digital conversations. 

Some negative impacts of the telephone include the telephone allows for someone to get in touch with you anytime they want which some don't like, the later invention of cellphones caused wrecks from distracted driving, face to face communication was declined, and the telephone can interrupt your focus of what is going on right in front of you. 

The benefits of the telephone outweigh the negatives of the invention because the telephone allowed for quicker and more communication throughout the world. The invention also allowed businesses to grow and network by they could now quickly talk to other businesses.