Watson

“Surely, when he was home, he worked on his invention saying, in his first call, 'Mr. Watson – come here – I want to see you.'”

Many intermediaries.

“Sherlock Holmes worked on his cases with Dr. Watson and wanted him to see some hair.”

The game of “Telephone” is based on the idea – no, the reality – that when people pass on to others what they have heard, the message gets altered. Sometimes beyond the point of recognizability. Gossip and rumors are natural outgrowths of this problem. The current reality is that often the sound on telephones is so poorⁱ that the messages are not understood.

That's the good news. The proliferation of notepads, portable telephones, and Skype, along with the social media, has made it possible to spread misinformation to the entire world, not just to a group of giggling children. False information can circle the globe rapidly, and correcting it is not as easy as spreading it.

The telephone's history prior to he internet is fascinating. Not only were there real varieties, like two cans and some string, but also the imagined – at least at the time – like Dick Tracy's Two Way Wrist Radio.ⁱⁱ However, although there were experimental models for the transmission of sound, the first practical model of what we now call the “telephone”ⁱⁱⁱ was developed by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. He is famous for summoning his assistant on it^iv as the first example of its actual use.

But, as I have noted, much has happened since then, and we now live in an age when almost everyone in the country, including children, carries a telephone around. I'm not sure if having the device immediately available gives them a sense of security, but I am sure that it deprives them all of privacy. Not that people want that anymore. With social media of various sorts there is an urge to inflict their private lives on everyone else and, for reasons that are completely beyond me, everyone else looks.^v

Even more frightening is the tableau that meets our eyes as we walk down the street. No one's eyes meet ours because they are all focused on the contents of their hands: electronic devices, apps, and texts. Some even use the instruments as telephones, although that has receded into being a secondary function.^vi But, by whatever means, it seems to be necessary always to be in contact with someone else. Earbuds and isolation are the order of the day. Telephone calls and texting may be significant contributors to motor vehicle accidents and deaths, but that information is not likely to have any effect on those responsible. After all, they only happen to someone else.

I know almost nothing about economics, so I probably shouldn't be commenting on this subject. But that certainly won't stop me. To use my personal lack of knowledge as a criterion would be subjectivity, and I'm nothing if not objective. (I'll leave time at this point for your individual musings.)

You can't go anywhere nowadays without seeing people on the telephone. Nor can you escape the advertisements for various telephone and texting plans or the ubiquitous apps that you must have in order to keep up with modern society. Add to that the cost of satellite, cable, or other television and internet service and the average family is probably paying for several communications packages – enriching the providers and draining personal savings.

One might argue that such a drain is bad for the economy in addition to being an unnecessary luxury, but another approach is that this creates jobs and keeps the money moving. As I said, I'm not an economist and not the one to answer those questions. But I do suspect that, for the economic better or worse, expenditures which may extend into the thousands every year are causing people to feel poor and resent the ones who are receiving the money. Well, not all those receiving the money – not the installers, linemen, office workers, and the like – but certainly the executives of communication firms.

As for privacy, forget it. In addition to the senseless material that so many post nowadays, there's also some significant data available to those tapping our lines and to hackers around the world.^vii The only privacy that exists is the experience of blotting out the rest off the world^viii when the earbuds are inserted.

Am I a troglodyte? Do I yearn for a return to the past? Perhaps in some ways. But I'm not a Luddite. I haven't destroyed an electronic device all week, although I may, in the future, find it necessary to put some of them out of their misery if I am to maintain my own sanity.^ix Most of all I long for the days when people only talked when they had something significant to say, and when you could occasionally believe what you were told – if you cared.

Alexander Graham Bell moved society forward with his work. Or was it back?

Next episode: “As Luck Would Have It” – Growing old and golden.

I       However helpful the apps.

ii       Which first appeared in 1946.

iii      Definition of the term from the Online Etymological Dictionary: 1835, "system for conveying words over distance by musical notes" (devised in 1828 by French composer Jean-François Sudré (1787-1862); each tone played over several octaves represented a letter of the alphabet), from French téléphone (c.1830), from télé- "far" .... Sudré's system never proved practical. Also used of other apparatus early 19c., including "instrument similar to a foghorn for signaling from ship to ship" (1844). The electrical communication tool was first described in modern form by Philip Reis (1861); developed by Scottish-born inventor Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), and so called by him from 1876.

iv      Alexander Graham Bell: notebook entry of March 10, 1876, describing his first success with the telephone. He spoke through the instrument to his assistant, Thomas A. Watson, in the next room. "I then shouted into M [the mouthpiece] the following sentence: 'Mr. Watson – come here – I want to see you.' To my delight he came and declared that he had heard and understood what I said." We are asked to assume that he heard through the instrument, not simply because someone in the next room was shouting. OK. Sounds plausible. I'll buy it.

v        Heaven help us if there is a problem with the internet; if, as a result, we're not all connected. How will we know all that's going on. Not that most of it matters.

vi       Of course if you call a commercial firm you're not likely to get anyone. Only voice activation and simulated speech. It's hard to get a live person anymore. But remember, “Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line. It will be answered in the order received.”

vii      I won't discuss the relationship of hacking and cyber war for the moment, but it's becoming a major battlefield.

viii     And any contemplation or thought in general.

ix       I suspect questions of the sanity of others have crossed your mind as they have mine when seeing someone walking alone but talking. It might be that he's on the telephone or he may be bonkers.