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What Is A Phone, Anyway?
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Back when I was a kid, I pretty much took for granted that a telephone looked something like this:
However, what we consider a telephone has changed quite a bit. According to Wikipedia:
The telephone (from the Greek words tele (τηλέ) = far and phone (φωνή) = voice) is a telecommunications device that is used to transmit and receive sound (most commonly speech), usually two people conversing but occasionally three or more. It is one of the most common household appliances in the world today. Most telephones operate through transmission of electric signals over a complex telephone network which allows almost any phone user to communicate with almost anyone.
Or to quote Merriam-Webster's Dictionary:
an instrument for reproducing sounds at a distance; specifically : one in which sound is converted into electrical impulses for transmission (as by wire)
With these definitions in mind, let's see if these conventional definitions hold up with objects in today's world.
First, let's look at the cordless phone we use at home. Yes, it does part of it's job wirelessly, but it still transmits and receives sound from a third party.
How about a mobile phone, such as my Nokia N95? While it has a ton of other features, I make and receive calls to the same telephone network my cordless handset uses. Furthermore, calls can go over WiFi using SIP to connect with a third party VoIP service.
How about a computer or a device like a Nokia Internet Tablet? It can also be a phone. If you have a headset and VoIP software such as Skype or the voip.com softphone, you can make and receive calls to the same telephone network as your landline phone, with the added benefit that in many cases, it's cheaper.
So what is a phone? Does it really matter as long as we're all connected and can all communicate on the same telephone network?
Image from Alejandro The Great
