The Idiots Guide
Sometimes it's about "ADULTING" enough for the day, and other times it's about Keeping a job, Feeding the family, Educating the kids, and Buying the stuff.
Most of us were taught how to read, write, and math good.
But never taught how to file taxes, change a tire, or cook a meal.
How in the world have we survived?
Well, have no fear, the Idiots are here to guide you.
We don't know much more about all the stuff but we might be just a little further down the road than you.
Make no mistake, most of our advice is more like don't try this at home.
Hope it helps!
The Idiots Guide
What If Telecom Was Never Invented Ep74 TIG
What if the very fabric of our society could be traced back to a few beeps and boops? Join us on the Idiot's Guide as we unravel the riveting history of telecommunications. From the game-changing invention of the telegraph by Samuel Morse, complete with its secret languages and code, to the monumental leap of the 1858 transatlantic cable, we decode how these early innovations forever altered industries like news and warfare. As we reflect on these milestones, we also draw parallels with today's digital lexicon, where emojis and texting have become the new Morse code.
Have you ever wondered why we answer the phone with "hello"? Dive into the quirky origins of the telephone, as we shift from Samuel Morse to Alexander Graham Bell's iconic invention. From whimsical initial greetings like "ahoy hoy" to the evolution of communication devices—from manual switchboards to the rotary phones of yesteryear, and finally to the cell phones that now rule our pockets—we recount the playful pranks and the gradual disappearance of home phones. This journey offers a nostalgic look at how personal communication has undergone a radical makeover.
Fast-forward to today's tech-saturated world, where we marvel at the instantaneous connections made possible by tools like FaceTime and Zoom. We talk about the perks and pitfalls of modern telecommunications, from the convenience of digital resources replacing physical libraries to the darker side of screen addiction and social media-induced divides. Imagine a world untouched by these advances—how would science, emergency responses, or even our daily lives change without real-time information? This episode invites you to appreciate how far we've come and to ponder the integral role telecommunications play every day.
Today on the Idiot's Guide, we are talking about one of the most transformative inventions in human history the telegraph. From the first dot and dash to the infinite scroll of smartphones, telecommunications has revolutionized how we connect, how we share and how we live how we share and how we live. But how did we get here, what milestones shaped this journey and how has this invention impacted society along the way? Oh, and here's a fun twist what if we never had telecommunications in the first place? So stick around as we explore the past, the present and the potential future of staying connected. Let's dash, dash, dot, dash, dash, dash. That says go.
Speaker 1:I'm your host, Adam Richardson, aka the Profit Hacker, and I'm joined by the man in charge, Mr Joe Haslam. Welcome to the Idiot's Guide. So around the time that um electricity we're talking about the exploration of battery stuff and like early, early electronic event inventions, inventions kind of this was. This was a really early um mechanism that they were able to figure out, I guess, like how they could use electrical signals to send a type of uh signal that that was very similar to visual signals that we would use like like smoke signals or light signals, when you were, like you know, using a form of communication, but using it in a sense of um, I don't know this one, but a semaphore. Do you know what that is? Yeah, okay, I don't know what a semaphore is. What's a semaphore?
Speaker 2:semaphore is flag, what's?
Speaker 1:a semaphore. Semaphore is flag. Oh, okay, all right. All right, so you have, like you know, when you're waving a flag, you see those medieval movies where they're like, oh, he's waving a flag, he's giving up. There's the white flag. Whatever you know, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Or they wave the flag like in the movie. You're a MF4? Nope, I never used flags. I mean, I guess you were Army. What does that have to do with it? Navy. Oh okay, naval ships.
Speaker 1:Naval ships in order to communicate.
Speaker 2:No, they would not wave a flag, so you would have two flags.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And depending on where your arms were, in different directions, you would have different letters, and so you would send a communication in essentially Morse code. Never, so you know A, b, c, d, et cetera, based on where the flag is. That's semaphore.
Speaker 1:Yeah, my closest understanding of semaphore is NASCAR. That's it. So that's where you get for me, but America, anyway. So we made progress With the invention of electricity. Now you could basically take an idea like that, where you're using those signals, that you're doing visual signals, whether it's with a lantern or with smoke or with flags, and translate that into Morse code is what that's called Samuel Morse's roll in 1837, the first practical telegraph system and really the revolutionary Morse code. Essentially, and to this day, morse code is, you know, still still used in certain circumstances and still a viable means of communicating without uh options of other elements like verbal communication or audio commercial. You know that. That those elements it is at its basic form, if you know, this is again a Hollywood trick, but you tap on the side of a hole and they'll hear the Morse code that you're saying. We are trapped in here. How's the weather out there? It's not even funny, you're not even laughing. Jeez Louise, tough crowd. Anyway.
Speaker 1:Telegraph cables connected continents, shrinking the world and revolutionizing industries like news, business, warfare, all of those abilities I mean you know, the transatlantic cable was 1858 to think about, like running electricity across an ocean. You think about now that you know there's lots of those now, but but all the way back then, being able to drop a cable. This isn't like it's floating on the surface across the water. It's dropping a cable down into the ocean and letting it be, you know, possibly on a sea floor, I don't know if it floats at some depth, but I'm thinking about one. The amount of cable that is, and this being achieved in 1858, around the time that motor vehicles are being, you know, like this, is insane to me that that's possible. But it is and it was possible and it made it so that our communication, intercontinental-wise, was actually happening at this point. Wild to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you no longer had to wait, you know, a month to get that love letter. Now you could just send a quick telegram in coded Morse code Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep dot. Beep, beep, beep. Well, I mean you'd send the Morse code message and it would say Hi, how are you? I'm purple, and it would be some kind of code so that your Victorian parents wouldn't understand what you're trying to say to your lover.
Speaker 1:Are you talking about Gen Z language?
Speaker 2:That would be the version back then. I mean, they had the fan language. There were a lot of different secret languages going on back then, but it's like the Gen z stuff of that generation, yeah, yeah, and so you, you try to keep. So you'd send a telegram instead of a letter, but it would still be in your coded message, like we still use this today with flowers. Okay, send a yellow rose versus a red rose versus a white rose versus a blue rose, even in text messages.
Speaker 1:If I do a heart, there are specific heart colors that I will heart for specific things. Yeah, you know.
Speaker 2:So yeah, it's a secret language. I don't understand emoji language. I send things and I.
Speaker 1:You pay the consequences of those things, the biggest one, I said.
Speaker 2:I see these memes all the time. You see a thumbs up come back from someone. That means they're either old or they're mad at you.
Speaker 1:Really, yes, wow, I didn't know that because I have thumbs up a lot.
Speaker 2:We're old.
Speaker 1:We're getting a nod from our Gen Z or whatever, gen X, gen A, are you Gen Z or Gen A? Oh, he's like the middle, he's a Gen Zaw.
Speaker 2:But yeah, I mean, so you do the thumbs up and that either tells him you're old, Because apparently this is like some passive, aggressive, like whatever in real Gen Z communication, and so when we send that, I mean back in the nineties, it's like, yeah, all right, you know, but now it's like whatever. So, yeah, secret language Anyway.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, this paved the way of our modern telecommunications even to this day. But I think one of the things that possibly was also the thing is you have global connectivity that's happening here, which also means potential cooperation, which also means facilitating imperialism and economic dominance, which there are elements of that. That might be positive, but for the most part you're just trying to have world dominating order and that's not healthy for anyone. You know no.
Speaker 2:So I just had this conversation with my daughter last night.
Speaker 1:So, instead of it looking like, communication is the downfall of all humanity, it is an element for us to have good dialogue so that we don't fall into world dominating orders, you know, and?
Speaker 2:yeah, how are you?
Speaker 1:healthy communication and healthy thinking means that we don't follow certain actions, but before we send that next signal, take a moment and hit that like button and subscribe to the podcast. It's a small gesture for you but a giant leap for keeping this conversation going. And don't forget, don't forget to comment what's your favorite communication milestone. I mean, do you even care? Do you even know what a milestone is? Let's keep going, anyway. Wow, these are bad today. They're bad, they're terrible, aren't they? So now we go into less radio, or maybe a little bit of like when you think about radio. Ok, you move from telegraph, where you're beep, beep, boop, bop boop, beep, boop, bop boop all the time. Ok, and then you go to voice communicating. So you have the radio, the ham radio, right, and then you have then the telephone, the invention of the telephone. Who? Alexander Graham Bell, good old Bell. Do you have another protest about that guy being not the inventor of the phone?
Speaker 2:No, I mean, the only problem I have with Bell is his ahoy hoy. What?
Speaker 1:1876, it improved the telegraph by enabling voice communication Right, mm-hmm. Essentially, they discovered that those same wires that you're sending a beep-boop-bop-boop on, now you can have a conversation, even intercontinentally. Now they had phone switchers. You know to begin with where you're connecting the wire to the other person and, yeah, you don't really have a dial like you're not pressing buttons. Or you know, back in the day, when we had rotary phones, you just clicked until you got an operator or cranked until you got an opera.
Speaker 2:I don't know it would go through one communication line and then to individual homes or different individual phones. You would then connect that big line to a different. Yeah so but yeah, I mean so when it was first invented. I mean we're all used to. When we answer that phone or we answer that cell phone, hello, that wasn't what bell wanted us to be saying. And yeah, this, this is phone, this is cell phone.
Speaker 1:Oh is that what that comes from?
Speaker 2:Yes, oh Phone, cell phone.
Speaker 1:No, no, no. Not that the what you want to say.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so what he wanted to do? I believe this is what it was. I could be wrong, but it was. Ahoy hoy was how he wanted everyone to answer the phone. It's like a sailor term Ahoy hoy was how he wanted everyone to answer the phone. It's like a sailor term Ahoy, and that were maybe where I'm getting this confused, but I'm pretty sure that's what it was. Leave it in the comments if I'm completely wrong, but it was something else that he wanted.
Speaker 1:Our editor will fact check this and put the actual information on the bottom of the screen, lower.
Speaker 2:Third will be the description, but instead it was, it will go to a sensor. It'll just do, you do and over the top will explain this statement um, but a word of exclamation that was popular back then was hello, and so the british still do this today, but we kind of do it in America.
Speaker 1:You're like hello.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it'd be H U L L O, hello, interesting, uh, and so we still do that. I mean, when someone surprised you oh, hello, um, but it's, that was what. There was an exclamation back then, and so you'd say hello, um, not as a greeting, but as a but, as you exclaimed it, and so that ended up being how we answer the phone is hello, and it just became hello. And so, yeah, that was the evolution of why we say hello instead of whatever.
Speaker 1:This other was. It's based on a response of surprise. Hello, hello, I'm going to start answering the phone like that.
Speaker 2:Hello.
Speaker 1:But I mean it kind of makes sense. Hello, I have a friend who his voicemail he's never changed it. It's been the same for 14 years. Okay, and every single time it gets me, it gets me every single time. He answers it, he goes hello, this is so-and-so from you know, like I'm like and I'm already like mid sentence before he goes on to the next part of it.
Speaker 2:I'm like you drive me nuts. My favorites are hello, hello. Is anyone there? I can't hear you. Yeah, what do you say it? No, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1:leave a message it's so I just don't leave a message after that. I just I'm gonna hang up, I'm gonna make sure it goes to the message, leave some sound and hears me click aggressively so that I'm like you know it gets the effect of like you've irritated me today so we can thank alexander graham bell for some of these great phone pranks that we would not have if we did not have phones.
Speaker 1:That's true, yeah so the rise of, let's say, telephone lines, switchboards, making communication now accessible in your home, all that kind of stuff, and now, like with with cell phone tech, you're talking towers, you know all of that kind of stuff. So you know it's, it's not just like. I would even go as far as to say that, you know, early, early communication made it possible to quickly allow telephone communication in households. It was a normal thing. Eventually, um, you would, you know, I, I would probably say that earlier development, you had a community element like a community center or business building that would house a telephone for that community. But then you know, general store generally, yeah, but then you would have, you would have that element then evolve into, you know, every household rotary phones to now cordless phones, and now I mean, if you have a home phone, you're just weird right, You're, you're, you're like living in the dark ages.
Speaker 2:If you have a home phone, it's it's really it's.
Speaker 1:It's almost like we had a. We had a home phone, but it was a cell phone on our on our plan that was always at home. Like that was it it. It lived at home and eventually I think one of our kids adopted that as uh as their phone. So there, our old home phone is their phone.
Speaker 2:So same number now, I did have a home phone for a long time and had to pay for a home phone line because, as foster parents, you're required to have either a cell phone designated at the house or a home phone line and so so that in any emergency you can always get ahold of someone at the house. And there was no way I was doing a cell phone for that Cause. I know that thing is going to be, you know, walking off on its own. So, yeah, so we had a home phone line, but it was never used. If it rang, we knew it was some kind of telemarketer, because no one had that number.
Speaker 1:What's crazy is you have now service lines. They just went through our neighborhood and dug fiber optic and there's a couple different access points Like Google Fiber came through and they just dug a ditch right down the side of the road. They're just like we're Google and they did that. There's another company that's a competitor. They have to have the competition that actually dug. Uh, they didn't dug, they didn't cut a hole in the road, they went in the easement in between properties, like in the back, my, my backyard, from end to end the entire block. They had uh, I can't remember the name of those companies, but they're basically they just water drilled all the way underneath all of that stuff. So they have a tube that accesses these, this fiber optic services or even the telephone modem. There are certain services out there that still use the telephone modem for the internet cables, so then you move from your modem to Ethernet, to the computer. Yeah Well, that telephone service is obsolete in our neighborhood, like they've removed it.
Speaker 1:So I can't even get a home phone jack. You know I have. I have it in my house but there's no access point outside for it anymore. It doesn't exist in my neighborhood. That's crazy. Basically, fiber optic cut it out of the neighborhood, which is wild. But that's the reality of home phones is we don't need them anymore. Yeah, if you go online you can buy even a cool looking one that looks like a rotary phone, but it's a digital and I think it's V tech that makes it for like 70 bucks and it doesn't do half the things that says it does, because it it's.
Speaker 1:It's really weird. It's like, well, we're trying to still do all this stuff that this can do, but unfortunately phones are so smart that they don't do that basic stuff anymore. So why in the world do you need that? You know that's literally the kind of the evolution of that, but anyway that you know telecommunications has now gone completely portable, you know, in most circumstances other than office spaces, obviously, but even then circumstances other than office spaces, obviously, but, but even then you're moving to a lot of places, telecommute, so you're not even necessarily needing a phone line or phone service in office anymore because of internet services. You know. So even like I remember back in the day having to dial the, the area code, because, um, because you needed to in order to build long distance, or the commercials for 1-800-COLLECT, and you know like, instead of actually completing the call, just use it to leave the voicemail. We had a baby. It's a boy, you know. So, like all the point is is like this has been an ongoing development but, but ultimately it has harnessed and fostered some of you know our, our, the ways, we all of our effective means of communicating with each other. You know, even in the sense of the evolution of internet access is birthed from telecommunications. You know, even in the sense of the evolution of internet access is birthed from telecommunications, you know. So I think that that's really kind of cool to where you know, if you're not, if you can't do a video call online or something like that, you can still do a phone call, have a voice conversation with somebody on the other side of the world. Conversation with somebody on the other side of the world.
Speaker 1:I remember when I was overseas and, uh, in a combat zone and going to. You know I didn't have a phone that I carried on me for security reasons, but they had locations you could make phone calls at and go on and dial and go call, call home Like it's a, like it's a call from down the street at the house and I'd call and talk to my family and that kind of stuff. And it was just really crazy to have those kind of discussions 9,000 miles away from my home and think that this kind of an invention is the only way that that's possible, other than sending beep-a-bop, bop, oops, early on. Or a letter. You know, you know some dude on a pony that's going to deliver this letter to you and you know, although letters still exist, they're significantly faster because it's called email. People get used to it.
Speaker 1:Anything else you want to add to this global impact of telephone invention? Well, let's take a quick moment and let's talk about powering up another essential connection your financial future, our financial empowerment. Membership is designed to give you the tools, insights and support you need to take control of your money. Whether you're just starting out or ready to optimize your financial strategy, this membership is your ticket to achieving your goals. Click the link in the description to join today and take the first step toward a brighter future financial future, that is. It's time to invest in yourself. That one's not as cheesy not as bad, it's kind of mild.
Speaker 1:I wish I had more cheese in it, but unfortunately smartphones are just too smart. It's the only intellectual conversation we're having right now. Oh, okay, is that you're just going with it? Bad transition, all right, that's fine. So let's talk a little bit more about now how communications has evolved from a wire across the ocean to now we're talking. You know, if I have a cell phone in my pocket, there is something in the sky that can pinpoint my location. Based on that, based on that and to down to literally pinpoint my, my location, and you know, to think that I would even say 15 years ago that tech was not there Like they had. They had garments and they had satellite phones still, but not to the capacity where we're at now.
Speaker 2:No, no, I mean to the GPS, to where I can do, you know, track my phone or find my is the new name of the app where I can see where my kids are at all the time? Yeah, and exactly where they are. I can see if my kids are just on the other side of our home.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I know where they are. It's that precise. It is crazy, but I remember back in the day so, uh, we had when I was in second grade. I remember this vividly there was a tech fair that they had at my elementary school and they were talking about all of this futuristic technology. Okay, it was fiber optics. Fiber optics was going to change the world because of the way that you could communicate. I remember looking at those fiber optic cables and the light coming through it and moving it around. No light, oh, there's light and how fast it could send information across it and all this stuff. And then one of the even cooler technologies that we saw there that wasn't even available yet. They were just showing examples of what it could be like Video communication Talking real time to someone else over video. Well, it's like Back to the Future.
Speaker 1:Talking real time to someone else over video. Well, it's like Back to the Future. Back to the Future 2 is that one where he has a conversation over the television with a family member or something like that. They're talking on a TV and you're like man. That's so futuristic.
Speaker 2:The Simpsons did an episode on it where they showed Lisa in the future. That's so futuristic. The Simpsons did an episode on it where they showed Lisa in the future. And she's got this phone, video phone that she's communicating to Homer and Marge on, and it's just. This was like wild.
Speaker 2:I was in second grade and this was a dream. And here we are I can pull out my phone and have a FaceTime call with anyone. I could get on Zoom and talk to anyone. Most of my calls are on Zoom. And I mean when I was in. I am old when I think about this. When I was in second grade, this was something that we were still dreaming of and not able to achieve. And here we are. Uh, what's that second grade? I would have been 7, 33 years later, 34 years later, and we have it. It is just wild to think. From there I remember having my first palm pilot. Oh wow, I was 16. I had a job. I bought one with my own money it was like 200 bucks and I had this thing that could schedule my day as a 16 year old. So, needing something to schedule my day, let's say I got a meeting.
Speaker 2:No, I don't, I'm 16 putting in random things in my calendar. So I would feel you felt like you could use the tool that you got.
Speaker 1:I can't believe you spent $200 on that.
Speaker 2:We were always a tech-heavy family. So I mean, like I said in our last one, we had two 86s, we had three 86s, we had a Commodore 64. We were always ahead of the game.
Speaker 1:I had an Atari. I had an Atari computer station, so that one was probably one of the. We had a Winnie the Pooh game that we used to play that you always died Like.
Speaker 2:Oregon Trail.
Speaker 1:It was basically the same kind of operating system as that one.
Speaker 2:But I remember a guy in my neighborhood had one of the first. I don't know what it was, but it was a palm pilot and phone and so it was a phone, but it had the screen so he could do his calendar on it and it had the little stylus that you'd pull out and dial. The phone wasn't touch screen, you had to hit the number that you wanted to call with the stylus. And it was so cool a phone in your we had cell phones but a phone in your hand that also had a calendar. I was 17 and it was so cool. The kid over here is just giving me a look of like what the heck is going on. There was a world before we had video games on our phones.
Speaker 1:We had. Yeah, I mean I had. Mean I had the, the, the original, when I was 16 years old I worked for an auto shop that I would go and get parts and things like that and they always like don't forget to take the phone and like grab the strap and put it on, lock out, you know, like it was big it was. It was probably about about that big in size and then it had an antenna about just as big off of it. It wasn't an extents, it was just a hard antenna. So I was like where do I put this? Like I have nowhere to. I can't even fit it in my car. Like it's too big. It's the good old Zack Morris.
Speaker 2:But I mean that was the technology that we had, and in 33 years now, I grew up in California, in the technology hub of the US, and so that's why I mean that's why at my elementary school they had a technology fair. I mean it was very much all about technology and the advancements. So I mean I was growing up in the cutting edge world of technological development and that was just 33 years ago that we didn't even have cell phones, we didn't, let alone smartphones. We didn't have a way to communicate visually person to person other than in person, yeah, or through pre-recorded video. It was such it is such a short time that we have seen this advancement to where we are today with telecommunication, with smartphones, with video calls, with video communication, gps, internet, satellites, all these things, Apps, you know, tiktok, youtube, all these.
Speaker 1:Say it like you, like it, joe, I will not say that word like I like it.
Speaker 1:Look, even the platform that we broadcast from our, we, we use YouTube. We're grateful that YouTube exists and a lot of places are grateful that YouTube exists because that's how they are prosperous and that that that's a that's a great opportunity. Hopefully we'll be prosperous on there someday too. But you know, in that situation, like our, our means of communicating, how we get a message out there even though we're idiots, guiding people like that's. That's kind of the you know, our, our purpose is to, to, to use an effective means or a medium of communicating to people. Well, from the basis and birth of the telegraph to now is still this same general concept of having some level of interconnectedness with whoever it is all over the place. And all we've done with GPS, internet access, social media platforms, messaging platforms, communication platforms is make this deliverable at every corner of the world.
Speaker 1:A lot of flattery there. I don't know if there's corners, you know, but is it a square? Nope, sorry, don't. Okay, we're not going to go there. But okay, what if, like I think about this, like the other elements, about, like major life events, not only is it the effective means of understanding and information, wise for us to get more information, so when we think about understanding or doing our homework. Uh, we had something we wanted to talk about in the. We wanted to talk about in the last episode, and you know just, the ability to go to our communication device and open it up and search that information and have it right there at our fingertips this definition of something and it be valid, valuable information instead of walking down to the library checking out the right encyclopedia and then making sure, hoping it's in there If it's a updated encyclopedia. With how our you know, modern society moves, encyclopedias don't exist offline anymore. If they do, they don't need to.
Speaker 2:But I have a 1970s encyclopedia that has some very, very, very wrong information in it about I don't know if this is going to get canceled on YouTube, so I'm not going to talk about it too much but it has very wrong information about human development.
Speaker 1:Even for me, I Like in as as a in the religious form, okay, as as a Christian leader I am. I have study material, I have concepts and I even have that like I just donated away a whole library of, um, what are called commentaries, so it's like elaboration on every text in the in the Bible and you know, and so each book is is extensive, and so the library is huge. I get rid of it because it's also over 70 years old. So I was like I don't need it. You know, like like I get it and I still, but it's not something I. This point, I'm storing it because I can access every single thing that's said in every single page of this online.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well, and I mean that leads to, I mean, the negative impact of, you know, some of the older stuff could be fairly easily overcome. But today we've got, you know, screen addiction? Yep, we've got companies like TikTok that are you know screen addiction? Yep, we've got companies like TikTok, that are you know I might that are just damaging society in general. Yeah, and you know the the ability for all that to go out is just as bad as the positives are good that having that constant level of stimulation.
Speaker 1:Immediate stimulation is an addiction our brain is pursuing. It's actually forming those addictions as you go, continuing to reinforce it, making it worse. There's a reason why they have phrases like doom scrolling. There's movies that are made about why this stuff and how it's psychologically and mentally and I would even go as far as to say is it biologically the actual physical form of your brain cells is impacted by some of this stuff. If it's not done, done, it's not used appropriately, you know, and there's, and then you have the issue of it perpetuates divisions in our society. So you have outward expressions that are built off of something that's impacted and manipulated through social media. Yeah, you know. So you have this degeneration of issues happening in our society because of the further revolutionizing of communications or telecommunications. Yeah, so thanks Bell, Appreciate that one.
Speaker 2:No, that was not thanks to bell. Bell created something great he did. Yes, we can think jobs for all.
Speaker 1:Right, that's fair can we throw gates in there too?
Speaker 2:he's never created any phones, nothing telecommunication. His was all computers, just coattails.
Speaker 1:Steve jobs is the one that that's true, yeah all right, that's the ipod, the iphone yeah, yeah, I mean before that was nokia man, remember nokia skins and the little light up motorolas? Oh, the motorola razor. Oh man, I had, I had that. You'd set it next to like if my cup of water is right, if I put my Motorola Razr right down, it'd say water damage.
Speaker 2:I can't work.
Speaker 1:I'm like what happened? I can't replace it now because it had an indicator inside the battery thing for it.
Speaker 2:I was like if I lived in a humid climate, I'm screwed the South could never have a Motorola Razr, because it's just always just going, because it's just always just going.
Speaker 1:All right. So one of the things we added to our episodes of this series that we're in is a what-if? Kind of question. So what if we never had telecommunications to begin with? What would you think?
Speaker 2:It would just be a lot slower. We wouldn't have up-to-date information Technology, and the advancement of society is reliant on fast communication. It's the ability to be able to know that something has changed. You know scientific journals, things like that, that tell us you know about these new advancements that come. But even that, even if we were relying on that instead of being able to look at our phone and look at you know a search engine for the most recent scientific updates, we'd have to wait a month for that to get to us, from the publisher, from the person who wrote it, who was doing the research, to be able to put it together. We're going to be a year behind before we know about any scientific advancements.
Speaker 1:An emergency happens and you're like hail the doctor, you know like you can't call 911. It doesn't exist.
Speaker 2:Exactly, I mean the ability to be able to I mean hail the doctor, summon them. You know. Sorry, all I get from that is call a locksmith, call a locksmith, call a locksmith. If you've watched Robin Hood Men in Tights, you know what I'm talking about and the urgency of that scene in particular. If you haven't watched it, go and watch it. It's hilarious.
Speaker 1:I mean from education, healthcare, you know, just interpersonal relationships, you know having good conversation with people. It really makes that. It bridges the gap of everywhere you know. So you know from its, from its origins. It bridged that gap, which was really amazing to to see that, even if it is just a telegraph that you're sending somebody, it's. That's really really impressive to be able to think and if we didn't have that technology we'd still be stuck with. You know, you can write a letter, but you'd have somebody carry it from one end of the world to the pony express.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they have to go on a ship.
Speaker 1:And how many horses you know, does this take? You know I like it to get lost at sea because the ship sank. You're like that's possible, yeah, so it just really like you. It slows everything down to a snail's pace. And you know, we find out, like a lot of times when we talk about news or information-wise, that news is we're moving at a pace now where you know if it's been an hour it's old, yeah, you know. And so it's such a real-time news experience.
Speaker 1:At this point we've grown accustomed to that and really demand that of of news is, if I want to know what's going on, I can find out instantly about what is happening right now, you know. And so whether that's a conflict on the other side of the world or something big, something big is going on, that kind of stuff. We've gotten to that point where it's not just about our food ordering or our on-demand watching TV. Everything is so immediate gratification. And it's the same thing in our communications. It's immediate. I hate it when I get a robo caller and I answer the phone and it takes them eight seconds before it connects. I am already done with that call by that point, because this person that answers at that point I have no patience for that voice so without the telecommunications we don't have that problem yeah, but everything else is slower, so we don't have the technology.
Speaker 2:So there's always a give and a take, yeah, but you know it's it's interesting to think about. You know, yeah, we might be better mental health, but definitely not physical health, definitely not technology, definitely not anything else.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, you know, I'll take the you know cell phone addiction over not being able to call 9-1-1 I agree, I, I will, you know, and, and even then, they have a lot of options now where they're recognizing some of those addictive principle or elements that they. They have a lot of options now where they're recognizing some of those addictive principle or elements that they. They have, you know, they provide different kinds of apps that will let you that that kind of poke at you and be like, hey, maybe you could take a break. Yeah, perhaps I have, I have, I have social media apps and I'm in marketing, so having them as part of the job, but it also means that I have them and so I can get stuck in doom scrolling and sending reels to my family members, and in abundance. And, uh, now I've trained them to do it back, so it's a nice relationship.
Speaker 1:I think there's a term that they that I just learned, that it's actually a form of affection. When you're like, when you're sending people reels is like it's. It's a form of affection, like meaning that, oh, you're thinking of this person, are you thinking this person? I was like that's really shallow, you're kind of grasping at a silver lining of this, but it's also like it's actually. There's a phrase. I can't remember the name of the phrase. So I'll have to look it up and we'll put it at the bottom. But whatever, you're not mad at me.
Speaker 2:So I know, this is just all I do.
Speaker 1:I think what's interesting is just our communication, telecommunication. Up to our modern era it has really just kind of been a defining element in all of our lives. You know, without it you can't celebrate the things, the big things, you can't complain about the bad things. You know you're stuck with the person that you married or you're with and you know and that's all you got. And that can be really miserable. At most times they're a lovely person in doses.
Speaker 2:Okay, I don't think what you said is what you meant for it to sound like but I get the intent. You might want to explain that segment to your wife. Let me elaborate, let's let elaborate, let's. You know what?
Speaker 1:Edit that whole point out. Okay, let's wrap up this journey through the evolution of telecommunications, from the telegraph, shrinking the world, to the telephone, personalizing communications and finally to smartphones and satellites connecting us instantly. Telecommunications have completely transformed how we live and interact, and that what if a world without telecommunications really shows us just how vital this invention truly is. You know, next time you send a text, make a call scroll through your favorite. You know, next time you send a text, make a call, scroll through your favorite, you know, favorite app doom scroll that is. Remember that in this incredible journey that just started at a telegraph, you know, and a cable across the ocean that brought us to here, that's really impressive stuff. Yeah, so you know what's one communication technology you couldn't live without. You know what's one communication technology you couldn't live without? I was doing a description the other day in something I taught. I think I mentioned this in an earlier episode, but I told somebody I would choose no pants over, not my phone.
Speaker 2:You know if I left my phone in my house.
Speaker 1:I literally, if I'm stuck in traffic and realize I don't have my phone, I will turn around. I don't care, I will go get my phone. Like it is worth it If I'm racing someone to the hospital, I don't have my phone, but I'll probably take them to the hospital, then go back and get my phone. Wow, you know, I'll slow down as they're going by the hospital. It's fine, okay, what do you think the next big leap in telecommunications will be? What do you think?
Speaker 2:I don't know. I've I've seen the leap in telecommunications. Like I said, I saw the dreams for the future when I was in second grade and they have all been accomplished now yeah, like I have no idea where it will be going from here I think about, like on, you know, the hologram communications, that's that's going to be.
Speaker 1:The next one is it's going to be. I mean, they're already kind of working developing that. Uh, I've seen some, some stuff where they're like, oh, he's in the same room but there's two of them and you're like that, okay, whatever. But still they're like, oh, he's in the same room but there's two of them and you're like, okay, whatever, but still you're just mirrors is what you're doing?
Speaker 2:You've got to get the lights to hit each other. Just right to get it to disperse.
Speaker 1:I'm working on it. It's an element that is not yet done, but there are games that you can play that are hologram games like that. But but I think that that technology is not far off, it's just right now. We still play with smoke and mirrors with it, you know, and I. It's just a matter of time before they figure out how to harness that signal to be something that will project it to a neutral space instead of needing a surface for it to bounce off of right, you know. So, yeah, anyway, that's a little too geeky for my brain time for jokes with joe.
Speaker 2:All right, here we go. All right, what letters are not in the alphabet? I don't know the ones in the mail.
Speaker 1:That was cheesy. That's terrible, oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Terrible. They're dad jokes. What are you going?
Speaker 1:to do. We have reached the end of our show for today, Thankfully. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Don't forget like and subscribe. Comment. If you have a comment or two, you can tell us how terrible we are at dad jokes and bad jokes. Life's too short, so keep laughing and learning and remember idiots have way more fun. Check your shoes.