Mobile phones
Mobile phones
Do you remember the scene in Downton Abbey when the Dowager Lady Grantham walked into the front hall to speak on a new “instrument of torture” - a telephone. Her acerbic comment was: “First electricity and now telephones - sometimes I feel as if I were living in an H.G. Wells novel”.
Meanwhile downstairs, a reluctant Mr Carson was also trying to come to terms with this new equipment. He stoically declared “a telephone is a useful and valuable tool.” before embarking on some practice time in order to understand which bit of the apparatus to pick up and what to say. When it rang like “a cry of the banshee”, there was consternation rather than the urge to answer it.
The word telephone, comes from the Greek root tēle, “far,” and phonē, “sound,” and was applied as early as the late 17th century for describing the string telephones more familiar to children. In the 19th century a Scotsman called Alexander Graham Bell invented the process of using a telephone which he patented in 1876. His design was modified by various of his contemporaries such as Thomas Watson, Thomas Edison, and Emil Berliner but had basically acquired a functional design that has not fundamentally changed even if the apparatus has become considerably smaller.
Whilst compact microcircuitry today replaces the older hard wiring, there are still similarities: a telephone needs power which ironically began with batteries before they were hard wired into an electrical source and have now reverted back to very small batteries. There is still a version of a switch hook, there is still a ringer and there is still a transmitter and a receiver.
Growing up with my sisters we began with the old-fashioned telephone in our home. Naturally we all argued about how long each of us took on the phone and who was waiting for a phone call and therefore required priority interspersed with our father commenting on how large the telephone bill was. The one red square handset was a feature throughout our family life and was neither upgraded nor changed.
Whilst a handheld mobile radio telephone service was previously envisioned by a Finnish inventor Eric Tigerstedt who filed a patent for a "pocket-size folding telephone with a very thin carbon microphone", it was not really until April 1973 when a larger handset was demonstrated in New York by Motorola.
Fifty years later mobile phones have become one of the most widely used and sold pieces of consumer technology. More than 5 billion people, perhaps two-thirds of the global population, now own a smartphone and that number continues to grow.
The ringtones have changed, the phones themselves are smaller and slimmer than the ones used by the Granthams and if they are smart it is at a cost.
Mobiles phones are ever more complex feats of engineering made from many resources harvested from our planet. There is copper which conducts electricity and heat very efficiently; tellurium to improve strength and hardness; lithium which is found in rock and salt lakes; cobalt, important for rechargeable batteries, (it comes mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo); manganese from South Africa and tungsten from China. All the mining required is fuelled by oil. Mobile phones are thus one of the most resource intensive products by weight on the planet.
As a result, an average mobile phone creates 55kg of carbon emissions during these processes. 1.55 billion phones are sold per year worldwide and a 2019 study by the European Environmental Bureau concluded that the climate impact of phones in the EU alone was 14.2 million tonnes of CO2
Up to 80% of each phone is recyclable but too few of them ever are. Many of us no longer own land line phones and mobile phones are one of the easiest pieces of technology to operate, adding to their popularity across all generations.
My own mobile phone is renowned for its immobility – sometimes on a desk or balanced in the branch of an apple tree, behind a photo, in a forgotten jacket, by a dog basket, on a window ledge or in a flower trug. The good news is that it is relatively old but still works. In any case when I do call Geordie he tends not to answer although if we go on a walk together his phone is always needed and cannot be left behind.
- Christmas
- Community
- Dogs & Horses
- Egypt & Tutankhamun
- Entertaining
- Farm
- Filming
- Gardens
- History & Heritage
- Daily Life
- Royalty
- Cooking
- Interiors
- Heroes
- Architecture
- Cars
- Conservation
- Downton Abbey
- Events
- Gardens & Landscape
- Highclere Castle Gin
- History
- Planes
- Restoration
- Stories & Books
- Uncategorized
- Visitors
- Wildlife
47 Comments
Lovely picture of mobile phone and did you and lord Carnarvon have a wonderful weekend and l am fan of Downton Abbey and lovely highcelere castle
Thank you,
I have both. Still have a land line and it's a rotatory. I like to use it when making calls at home. I like my mobile phone too, because I can take pictures with it when on the go, and information when out.
Thank you,
Carolyn Trodden
I love this blog! I am very glad to hear that I am not the only one who leaves their mobile phone here and there and doesn’t always carry it with them (although I am writing this on a mobile phone right now.). I often leave my phone inside and go outside to plant flowers or weed the garden or do chores. Friends send messages that may take a few hours to be replied to. I do enjoy being able to take photos with this phone, however. My “smart” phone is also not the newest or latest model. I plan to keep it until it no longer works. I notice that society has made it very difficult for people who do not wish to own a smart phone to accomplish things. You must have a link, must be able to receive a text, etc. Enough of that… I wish for you a beautiful and pleasant day, Lady Carnarvon.
I miss the telephone on the wall. The olden days.
Dear Lady C, Is there Wifi in Highclere? Also, very nice shot of the Earl and your dogs.
Cell phones are both a blessing and a curse!
Does your household still have the manual phone? Who answers it? Did you and your family enjoy the Downton Abbey movies? And, if so, which one did you like better? I liked the first one much better.
I grew up in a house with one one phone hardwired into the wall. My older sister was always on it at night. We eventually had extra jacks installed so a phone could be moved from one location to another. Today only have a cellphone and it is always with me. When traveling from California to Tennessee last year it came in handy because of the map system that let me know when I needed to stay on course. Plus’s I could text my now wife so she knew where I was and send her pictures.
We do have wifi thankfully.
Hello Mary, we do still have a manual phone. I liked both films very much.
Best wishes
Lady Carnarvon
ALL those cell phone statistics are staggering and sobering. I wonder what it costs to recycle a cell phone?
I was born and raised in Tanzania in late 50s at a remote hospital on shore of Lake Victoria. To communicate between our homes and the hospital we used telephones with a crank on the side. Each location had its unique combination of long and short rings. Whew - I feel old telling this memory.
Lady Carnarvon,
An interesting history of telephones. I had no idea the idea went so far back in history. My mother bought me a pink table landline phone for my bedroom so that I wouldn’t have to have conversations with my friends in the kitchen! One of my favorite birthday gifts as a teenager.
Thanks for enlightening us again about an everyday companion - a camera/telephone/computer all in one!!
Martha G
I am wondering if the late Queen often dialed 253-204 herself to speak to Porchy? I am hoping I am right.
When I was growing up in the 70's/early 80's, the main house phone was a push-button wall model in a short hallway between the living room and kitchen, with one of those extra long cords so it could reach multiple rooms (or get as far away from wherever family was sitting to get some 'privacy').
The cord would get so twisted and stretched out we would have to replace it pretty regularly when it became almost impossible to untangle! Our big upgrade was to go to a phone with a base and multiple cordless handsets. Those handsets would then end up in the strangest places sometimes!
Fun to remember those memories from long ago now. I hope you and your family and staff have a great week! Cheers from over here in Summerville, South Carolina!
I too am still a fan of my landline and I have kept it through all the spam call years. Now thankfully I rarely get a peep out of it. Although it has come in handy to use it to find my misplaced mobile phone on occasion. Every time it rings though, I think of Highclere as Downton Abbey theme song is my ringtone. :)
STILL HAVE MY LANDLINE , WOULDN'T BE WITHOUT IT .
Very insightful on the impact mobiles have on the environment. I love to read your blog. I will be visiting Highclere in September. I hope to catch a glimpse of you and the pups.
I still have landline telephone service, my old rotary telephones, plus "new" touchtone telephone. Unfortunately, here in Port St. Lucie Florida USA, the rotary telephones can no longer dial out to make a call. Here, rotary telephones can only receive incoming telephone calls. I do not own any cellphone. To be honest, I hate it when new technology is forced upon us. I still would prefer the analog television signals, rather than digital which is so undependable and constantly pixilates to Weak Signal No Signal.
“And if they are smart, it is at a cost” speaks volumes! You’ve covered the price we pay in different ways quite well—the cost to our planetary home, to our time, as in always looking for the blasted things, and hours spent managing them with providers and managing the storage and functionality; and in our attention —whether we actually answer them, and when. I recently tried to obtain an old landline, A.k.a. plain old telephone service (POTS), and was unable to do so. Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) is all that’s available here in my area of the U.S., lower Alabama, which is useless for when you really need it, when the power is out, such as in a state of emergency in a little thing known as a hurricane. And the smartphones are practically useless for senior citizens who have memory issues. The brain might revert to a long-stored packet of info on DIALING a number, however. Bring back the CHOICE, I say.
Lady Carnarvon.............My first memory of the hard wired telephone was a painful experience
I was about 4yo. My aunt just had a baby and I wanted to talk to my new cousin. At that time, we had an 8 party line. My mistake was when I asked the user of the party line to get off so I could call my cousin. When my Mother found out she was not impress and that was the first spanking I can remember. Thank God for private phones.
I remember talking on our red wall phone as a teenager and stretching the cord from the kitchen around the corner and half way down the stairs! My mother understood because she too stretched her phone cord into the coat closet for privacy as a young lady Thank you for the fun memories.
Vicki from Colorado
Lady Carnarvon,
I hope all is well with you and your family.
I have great memories of our landline as a teenager (I'm 53 now). I was 16 and my boyfriend was 15 (now husband). He would drop me off at home, we only lived 4 blocks from each other. Once he got home he would call me and at the end of the conversation he would say you can hang up, then I replied you hang up....well we both didn't, and we fell asleep while still connected. Our parents were not happy, both parents said if there had been an emergency. I feel bad because we kept falling asleep on the phone. I'm smiling from ear to ear with fond memories.
Thank you again for the memory lane,
Lilly
P.s.
I'm on my 9th re-watching Downton Abbey.
Thank you Lillian, well there's a film on the horizon so you'll have more viewing soon.
Best wishes
Lady Carnarvon
Thank you Lady Carnarvon for this lovely post today.
It was such a pleasant read.
We still have our "landline" phone in our home yet I always have my cell phone with me which has everything on it! I mostly use it as my camera taking photos for my poetry work.
Enjoy these summer days!
Patricia
That’s my ringtone too for unknown callers each family member has their own ringtone.
LC,
Good read today! So interesting just in my lifetime of the ever evolving telephones! In Southern California I never had a crank phone or ring for operator type but I do remember shared party lines in the 60’s. My mom worked for the phone co so we always had the latest type. One was ‘the Princess’ phone a smaller phone that lit up! And the hanging kitchen box type with a super long twisty cord! Then in ‘75 we moved to England (RAF base) and back to old type one phone house that we answered with the phone number not Hello but Eriswell 3455! Do y’all still answer like that in UK?
Loved all the warm memories of our phones past and present but was super thrilled that your last comment confirmed another movie is coming as I had heard this before. Since you live on the site of the movie I trust you are very familiar with the filming in your home.
This was a fun read. I just restarted my watch of Downton and came across this episode yesterday!
AND I TOO.
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
Your blog this week reminded me of how many phone numbers we knew by heart.
I still remember my number from when I was a teen, and I'm now almost 68!
Now, most people barely remember their own.
I loved the rotary dial princess phone!
That is so true
Love my mobile phone.Now I have mastered it I can organise my life so much easier than before.
My parents never had a telephone until after I had left home.If a call was needed to be made you had to make sure you had plenty of change and pop round the phone box.Happy days.
I will never forget to look on my grandchildren‘s faces as When I had them pick up the receiver of our landline and listen to Dial tone. They were totally amazed. Right after that we “cut” the landline. But my grandchildren still talk about that sound they heard. Of course I had to impress them with my knowledge that I went from a four digit phone number to a seven digit phone number to a 10 digit phone number. Unfortunately, all they know is no dial tone and say a name and call their friends. Of course, at this age, I’m happy to do that as I can’t remember phone number :-)
Thank you for this informative blog and whilst us older generation remember how telephony was. The A and B buttons in a public call box, party lines when telephone wires were scarce so we had to check before we dialled even though we had our own numbers.
I for one have experienced almost all of those 50 years with mobile telephony in one shape or another. I will be making use of mine for navigation purposes when visiting HighClere from the West Midlands with my wife on 24th July.
Now Satnav that's another historical story but along with mobile telephone has come a long way.
Thanks for the words about telephones. Hoping you and Lord Carnarvon had a wonderful weekend. Enjoy this week too. Apparently I’m related to you however I haven’t confirmed this. Is there a private comment section that I can let you know if I find the connection.
Thank you,
Barbara Graham Liska
Good Evening
thank you - do email pa@highclereclastle.co.uk
Dear Lady Carnarvon,
Thank you for the information about our phones. We still have a push button princess style phone which I'm keeping for emergency situations. At the other end of the spectrum, I can also receive calls on my smart watch. I completely agree with Dowager Lady Grantham about living in a H.G. Wells novel.
Best regards,
SusanIrene Babb
Huntington Beach, CA
A very interesting blog today! Thank you!
Bonjour,
Nous avons deux téléphone mobile et nous trouvons cela très pratique pour nous rejoindre à n'importe quel moment ou que nous sommes. Notre ligne de terre est disparue depuis plusieurs années. Bonne journée
Hello,
We have two mobile phones and we find it very convenient to reach us at any time wherever we are. Our land line has disappeared for several years. Have a nice day
The bane of my life !! Have a mobile but only use it when travelling much to my daughters horror why isn’t it on !!
Your blog was so interesting all the various ways of communication but still prefer my house phone
Thank you again for the interesting blog ,
Pauline
I’m wondering how many people might be dialling your home number now…..
My husband recently stopped our landline as said ‘nobody uses it anymore’ - I however used it quite frequently to try and find my mobile phone!!! Mostly without success as I nearly always have my mobile on silent mode!!!
Very interesting article, thank you
I still have an old box phone on the wall in the barn……the grands and greatgrands love yelling thru the old fashioned “tube”. At least they now know what “ringing you up” really means. Also we’re one of the few places left that can actually dial the last four digits of a phone number to reach your party! The benefits of living in rural South Carolina!!
Ah que C'est agréable de vous lire, et pas toujours facile les nouvelles technologie de s' y habituer
car tout change à une vitesse d'un météorite qui tombe.
signé
Mme Faenza L.
I do that too!!!!
Lady Carnarvon,
What a fun blog. Coincidentally, I do own a Motorola. I have had it for a while and works great. But, I do miss my landline phones in pink lips and the old fashioned wine color. Who knows maybe times will repeat themselves.....
Dear Lady Carnarvon:
Thank you for this Monday's blog.
I am continuing my quest to get caught up on reading your weekly printed stories.
Yes! I remember the Dowager's consternation with the use of the new telephone at the Abbey.
As a young child, a black rotary dial, party line telephone sat on a small desk, which was located in the dining room and stocked with paper, pencil, and pen for doodling while conversing, taking messages and/or notes.
As a teenager, a second rotary dial single line telephone was added: an olive-green Princess Slim Line. The same was mounted to the wall and located in the kitchen.
Just before graduating high school, my father had a private line installed in my bedroom. He said I was "tying up" the household line with endless calls, both day and night. Also, he felt this would be a good time to teach me how to handle paying for my own utility, as my time away from home and living off campus was approaching.
Needless to say, as with everyone else, I transitioned from a bulky hand-held device to a flip phone, then to a smartphone.
Now, though, I am seriously considering dropping the service on my smartphone. The monthly bill has continually increased, but with little change in the service provided and received. Maybe a "phone as you go" would be better on the household budget.
Oh well, until next week, I wish you all the best.
Perpetua Crawford
Dear Lady C, This blog entry is so interesting. It makes me realize that phones have changed so much. Seeing that you have a new article made me so happy. Do you have wifi at Highclere?