💬 The humble landline telephone might seem obsolete in a post-smartphone world, but if we think smartphones reshaped the world - imagine a time without any instant communication with the world around you.

This was the reality for most of human history - telephones were only invented in 1876, after all - so how did the world become so reliant on this ability in just a few generations? And what was life like before then?

⚡ There were many ways that we broke traditional barriers to communication in history - some surprisingly genius, like the long-distance, non-electric towers that allowed messages to travel hundreds of kilometers over France in minutes, and even carrier pigeons!

So in this episode we take a look at the birth of this society-defining technology, and step backwards through humanity's communications timeline, from the iterative improvement and adoption of telephones, all the way back to pre-historic long distance communication methods like shell horns - and how some of these methods could’ve caused more trouble than they were worth!

💬 Part 2 of a 2-part phone special - check out our previous episode on What We Did Before Smartphones for part 1!

Don't miss an episode - subscribe now:

https://podfollow.com/what-we-did-before

🎧 Stay tuned to learn about:

➡ The birth of the telephone - and how modern language itself was shaped by it

➡ Fascinating technological breakthroughs that allowed all of this to even be possible

➡ How there were non-electronic methods for 15 minute messages between cities

➡ How military and warfare drove innovation in pre-telephone communication

➡ How espionage and sabotage in these unsecure methods had fatal impacts on history

➡ The way ancient humans communicated complex messages using simple tools

About the podcast:

What We Did Before is a podcast exploring the history of everyday life, from how we kept food fresh before fridges, to how we survived without shoes and what came before AI.

About your hosts:

Ollie Guillou is an award-winning podcast producer and broadcaster. He's co-founder of OG Podcasts, working with the likes of New Scientist, Dr Karan and Lessons From Our Mothers.

Matt Pyle is a lead software developer and tech enthusiast with a keen interest in media, and a love for interesting conversation and learning.

Connect with Ollie:

Website: www.ogpodcasts.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ollie-guillou

Email: hello@ogpodcasts.co.uk

Image attribution (Aztec death whistle): Jennysnest, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sound attribution: Aztec Death Whistle by Guy_Personface -- https://freesound.org/s/832472/ -- License: Creative Commons 0