"An amazing invention-but who would ever want to use one?" - on the telephone
Rutherford B. Hayes, 19th President, 1877-1881
The patent for the telephone was issued to Alexander Graham Bell on March 7, 1876. Bell offered to sell the patent to Western Union for $100,000.00 but was turned down as his invention was considered only a toy. Two years later, the president of Western Union said $25 million would be a bargain.
So Hayes was not alone in his original assessment of the telephone. The sound quality was improved with the help of an idea from Thomas Edison and the distance over which the sound traveled was also improved. By 1886 over 150,000 people owned telephones and Bell's patent as the creator of the telephone technology was challenged, the case being heard all the way up to the Supreme Court.
On January 25, 1915 the first intercontinental phone call was placed from New York to San Francisco.
It appears "Ma Bell" was stirring up interest and controversy even back then.
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