Telecommunication
The conventional telephone was invented independently by Alexander Bell and Elisha Gray in 1876. Antonio Meucci invented the first device that allowed the electrical transmission of voice over a line in 1849. However Meucci's device was of little practical value because it relied upon the electrophonic effect and thus required users to place the receiver in their mouth to "hear" what was being said. The first commercial telephone services were set-up in 1878 and 1879 on both sides of the Atlantic in the cities of New Haven and London.
How William Shatner Changed the World
The show then examines the life of Martin Cooper, the chief engineer at Motorola, who invented the cell phone. Cooper states that "Star Trek" was his inspiration for the cell phone, and discusses the similarities between the modern day cell phone and a "Star Trek" communicator. He also discusses how "Star Trek" introduced the concept of computer voice recognition dialing.