In one million years BC there were no telephones. The image of Loana, an inhabitant of that time, shows her collecting acoustic transmissions with a cupped hand. This form of communications continued for millennia until the discovery of wired telephones.

Notice the handset used in the early Stone Age. It appears to be the precursor of the French Coronet that was used around 1919. This discovery suggests that the Stone Age town of Bedrock was actually in France rather than in the USA.

Close inspection of the dial used on these early telephones indicates that a senary (base 6) numbering system was in use. This is quite unusual as the inhabitants of Bedrock have eight fingers. They do, however, have six toes.

Wired telephones remained in use for many years but as early as 1931, wireless devices started to appear. Shown here is Dick Tracy with the latest smart-watch of the 1930s.

By 1965, there were signs of change; copper lines started to recede back to the exchange. Here is Oliver Douglas using a Buttset at the top of the telephone pole adjacent to his house – there was no drop to the house. The lineman from the Hooterville Telephone Company cited copper wire shortages as the reason for the pole-top installation.

Despite some teething problems, the use of wireless devices increased at a fast rate.

The functionality of the new personal communicators also expanded rapidly.

The latest Android phones have the computational power of a mainframe of not so long ago and come with Data included.

Credits

One Million Years BC created by 20^th Century Fox

The Flintstones created by Joseph Barbera and William Hanna Dick Tracy created by Chester Gould

Greenacres created by Jay Sommers

Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry