Copyright © 2015 Bert N. Langford (Images may be subject to copyright. Please send feedback)
Welcome to Our Generation USA!

Communications 
as Inventions and Innovators who have helped create Mass Communications Capabilities.

For related web pages, click on their respective name below:
"Our Mobile World"
"Our Free Press"
The Media
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Communications in the United States
 YouTube Video: Stone Age to Modern Age - Evolution Of Communication
Pictured: Different Types of Wireless Communication with Applications

​The primary regulator of communications in the United States is the Federal Communications Commission (see later topic below). It closely regulates all of the industries mentioned below with the exception of newspapers and the Internet service provider industry.

History:

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent government agency responsible for regulating the radio, television and phone industries. The FCC regulates all interstate communications, such as wire, satellite and cable, and international communications originating or terminating in the United States.

Press:
Main article: Newspapers in the United States

Newspapers declined in their influence and penetration into American households in the late 20th century. Most newspapers are local, having little circulation outside their particular metropolitan area. The closest thing to a national paper the U.S. has is USA Today. Other influential dailies include The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal which are sold in most U.S. cities.

The largest newspapers (by circulation) in the United States are USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

Mail:

The legal monopoly of the government-owned United States Postal Service has narrowed during the 20th and 21st centuries due to competition from companies such as UPS & FedEx, although still delivers the vast majority of US mail.

Telephone:
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Telephone system: 
  • General assessment: A large, technologically advanced, multipurpose communications system. 
  • Domestic: A large system of fiber-optic cable, microwave radio relay, coaxial cable, and domestic satellites carries every form of telephone traffic; a rapidly growing cellular system carries mobile telephone traffic throughout the country. 
  • International: Country code - 1; 24 ocean cable systems in use; satellite earth stations - 61 Intelsat (45 Atlantic Ocean and 16 Pacific Ocean), 5 Intersputnik (Atlantic Ocean region), and 4 Inmarsat (Pacific and Atlantic Ocean regions) (2000).

Landlines:

Telephones - main lines in use: 141 million (2009)
  • Most of the American telephone system was formerly operated by a single monopoly, AT&T, which was split up in 1984 into a long distance telephone company and seven regional "Baby Bells".
  • Landline telephone service continues to be divided between incumbent local exchange carriers and several competing long distance companies. As of 2005, some of the Baby Bells are beginning to merge with long distance phone companies. A small number of consumers are currently experimenting with Voice over Internet Protocol phone service.
  • Most local loop service to homes is provided through old-fashioned copper wire, although many of the providers have upgraded the so-called "last mile" to fiber optic.
  • Early in the 21st century the number of wire lines in use stopped growing and in some markets began to decline.

Cellular/Wireless communication:
Main article: Mobile phone industry in the United States

Telephones - mobile cellular: 286 million (2009) ​
Radio:
Main article: Radio in the United States

Radio as:
  • broadcast stations: 
    • AM: 4,669;
    • FM: as
      • commercial stations: 6,746;
      • educational stations: 4,101;
      • translators & boosters: 7,253;
      • low-power FM stations: 1,678 (as of December 31, 2016, according to the Federal Communications Commission)
  • Most broadcast stations are controlled by large media conglomerates like iHeartMedia. There are also many small independent local stations. National Public Radio (NPR) is the public radio network.

Radios: 575 million (1997)

Television:
​Main article: Television in the United States

Television broadcast stations: 7,533 (of which 1,778 are full-power TV stations; 417 are class-A TV stations; 3,789 are TV translators; and 1,966 are other low-power TV stations) (as of December 31, 2016, according to the Federal Communications Commission); in addition, there are about 12,000 cable TV systems.

Most local commercial television stations are owned-and-operated by or affiliated with the large national broadcast networks such as:
Some television networks are aimed at ethnic minorities, including Spanish-language networks Univisión and Telemundo.

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is the country's main public broadcasting network, with over 300 non-profit affiliated stations across the United States.

Besides the large broadcast networks (which are free for anyone with a TV and an antenna), there are also many networks available only with a subscription to cable or satellite television, like CNN.

Television Sets: 219 million (1997)

See also: 
Internet:
Main article: Internet in the United States

Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 7,600 (1999 est.)
  • Because of aggressive lobbying and the United States' strong libertarian traditions, the Internet service provider industry remains relatively unregulated in comparison to other communications industries.

Country code (Top level domain): US
  • For various historical reasons, the .us domain was never widely used outside of a small number of government agencies and school districts. Most companies signed up for top level domains like .com instead.
  • NeuStar Inc. now has control over the .us registry and is trying to promote the domain as an option for American-oriented Web sites.

See Also:







​The History of Communications, along with the  History of Telecommunications
YouTube Video: The History of Telecommunications (In Just 3 Minutes) | HP Matter

History of Communications:

Since prehistoric times, significant changes in communication technologies (media and appropriate inscription tools) have evolved in tandem with shifts in political and economic systems, and by extension, systems of power. Communication can range from very subtle processes of exchange, to full conversations and mass communication.

Human communication was revolutionized with the origin of speech approximately 500,000 years ago. Symbols were developed about 30,000 years ago. The imperfection of speech, which nonetheless allowed easier dissemination of ideas and stimulated inventions, eventually resulted in the creation of new forms of communications, improving both the range at which people could communicate and the longevity of the information. All of those inventions were based on the key concept of the symbol.

The oldest known symbols created for the purpose of communication were cave paintings, a form of rock art, dating to the Upper Paleolithic age. The oldest known cave painting is located within Chauvet Cave, dated to around 30,000 BC. 

These paintings contained increasing amounts of information: people may have created the first calendar as far back as 15,000 years ago.

The connection between drawing and writing is further shown by linguistics: in Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece the concepts and words of drawing and writing were one and the same.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the History of Communications: ___________________________________________________________________________

Please Note: We have deviated from our usual source to clarify that -- unlike Communications (above) -- Telecommunications did NOT commence with Early Man, but rather when electronic devices enabled telecommunications starting with the telegraph and telephone.​

History of Telecommunications:

This article details the history of telecommunication and the individuals who helped make telecommunication systems what they are today.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the History of Telecommunications:
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Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 
YouTube Video: What happens to our Internet if net neutrality is gone? - Washington Post 11/21/2017
Pictured below: 'Net Neutrality Under Attack

​The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States government created by statute (47 U.S.C. § 151 and 47 U.S.C. § 154) to regulate interstate communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable.

The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the media, public safety and homeland security, and modernizing itself.
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The FCC was formed by the Communications Act of 1934 to replace the radio regulation functions of the Federal Radio Commission. The FCC took over wire communication regulation from the Interstate Commerce Commission. The FCC's mandated jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the Territories of the United States.

The FCC also provides varied degrees of cooperation, oversight, and leadership for similar communications bodies in other countries of North America. The FCC is funded entirely by regulatory fees. It has an estimated fiscal-2016 budget of US $388 million. It has 1,688 federal employees, made up of 50% males and 50% females as of December, 2017.

Mission and Strategy:

​The FCC's mission, specified in Section One of the Communications Act of 1934 and amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (amendment to 47 U.S.C. §151) is to "make available so far as possible, to all the people of the United States, without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex, rapid, efficient, Nationwide, and world-wide wire and radio communication services with adequate facilities at reasonable charges."

The Act furthermore provides that the FCC was created "for the purpose of the national defense" and "for the purpose of promoting safety of life and property through the use of wire and radio communications."

Consistent with the objectives of the Act as well as the 1993 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA), the FCC has identified six goals in its 2006–2011 Strategic Plan. These are:
  • Broadband: "All Americans should have affordable access to robust and reliable broadband products and services. Regulatory policies must promote technological neutrality, competition, investment, and innovation to ensure that broadband service providers have sufficient incentives to develop and offer such products and services."
  • Competition: "Competition in the provision of communication services, both domestically and overseas, supports the Nation's economy. The competitive framework for communications services should foster innovation and offer consumers reliable, meaningful choice in affordable services."
  • Spectrum: "Efficient and effective use of non-federal spectrum domestically and internationally promotes the growth and rapid development of innovative and efficient communication technologies and services."
  • Media: "The Nation's media regulations must promote competition and diversity and facilitate the transition to digital modes of delivery."
  • Public Safety and Homeland Security: "Communications during emergencies and crisis must be available for public safety, health, defense, and emergency personnel, as well as all consumers in need. The Nation's critical communications infrastructure must be reliable, interoperable, redundant, and rapidly restorable."
  • Modernize the FCC: "The Commission shall strive to be highly productive, adaptive, and innovative organization that maximizes the benefits to stakeholders, staff, and management from effective systems, processes, resources, and organizational culture." (2008).

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Federal Communications Commission:
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​Timeline of Communications Technology Inventions (including Television)
YouTube Video: Social Media - The Evolution of communication technology
Pictured: ​LEFT: Analog Television later replaced with (RIGHT) Digital High Definition Television (the Samsung 78” Class KS9500 Curved 4K SUHD TV)

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for a list of communications technology advancements:

​20th century:
21st century:
  • 2001 – First digital cinema transmission by satellite in Europe of a feature film by Bernard Pauchon and Philippe Binant.
  • 2003 – MySpace is launched.
  • 2003 – Skype video calling software is launched.
  • 2004 – What would become the largest social networking site in the world, Facebook is launched.
  • 2005 – YouTube, the video sharing site, is launched.
  • 2006 – Twitter, microblogging

See also:



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Famous Catchphrases
YouTube Video: Year in review: Donald Trump's craziest quotes in 2017
Pictured below: The 50 greatest Yogi Berra quotes
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass media (such as films, internet, literature and publishing, television and radio).

Some become the de facto or literal "trademark" or "signature" of the person or character with whom they originated, and can be instrumental in the typecasting of a particular actor.

According to Richard Harris, a psychology professor at Kansas State University who studied why people like to cite films in social situations, using film quotes in everyday conversation is similar to telling a joke and a way to form solidarity with others. "People are doing it to feel good about themselves, to make others laugh, to make themselves laugh", he said.

Harris found that all of the participants in his study had used film quotes in conversation at one point or another. "They overwhelmingly cited comedies, followed distantly by dramas and action adventure flicks." Horror films, musicals and children's films were hardly ever cited.

See also: ___________________________________________________________________________

[Your Web Host: I thought to add the following article about Yogi Berra, who was both an outstanding athlete (caught the only MJB World Series perfect game) and famous for his catchphrases as follows, courtesy of For  the Win, USA Today:

​Yankees legend Yogi Berra was an 18-time All-Star, Berra appeared in 14 World Series as a member of the Yankees and won 10 of them.

Berra’s contributions to MLB history are incalculable, but his legacy might be even better remembered for what he contributed to American language. A sportswriters’ favorite, Berra had countless expressions and turns of phrase that were memorable because most of them didn’t make any sense. (At the same time, every one had some truth to it.)

Berra-isms (colloquial expressions that lack logic) are now countless, and many of them are just attributed to Berra, even if he never actually said them. As he so perfectly put it: “I never said most of the things I said.” Here are 50 of our favorites.
  1. When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
  2. You can observe a lot by just watching.
  3. It ain’t over till it’s over.
  4. It’s like déjà vu all over again.
  5. No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.
  6. Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical.
  7. A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.
  8. Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t come to yours.
  9. We made too many wrong mistakes.
  10. Congratulations. I knew the record would stand until it was broken.
  11. You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six.
  12.  You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.
  13. I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four.
  14. Never answer an anonymous letter.
  15. Slump? I ain’t in no slump… I just ain’t hitting.
  16. How can you think and hit at the same time?
  17. The future ain’t what it used to be.
  18. I tell the kids, somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight about it. Just try to get better.
  19. It gets late early out here.
  20. If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.
  21. We have deep depth.
  22. Pair up in threes.
  23. Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel.
  24. You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.
  25. All pitchers are liars or crybabies.
  26. Even Napoleon had his Watergate.
  27. Bill Dickey is learning me his experience.
  28. He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.
  29. It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.
  30. I can see how he (Sandy Koufax) won twenty-five games. What I don’t understand is how he lost five.
  31. I don’t know (if they were men or women fans running naked across the field). They had bags over their heads.
  32. I’m a lucky guy and I’m happy to be with the Yankees. And I want to thank everyone for making this night necessary.
  33. I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.
  34. In baseball, you don’t know nothing.
  35. I never blame myself when I’m not hitting. I just blame the bat and if it keeps up, I change bats. After all, if I know it isn’t my fault that I’m not hitting, how can I get mad at myself?
  36. I never said most of the things I said.
  37. It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.
  38. If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.
  39. I wish everybody had the drive he (Joe DiMaggio) had. He never did anything wrong on the field. I’d never seen him dive for a ball, everything was a chest-high catch, and he never walked off the field.
  40. So I’m ugly. I never saw anyone hit with his face.
  41. Take it with a grin of salt.
  42. (On the 1973 Mets) We were overwhelming underdogs.
  43. The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.
  44. Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.
  45. Mickey Mantle was a very good golfer, but we weren’t allowed to play golf during the season; only at spring training.
  46. You don’t have to swing hard to hit a home run. If you got the timing, it’ll go.
  47. I’m lucky. Usually you’re dead to get your own museum, but I’m still alive to see mine.
  48. If I didn’t make it in baseball, I won’t have made it workin’. I didn’t like to work.
  49. If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.
  50. A lot of guys go, ‘Hey, Yog, say a Yogi-ism.’ I tell ’em, ‘I don’t know any.’ They want me to make one up. I don’t make ’em up. I don’t even know when I say it. They’re the truth. And it is the truth. I don’t know.

[End of Article]








​Text Messaging including its SMS Language
YouTube Video of Crash Shows Dangers of Texting While Driving.
YouTube Video: How to Send a Text Message
Pictured: Texting  ideograms ("To send this:") as translated from keyboard entry ("Type this:")

Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, fixed devices (e.g., desktop computers) or portable devices (e.g., tablet computers or smartphones).

While text messages are usually sent over a phone network, due to the convergence between the telecommunication and broadcasting industries in the 2000s, text messages may also be sent via a cable network or Local Area Network.

The term originally referred to messages sent using the Short Message Service (SMS). It has grown beyond alphanumeric text to include multimedia messages (known as MMS) containing digital images, videos, and sound content, as well as ideograms known as emoji (happy faces and other icons).

As of 2017, text messages are used by youth and adults for personal, family and social purposes and in business, government and non-governmental organizations for communication between colleagues. As with e-mailing, in the 2010s, the sending of short informal messages has become an accepted part of many cultures.

This makes texting a quick and easy way to communicate with friends and colleagues, including in contexts where a phone call would be impolite or inappropriate (e.g., calling very late at night or when one knows the other person is busy with family or work activities).

Like e-mail and voice mail, and unlike landline or mobile phone calls (in which the caller hopes to speak directly with the recipient), texting does not require the caller and recipient to both be free at the same moment; this permits communication even between busy individuals.

Text messages can also be used to interact with automated systems, for example, to order products or services from e-commerce websites, or to participate in online contests.

Advertisers and service providers use direct text marketing to send messages to mobile phone users about promotions, payment due dates, and other notifications instead of using postal mail, e-mail, or voicemail.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Text Messaging: ​___________________________________________________________________________

SMS Language

SMS language, textspeak or texting language is the abbreviated language and slang commonly used with mobile phone text messaging, or other Internet-based communication such as email and instant messaging.

Three features of early mobile phone messaging encouraged users to use abbreviations:
  1. Text entry was difficult, requiring multiple key presses on a small keypad to generate each letter;
  2. messages were limited to 160 characters; and
  3. it made texting faster.

Once it became popular it took on a life of its own and was often used outside to write formal emails or letters.

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about SMS Language use in Texting:

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Languages and Dialects Spoken in the United States
YouTube Video: the Difference between a Language and a Dialect

Many languages are spoken, or historically have been spoken, in the United States. Today over 350 languages are used by the U.S. population. The most commonly used language is English (specifically, American English), which is the de facto national language of the United States.

Since the 1965 Immigration Act, Spanish is the second most common language in the country. The United States does not have an official language, but 32 state governments out of 50 have declared English to be one, or the only, official language. The government of Louisiana offers services and most documents in both English and French, as does New Mexico in English and Spanish.

The government of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, operates almost entirely in Spanish, even though its official languages are Spanish and English. There are many languages indigenous to North America or to U.S. states or holdings in the Pacific region. Hawaiian, although having few native speakers, is an official language along with English of the state of Hawaii. Alaska formalizes English and twenty native languages.

Language Spoken at home
(U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2016) List

According to the 2016 American Community Survey, a project of the United States Census Bureau, the languages spoken at home by the most people older than five years of age are:
While modern estimates indicate that American Sign Language was signed by as many as 500,000 Americans, as of 1972—the last official survey, closer estimates range around 100,000 as of 2011. (Although various cultural factors, such as passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, have resulted in far greater educational opportunities for deaf children, which could double or triple the number of current ASL users.)

Click here for more about Languages of the United States.
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The following is an overview list of dialects of English. Dialects are linguistic varieties which may differ in pronunciation, vocabulary, spelling and grammar. For the classification of varieties of English in terms of pronunciation only, see Regional accents of English.
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Dialects can be defined as "sub-forms of languages which are, in general, mutually comprehensible". English speakers from different countries and regions use a variety of different accents (systems of pronunciation), as well as various localized words and grammatical constructions; many different dialects can be identified based on these factors.

Dialects can be classified at broader or narrower levels: within a broad national or regional dialect, various more localized sub-dialects can be identified, and so on. The combination of differences in pronunciation and use of local words may make some English dialects almost unintelligible to speakers from other regions.

The major native dialects of English are often divided by linguists into three general categories: the British Isles dialects, those of North America, and those of Australasia.

Dialects can be associated not only with place, but also with particular social groups. Within a given English-speaking country, there will often be a form of the language considered to be Standard English – the Standard Englishes of different countries differ, and each can itself be considered a dialect. Standard English is often associated with the more educated layers of society.

​The following is a list of dialects spoken in the United States:







Voice Language Translation including Multilingualism
YouTube Video: Google demos real time language translation with new Pixel 2
Pictured below: 
TOP: What Do Interpreters and Translators Do?
BOTTOM: Automatic Voice to Voice Language Translation

Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (not all languages do) between translating (a written text) and interpreting (oral or sign-language communication between users of different languages); under this distinction, translation can begin only after the appearance of writing within a language community.

A translator always risks inadvertently introducing source-language words, grammar, or syntax into the target-language rendering. On the other hand, such "spill-overs" have sometimes imported useful source-language calques and loanwords that have enriched target languages. Translators, including early translators of sacred texts, have helped shape the very languages into which they have translated.

Because of the laboriousness of the translation process, since the 1940s efforts have been made, with varying degrees of success, to automate translation or to mechanically aid the human translator. More recently, the rise of the Internet has fostered a world-wide market for translation services and has facilitated "language localization".

Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Language Translation: ___________________________________________________________________________

​Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a community of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population.

More than half of all Europeans claim to speak at least one language other than their mother tongue; nevertheless, many of these are monoscriptual. Multilingualism is becoming a social phenomenon governed by the needs of globalization and cultural openness. 

Owing to the ease of access to information facilitated by the Internet, individuals' exposure to multiple languages is becoming increasingly frequent, thereby promoting a need to acquire additional languages. People who speak several languages are also called polyglots.

Multilingual speakers have acquired and maintained at least one language during childhood, the so-called first language (L1). The first language (sometimes also referred to as the mother tongue) is acquired without formal education, by mechanisms heavily disputed. Children acquiring two languages in this way are called simultaneous bilinguals.

Even in the case of simultaneous bilinguals, one language usually dominates the other. People who know more than one language have been reported to be more adept at language learning compared to monolinguals. 

Additionally, bilinguals often have important economic advantages over monolingual individuals as bilingual people are able to carry out duties that monolinguals cannot, such as interacting with customers who only speak a minority language.

Multilingualism in computing can be considered part of a continuum between internationalization and localization. Due to the status of English in computing, software development nearly always uses it (but see also Non-English-based programming languages), so almost all commercial software is initially available in an English version, and multilingual versions, if any, may be produced as alternative options based on the English original.

Definition of Multilingualism:

The definition of multilingualism is a subject of debate in the very same way as the definition of language fluency. On one end of a sort of linguistic continuum, one may define multilingualism as complete competence and mastery in another language.

The speaker would presumably have complete knowledge and control over the language so as to sound native. On the opposite end of the spectrum would be people who know enough phrases to get around as a tourist using the alternate language.

Since 1992, Vivian Cook has argued that most multilingual speakers fall somewhere between minimal and maximal definitions. Cook calls these people multi-competent. In addition, there is no consistent definition of what constitutes a distinct language.

For instance, scholars often disagree whether Scots is a language in its own right or a dialect of English. Furthermore, what is considered a language can change, often for purely political purposes, such as when Serbo-Croatian was created as a standard language on the basis of the Eastern Herzegovinian dialect to function as umbrella for numerous South Slavic dialects, and after the breakup of Yugoslavia was split into Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian and Montenegrin, or when Ukrainian was dismissed as a Russian dialect by the Russian tsars to discourage national feelings. 

Many small independent nations' schoolchildren are today compelled to learn multiple languages because of international interactions. For example, in Finland, all children are required to learn at least two foreign languages: the other national language (Swedish or Finnish) and one alien language (usually English). Many Finnish schoolchildren also select further languages, such as German or Russian.

In some large nations with multiple languages, such as India, schoolchildren may routinely learn multiple languages based on where they reside in the country. In major metropolitan areas of Central, Southern and Eastern India, many children may be fluent in four languages (the mother tongue, the state language, and the official languages of India, Hindi and English). Thus, a child of Telugu parents living in Bangalore will end up speaking his or her mother tongue (Telugu) at home and the state language (Kannada), Hindi and English in school and life.

​Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Multilingualism:


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Telecommunications
YouTube Video: How Telecommunication Works
YouTube Video: The Future of the Telecommunications Industry
Pictured Below: The Importance of Telecommunications

Telecommunication is the transmission of signs, signals, messages, words, writings, images and sounds or information of any nature by wire, radio, optical or electromagnetic systems. Telecommunication occurs when the exchange of information between communication participants includes the use of technology.

Telecommunications is transmitted either electrically over physical media, such as cables, or via electromagnetic radiation. Such transmission paths are often divided into communication channels which afford the advantages of multiplexing.

Since the Latin term communicatio is considered the social process of information exchange, the term telecommunications is often used in its plural form because it involves many different technologies.

Early means of communicating over a distance included visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs. 
Other examples of pre-modern long-distance communication included audio messages such as coded drumbeats, lung-blown horns, and loud whistles.

20th- and 21st-century technologies for long-distance communication usually involve electrical and electromagnetic technologies, such as: 
​A revolution in wireless communication began in the first decade of the 20th century with the pioneering developments in radio communications by Guglielmo Marconi, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909, and other notable pioneering inventors and developers in the field of electrical and electronic telecommunications. These included: 
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Telecommunications:







Communications Satellites
YouTube Video: How Non-Stop Communications With Satellites Is Achieved by NASA
Picture below: An Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications Orion satellite relays secure communications for the United States and other allied countries.

A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunications signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth.

Communications satellites are used for television, telephone, radio, internet, and military applications. There are over 2,000 communications satellites in Earth’s orbit, used by both private and government organizations.

Wireless communication uses electromagnetic waves to carry signals. These waves require line-of-sight, and are thus obstructed by the curvature of the Earth. The purpose of communications satellites is to relay the signal around the curve of the Earth allowing communication between widely separated points.

Communications satellites use a wide range of radio and microwave frequencies. To avoid signal interference, international organizations have regulations for which frequency ranges or "bands" certain organizations are allowed to use. This allocation of bands minimizes the risk of signal interference.

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The Invention of the Telephone by the Inventor Alexander Graham Bell and the company he founded: AT&T Pictured below: (LEFT: Bell placing the first New York to Chicago telephone call in 1892; RIGHT: variety of telephone models that evolved over the years.
[Your WebHost: you will note that the web page "Our Mobile World" covers today's telephone technologies, a huge jump in capabilities from the wired land lines of the telephone's ancient past, covered herein!] 

A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into electronic signals that are transmitted via cables and other communication channels to another telephone which reproduces the sound to the receiving user. A common short form of the term is phone, which has been in use since the early 20th century.

In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be granted a United States patent for a device that produced clearly intelligible replication of the human voice. This instrument was further developed by many others, and became rapidly indispensable in business, government, and in households.

The essential elements of a telephone are a microphone (transmitter) to speak into and an earphone (receiver) which reproduces the voice in a distant location. In addition, most telephones contain a ringer to announce an incoming telephone call, and a dial or keypad to enter a telephone number when initiating a call to another telephone.

The receiver and transmitter are usually built into a handset which is held up to the ear and mouth during conversation. The dial may be located either on the handset or on a base unit to which the handset is connected. The transmitter converts the sound waves to electrical signals which are sent through a telephone network to the receiving telephone, which converts the signals into audible sound in the receiver or sometimes a loudspeaker.

Telephones are duplex devices, meaning they permit transmission in both directions simultaneously.

The first telephones were directly connected to each other from one customer's office or residence to another customer's location. Being impractical beyond just a few customers, these systems were quickly replaced by manually operated centrally located switchboards.

These exchanges were soon connected together, eventually forming an automated, worldwide public switched telephone network.

For greater mobility, various radio systems were developed for transmission between mobile stations on ships and automobiles in the mid-20th century. Hand-held mobile phones were introduced for personal service starting in 1973. In later decades their analog cellular system evolved into digital networks 

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Alexander Graham Bell:

Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with inventing and patenting the first practical telephone. He also co-founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.

Bell's father, grandfather, and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech and both his mother and wife were deaf, profoundly influencing Bell's life's work. His research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the first U.S. patent for the telephone, on March 7, 1876. Bell considered his invention an intrusion on his real work as a scientist and refused to have a telephone in his study.

Many other inventions marked Bell's later life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications, hydrofoils, and aeronautics.

Although Bell was not one of the 33 founders of the National Geographic Society, he had a strong influence on the magazine while serving as the second president from January 7, 1898, until 1903.

Beyond his scientific work, Bell was an advocate of compulsory sterilization, and served as chairman or president of several eugenics organizations.

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AT&T:

​American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T Inc.) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas, and incorporated in Delaware. It is the world's largest telecommunications company, the largest provider of mobile telephone services, and the largest provider of fixed telephone services in the United States through AT&T Communications.

Since June 14, 2018, it is also the parent company of mass media conglomerate WarnerMedia, making it the world's largest media and entertainment company in terms of revenue. As of 2018, AT&T was ranked #9 on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

AT&T began its history as Southwestern Bell Telephone Company, a subsidiary of the Bell Telephone Company, founded by Alexander Graham Bell (above) in 1877. The Bell Telephone Company became the American Telephone and Telegraph Company in 1885 and was later rebranded as AT&T Corporation.

The 1982 United States v. AT&T antitrust lawsuit resulted in the divestiture of AT&T Corporation's ("Ma Bell") subsidiaries or Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOCs), commonly referred to as "Baby Bells", resulting in several independent companies, including Southwestern Bell Corporation; the latter changed its name to SBC Communications Inc. in 1995.

In 2005, SBC purchased its former parent AT&T Corporation and took on its branding, with the merged entity naming itself AT&T Inc. and using its history, iconic logo and stock-trading symbol. AT&T Inc. acquired BellSouth in 2006, the last independent Baby Bell company, making its formerly joint venture Cingular Wireless (which had acquired AT&T Wireless in 2004) wholly owned and rebranding it as AT&T Mobility.

The current AT&T reconstitutes much of the former Bell System, and includes ten of the original 22 Bell Operating Companies along with the original long-distance division.

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Regional Bell Operating Company ("Baby Bells") including a List of Telephone Operating Companies ​Pictured below: A map of the Original "Baby Bells".
Click here for a List of Telephone Operating Companies around the World.

The Regional Bell Operating Companies (RBOC) are the result of United States v. AT&T, the U.S. Department of Justice antitrust suit against the former American Telephone & Telegraph Company (later known as AT&T Corp.).

On January 8, 1982, AT&T Corp. settled the suit and agreed to divest its local exchange service operating companies. Effective January 1, 1984, AT&T Corp.'s local operations were split into seven independent Regional Bell Operating Companies known as Baby Bells.

RBOCs were originally known as Regional Holding Companies (RHCs). Currently, three companies have the RBOCs as predecessors: AT&T Inc., Verizon, and CenturyLink. Some other companies are holding onto smaller segments of the companies.

​Baby Bells:

After the Modification of Final Judgment, the resulting Baby Bells were originally named:
Prior to 1984, AT&T Corp. also held investments in two smaller and otherwise independent companies, Cincinnati Bell and Southern New England Telephone (SNET).

Following the 1984 breakup, these became fully independent as well.

All nine local-exchange holding companies were assigned a share of the rights to the Bell trademark.

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World Population by Language based on Number of Native Speakers vs. Total Number of Speakers Pictured: World Population by Language based on Number of Native Speakers
World Population by Language based on: (1) Number of Native Speakers

This article ranks human languages by their number of native speakers. However, all such rankings should be used with caution. It is difficult to define the difference between a language and a dialect, or between a language and a macrolanguage; for example, Chinese is sometimes considered a single language and sometimes a macro-language whose many varieties are all independent languages.

Any division of speakers among languages is the result of the classification of these speakers. Often such classifications are based on political or cultural factors. Although such classifications are not entirely arbitrary, it is not possible to devise a coherent linguistic set of criteria for the boundaries between languages.

For a list of languages with the smallest numbers of native speakers, see lists of endangered languages.

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World Population by Language based on: List of languages by total number of speakers

​A number of sources have compiled lists of languages by their number of speakers. However, all such lists should be used with caution.
  • First, it is difficult to define exactly what constitutes a language as opposed to a dialect. For example, some languages including Chinese and Arabic are sometimes considered single languages and sometimes language families. Similarly, Hindi is sometimes considered a collective language including Mewari, Chhattisgarhi, Bhojpuri etc., but together with Urdu it also is often considered a single language Hindustani.
  • Second, there is no single criterion for how much knowledge is sufficient to be counted as a second-language speaker. For example, English has about 400 million native speakers but, depending on the criterion chosen, can be said to have as many as 2 billion speakers.
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​Language including a List of languages by number of native speakers Pictured below: Other Languages, including the Theory of Language
​A language is a structured system of communication. Language, in a broader sense, is the method of communication that involves the use of – particularly human – languages.
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The scientific study of language is called linguistics.

Questions concerning the philosophy of language, such as whether words can represent experience, have been debated at least since Gorgias and Plato in ancient Greece. Thinkers such as Rousseau have argued that language originated from emotions while others like Kant have held that it originated from rational and logical thought.

20th-century philosophers such as Wittgenstein argued that philosophy is really the study of language. Major figures in linguistics include Ferdinand de Saussure and Noam Chomsky.

Estimates of the number of human languages in the world vary between 5,000 and 7,000. However, any precise estimate depends on the arbitrary distinction (dichotomy) between languages and dialect.

Natural languages are spoken or signed, but any language can be encoded into secondary media using auditory, visual, or tactile stimuli – for example, in writing, whistling, signing, or braille. This is because human language is modality-independent.

Depending on philosophical perspectives regarding the definition of language and meaning, when used as a general concept, "language" may refer to the cognitive ability to learn and use systems of complex communication, or to describe the set of rules that makes up these systems, or the set of utterances that can be produced from those rules.

All languages rely on the process of semiosis to relate signs to particular meanings. Oral, manual and tactile languages contain a phonological system that governs how symbols are used to form sequences known as words or morphemes, and a syntactic system that governs how words and morphemes are combined to form phrases and utterances.

Human language has the properties of productivity and displacement, and relies entirely on social convention and learning. Its complex structure affords a much wider range of expressions than any known system of animal communication.

Language is thought to have originated when early hominins started gradually changing their primate communication systems, acquiring the ability to form a theory of other minds and a shared intentionality. This development is sometimes thought to have coincided with an increase in brain volume, and many linguists see the structures of language as having evolved to serve specific communicative and social functions.

Language is processed in many different locations in the human brain, but especially in Broca's and Wernicke's areas. Humans acquire language through social interaction in early childhood, and children generally speak fluently by approximately three years old. The use of language is deeply entrenched in human culture.

Therefore, in addition to its strictly communicative uses, language also has many social and cultural uses, such as signifying group identity, social stratification, as well as social grooming and entertainment.

Languages evolve and diversify over time, and the history of their evolution can be reconstructed by comparing modern languages to determine which traits their ancestral languages must have had in order for the later developmental stages to occur. A group of languages that descend from a common ancestor is known as a language family;
Academic consensus holds that between 50% and 90% of languages spoken at the beginning of the 21st century will probably have become extinct by the year 2100.

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List of languages by number of native speakers:

This article ranks human languages by their number of native speakers.
However, all such rankings should be used with caution, because it is not possible to devise a coherent set of linguistic criteria for distinguishing languages in a dialect continuum.

For example, a language is often defined as a set of varieties that are mutually intelligible, but independent national standard languages may be considered to be separate languages even though they are largely mutually intelligible, as in the case of Danish and Norwegian.

Conversely, many commonly accepted languages, including German, Italian and even English, encompass varieties that are not mutually intelligible. While Arabic is sometimes considered a single language centered on Modern Standard Arabic, other authors describe its mutually unintelligible varieties as separate languages.

Similarly, Chinese is sometimes viewed as a single language because of a shared culture and common literary language It is also common to describe various Chinese dialect groups, such as Mandarin, Wu and Yue, as languages, even though each of these groups contains many mutually unintelligible varieties.

There are also difficulties in obtaining reliable counts of speakers, which vary over time because of population change and language shift. In some areas, there is no reliable census data, the data is not current, or the census may not record languages spoken, or record them ambiguously. Sometimes speaker populations are exaggerated for political reasons, or speakers of minority languages may be under-reported in favour of a national language.

Click here for a List of Top Languages by Population.

See also: ​







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