The modern version of the telephone has demonstrated a significant change over the years from what it was at one time. What allows us to communicate with the world at any time; the minute and second of the day just show how significant the invention was to individuals. It is one of the most used electronic components in the world today. Over time research has not only led to different versions of the phone, but to the development of different tones, caller ID, dialing, call tracking and the ability to listen to music while on hold. Alexander Graham Bell was born in March 1847 in Edinburgh to a family whose life revolved around sound, speech, and communication (Stern and Gwathmey 1). It was the beginning of the second decade of Queen Victoria's reign, and Britain was entering an era of industrial expansion, with science in the ascendant. Bell at a young age proved himself to be a true gentleman, his training in etiquette and public speaking only proving useful to him throughout his life. It was during a visit to Sir Charles Wheatstone's London laboratory, that he discovered the scientist's invention of the talking machine which fascinated him (Stern and Gwathmey 2). Curious and ambitious, he began and became a professor of music and diction, study and the art of speaking clearly in a college. Tragedy struck the Bell family shortly thereafter and, fearing further loss, the family moved to Brantford, Ontario in 1870. Bell spent a short time in Canada and quickly found his love of life in Boston. Bell began teaching deaf children and it was here that he met Thomas Sanders and Gardiner Greene Hubbard. Little did Bell know that these two men would play a leading role in the patenting of the telephone and the direction... center of the paper... telephone service. Here we sit in the 21st century and look at the tool that once brought people together and has now spawned an industry that keeps them apart. Ultimately, the telephone ushered in a new era, one in which it changed the way we talk to people and access information. Having a telephone allows families to stay in touch, businesses to advertise, and one of the biggest contributions is that it has made it possible to call during emergencies. Bell once wrote in 1878: "I believe that in the future cables will connect the headquarters of telephone companies in different cities, and a man in one part of the country will be able to communicate orally with another in a distant place." (Marples, thehistoryof) Since the early days of the telephone and little was known, it is safe to say that Bell understood the vast potential of his invention and what it would be today.