The Evolution of the Telephone, from the Liquid Transmitter to the Modern-day Smartphone

Imagine this: You’re in an unfamiliar town and while you sort of know how to get to the nearest grocery store, you accidently take the wrong exit off of the highway. What do you do? If you’re anything like me, you whip out your smartphone and Google the address before punching it into your GPS. But this wasn’t always an option. There wasn’t always a phone that fit perfectly into your car’s cup holder or your back pocket with Google, GPS, and thousands of other apps with endless information attached. As someone born in what is considered the final year of the Millennial, I even remember a time when my friends had to call my home phone to make weekend plans. But now everyone seems to own a cellphone. From Alexander Graham Bell’s “liquid transmitter” to the modern day smartphone, telephones have evolved immensely and are now an essential part of everyday life. Where did they start and where can they go from here?