Full transcript
0:00hey everybody welcome to this b1 english
0:02listening practice video
0:04you can use this video to practice your
0:06listening and comprehension as i speak
0:08before we start remember to sign up for
0:10our one dollar listening practice
0:12seminars at polyglossa.com
0:14and download the free listening time
0:16podcast so you can practice your
0:18listening skills
0:19[Music]
0:24so today i'm going to talk about phones
0:26i was talking about this topic the other
0:28day and i got to thinking about how
0:30important
0:31phones are in our everyday lives so
0:33let's talk a little bit about this
0:35let's go briefly through the history of
0:37phones even though some basic versions
0:39of the telephone had been invented
0:41earlier
0:42alexander graham bell is usually
0:44credited with the invention since he won
0:46the first
0:46u.s patent for it a patent is a
0:49government license given to someone who
0:51comes up with an idea for an invention
0:53it excludes other people from making or
0:55selling this invention for a certain
0:57number of
0:58years so alexander graham bell received
1:00a patent for the telephone in 1876.
1:04prior to that people couldn't talk over
1:06long distances
1:07they could only send messages through
1:08telegraph or some other means
1:10you can imagine how revolutionary this
1:12invention was when suddenly people could
1:14talk and have their voice heard in a
1:16different location
1:17it must have seemed like really advanced
1:19technology at the time
1:20but obviously telephones didn't just
1:22become common household items overnight
1:25it would be decades before this device
1:27became commonplace and at the turn of
1:28the century there were still fewer than
1:30a million phones in use
1:32one big milestone in the development of
1:34phones was the first
1:35transcontinental phone call which was
1:37made from new york to san francisco in
1:391915.
1:40nowadays this might not seem like a huge
1:43feat but this type of long distance
1:44communication was completely unheard of
1:46at that time
1:47the telephone was changing the way
1:49people thought about communication
1:51over the next few decades many more
1:53millions of households installed
1:55landlines
1:56and the telephone became the king of
1:58communication
1:59then fast forward to 1973 in the world
2:01saw the introduction of the first cell
2:03phone made by motorola
2:05but if you're thinking that this cell
2:06phone bore any resemblance to today's
2:08phones
2:09think again the first mobile phone was a
2:12monster
2:12it definitely couldn't fit in anyone's
2:14pocket later on
2:16in 1989 the first flip phone appeared on
2:18the market
2:19a flip phone is a phone that you open
2:21like this the type of phone that i had
2:24growing up
2:24in 1992 the first text message was sent
2:27between phones
2:29obviously today text messages are an
2:31essential function of all cell phones
2:33and people communicate more through
2:34messages than they do through calls
2:36come to think of it it seems like people
2:38try to avoid calling
2:39and instead send text messages whenever
2:42possible
2:43another cell phone feature that we take
2:44for granted nowadays is the camera
2:47the first camera phone came out in japan
2:49in 1999
2:50and then later on in the rest of the
2:52world and then finally in 2007
2:55the first iphone came out stunning the
2:57world with its revolutionary design
2:59and touch screen display even though
3:01there were already smartphones in
3:02existence at that time
3:04the iphone really brought smartphones
3:06onto the scene
3:07after that other companies followed suit
3:09and started releasing smartphone after
3:11smartphone
3:12nowadays it seems like practically
3:14everyone who can afford it has a
3:15smartphone
3:16this device has become a necessity in
3:18many people's lives and most people
3:20spend many hours every week using it
3:23actually a lot of people don't even use
3:25their computer that much anymore because
3:26they can do everything from their phone
3:28if you had told people just a few
3:30decades ago about the cell phones of
3:31today
3:32they probably wouldn't have believed you
3:34who knows what type of innovation we
3:36might see with phones in the future
3:38i guess we'll have to wait and see okay
3:40now i'm going to ask you three questions
3:41about today's video
3:43write your answers in a comment down
3:44below number one
3:46in what year was the first
3:47transcontinental phone call made
3:49number two which company made the
3:51world's first cell phone
3:53and number three what important cell
3:55phone feature was first added in 1992
3:58all right before we go remember to sign
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4:03and download the free listening time
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4:07listening skills
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4:10click on the bell
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4:13next time