A Satiating Innovation

Though the telegraph had an outstanding effect on technological success, inventors during the 19th century believed that there was room for further innovations. Hence, they produced a significant source that was the cutting-edge of technology; the telephone. Starr mentions the impact that this technology had on society. After the end of Bell's monopoly, it brought about the expansion of telephone companies producing a wide-ranging connection throughout and between local and rural areas; "The role of cooperative institutions underscores a key point about the expansion of telephone service at the turn of the century. While competition was crucial to the process, the development was a phenomenon not just of the market place but also of civil society" (Starr, p.203). The telephone had become a business connecting a businessman's home and his office (due to private lines) and simultaneously linking rural communities, which became a heavy or "desirable" demand. The telephone at this point in time was beneficial to all sorts of entities within society, whether it satisfied businesses or the community.