A dip into BT’s technology archive shows there’s nothing new under the Sun

BT is currently in the process of digitising its technology archive. There's half a million documents, photographs and the like in its collection – although the names have changed, BT can trace its heritage back to 1846 and the formation of the Electric Telegraph Company. An archive spanning more than 160 years is going to have some interesting content and this issue's Cover Story takes a look at five random items; all making particular statements. Take the mobile phone; while the first mobile networks started to appear at the beginning of the 1980s, BT's archive shows a 'mobile phone' call being made in 1922. In a film, two women carry a box – probably containing a 'cat's whisker' radio – with lots of cords, which they attach to a post and make a call using an umbrella as an antenna. And if you think downloading music is a modern affair, think again: the women are shown calling an exchange which 'downloads' music to them via a gramophone! Similarly, commercial video calls date back to the 1930s and carphones to 1959. Long distance calls are another example; we take dialling almost anywhere for granted. Although long distance calls have been made since the 1870s – even via satellites such as Telstar – they invariably needed operator assistance. Direct dialling within the UK arrived in 1958, but still took many years to roll out. The photograph on p15 of the Queen making the first STD call – from Bristol to Edinburgh – tells another story: that 300 mile call was at the limit of the Post Office's (as BT was then) technology in 1958. Today, communications technology is changing more quickly than ever – this week's Mobile World Congress will push things forward yet further. What will the communications sector look like in another 10 years, let alone another 167?