Electrophone (information system)
Encyclopedia
The name Electrophone was used for a telephone
-distributed audio system which operated in the United Kingdom
between 1895 and 1926, relaying live theatre
and music hall
shows and, on Sundays, live sermons from churches via special headsets connected to conventional phone lines. This was similar to the French
Theatrophone
system and the Hungarian
Telefon Hírmondó
which carried news, entertainment and fiction
readings. These hard-wired systems can be seen as important forerunners of radio
broadcasting, and are the reason radio in the U.K. was for many years called "the wireless".
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
-distributed audio system which operated in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
between 1895 and 1926, relaying live theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
shows and, on Sundays, live sermons from churches via special headsets connected to conventional phone lines. This was similar to the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Theatrophone
Théâtrophone
Théâtrophone was a telephonic distribution system that allowed the subscribers to listen to opera and theatre performances over the telephone lines. The théâtrophone evolved from a Clément Ader invention, which was first demonstrated in 1881, in Paris...
system and the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
Telefon Hírmondó
Telefon Hírmondó
Telefon Hírmondó or Telefonhírmondó was a telephone newspaper in Budapest. It was the longest-running telephone newspaper, and has been described by Peter Lunenfeld as "the most sustained point-to-point telephonic distribution system". It has also been described as an early radio, and indeed it...
which carried news, entertainment and fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
readings. These hard-wired systems can be seen as important forerunners of radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
broadcasting, and are the reason radio in the U.K. was for many years called "the wireless".