Visualizing sound traces directly inspired the electronic microphone and telephone

Evidence

The visualization of sound made possible by the phonautograph led Bell to think of converting the pressure variations to electrical signals, which could be transmitted over a wire, rather than using the motion of a stylus. Emile Berliner, an assistant to Bell, constructed the first successful electronic microphone in 1876. Sir Charles Wheatstone had coined the term microphone already in 1827. The first electrical speech transmission over a wire took place in Bell’s Boston apartment on March 10, 1876. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 466

Categorization

• CANDY: The phonautograph — a drawing machine made into a telephone — is a compact, surprising origin story for a technology we all use daily.