Regression through Progression

"Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you."

Those were the first word uttered through the newly invented telephone in 1876.

The telephone, invented by Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Watson, was a game changing device that enabled electric vocal communication.

Their invention replaced the telegraph, a now outdated communication system that transmitted electric signals over wires from location to location that translated into a message.

Prior to the telephone, if I wanted to send my pal Josh a message, I had to go to the local telegraph office, write my message, and give it to the telegraph operator. The operator would then tap tap tap away in Morse code to deliver my message.

With Bell's invention, I am now able to call my pal Josh and give him my message directly.

As time progressed after the phone was invented, it was modernized, miniaturized, and even made portable. The communication industry was progressing.

In December 1992, the evolution of the communication industry made a U-turn as Neil Papworth, a a 22-year-old test engineer for Sema Group used a personal computer to send the text message "Merry Christmas" via the Vodafone network to the phone of Richard Jarvis.

Over the next several years, carriers put a pricing structure in place for this short message service, or SMS. Within the past 10 years, "texting," as it is popularly know, became a global phenomenon, especially among teens.

Today, SMS texting is used by more than 74 percent of mobile subscribers, some as their primary method of communicating.

As I look at it, we went from tap tap tapping away, to actually speaking to one another over great distances, to regressing back to tap tap tapping.

As we continue this "evolution" of communication, will we grow further and further apart in our quest for the most convenient form of communication?

And better yet, is Bell rolling over in his grave?