How has the telephone already been improved?

The first phones had no dial. A person picked up the receiver and gave the operator the number he/she wanted. The operator finished the call for them. Phone lines were also party lines. This means you shared the line with others, so if you picked up the phone you could hear people talking. Phones were big, and did one thing, call people. A person couldn't just buy a phone, but had to rent one from the phone company. There were no answering machines, cell phones, or internet. Cell phones began to be sold to the public in 1984 and were big, expensive, and didn't work very well.