Graham Bell, a displaced Scotsman and professor of vocal physiology at Boston University, was not trying to invent the telephone. He was trying to teach deaf people to hear. His experiments involving the transmission of sound by electricity failed to accomplish his lifelong goal-a hearing prosthesis. All that resulted was the telephone. The first telephone call was rather simple. Mr. Bell was the caller; his associate the receiver. No operator assistance was required. It was impossible to dial the wrong number (there was no dial; there was no number). There could be no busy signal. Mr. Bell had a direct line and he had the controls.
AT&T operated the finest telephone system in the world. A seven digit number accessed the party of your choice almost infallibly. An operator was always only a single digit away. Directory assistance almost always assisted. The two biggest problems had nothing to do with the telephone company at all (no answer or a busy signal). Their excellence was possible because they exercised control of every aspect of their system and they provided each caller with a direct line. They manufactured, marketed, installed, and repaired the telephones. They even owned all of the telephones and rented them to their customers. They did their own research and development. When the world became bigger (or smaller depending on your viewpoint) AT&T responded with area codes, city codes, country codes. Seven digit numbers were replaced by eleven digits. But the system still worked and it worked well.
Then the Federal Trade Commission suspected a monopoly. The Justice Department concurred, and after a decade of legal battles, the courts agreed. On January 1, 1984, the divestiture of AT&T was completed. The company which controlled every aspect of the telephone was replaced by seven independent companies. At least 15 long distance companies have emerged. Telephones are manufactured by dozens of firms and "do-it-yourselfers" can make them from kits. It is now possible (and not improbable) to dial an eleven digit access number, followed by an eleven digit telephone number only to be connected to a recorded message informing you that all circuits are busy or that one of the 22 numbers was wrong. "Please hang up and try again." Telephone service is no longer what it used to be. It may never be again.
The control was AT&T and they provided a "direct line" for each call. The control of the bladder is the brain, and when it becomes divested the direct lines of communication are lost. The bladder does what it wants, when it wants. Electrical stimulation is a promising means of restoring control over the bladder and its sphincters, but there are many logistical problems with this approach.