Memorandum

To: Dr. Warren

From: Shane Banks
Subject: Communications Case Study
Date: March 23, 2014
Introduction
There have been major advances in the communications field since the first invention and
patenting of the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell is responsible for this achievement.
By 1894 his second fundamental patent had expired, opening up the world to
competition. Over the next ten or so years more that 12,000 independent telephone
companies started up but in time the inevitable happen. 1910 brought almost all of these
independent companies to an end making the most well sustained Bell and AT&T
monopoly controlling 83% of U.S. telephones. Many years and numerous new telephone
designs later, in 1984, the United States government forced the Bell company out of a
monopoly to encourage competition between other companies and to share the wealth.
Its been called the most valuable patent ever issued. U.S. patent #174,465 was issued to
Alexander Graham Bell on March 7, 1876, for his invention of the telephone. In 1976,
exactly 100 years later, AT&T, parent of Bell Telephone, stood as the richest company on
earth.
This patent stands in history along side with ones of Microsoft and especially Steve Jobs
and Apple. Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks, and Trade Secrets are all tricky business.
There are fine lines that need not to be crossed but just walked along. Alongside
Alexander Graham Bell with risky business tactics stands Steve Jobs. To some he is look
at as thief and a manipulator. To his employees he is described as scary, charismatic,
enthusiastic, and the most powerful motivator. Whoever you were to Jobs, you cold not
deny that he was an innovator. He used every resource that he could get his hands on to
advance his company, which is not the only thing that he advanced. He took to telephone
and personal computer to a whole new level. By the time of his death at the age of 56 he
had become the CEO of his own company, Apple. Jobs has seen through the invention of
the Apple I, Apple II, MacBook, the developing of Macs own operation system, and
most importantly point and click technologies. He had been fired by the board of his own
company when the road got rough and rehired years later to bring it back to the top.
During his time away he started a new company. This one a bit different, an animation
studio called Pixar, carving new paths in the world of animated movies. When he
returned to Apple Jobs used a cannibalistic tactic to get back to the top with the unveiling
of the IPod. Shortly after his market of the first smartphone finally sent the company into
the top three richest companies. All of this good has to come along with some evil. It was
not an easy road to the top for either of these men.

Analysis
The inventor of the telephone was Alexander Graham Bell. Up until this point the only
forms of communication Morse code, pony express and methods of stagecoach. At this
time these were advanced forms of communication. The invention of the telephone
caught the world by storm. It helped not only the business of telephone sales but also
personal use. It was such a monumental addition to the industry and went untouched for a
long time. When Bells patent was up other companies tried to get a part of the wealth
and business but in the end, Bell monopolized. Reasons why all other companies failed
include how strong of a company Bell and AT&T ran and that there were so many others
tiring to get a piece at the same time. Bell took this time to update his phone. Over the
years he has introduced different models including candlestick, desk top cradle, and basic
black phones. The telephone became popular very fast. Starting in 1880 there were about
1.1 phones per 1000 population. By 1920 that number had skyrocketed to 123.9. It spread
so quickly because it was a great idea. Until this time it would take a very long time to
get messages delivered, either by letters, word of mouth, and early telegraphs. Telephones
will continue to be the best and fastest way of communication until the invention of the
Internet. Eventually, business and usage trends started to contribute to the monopoly that
was the American Telephone & Telegraph Company.
The next biggest thing to hit the markets was computers and microchips. With these new
technologies the world was able to develop a new wave of communication tools. Starting
in the 1980s and early 1990s, the first cell phones and Internet was invented. This
proved to be the new best way of communication. Netscape was the first company to take
advantage of the creation of the Internet. Creation of the first web browser helped the
world by putting all of the new websites that were being created daily into a database.
Famous figures such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have major contributions to this cause.
Between the two of them point and click interfaces have made personal computers
dummy proof making communication much more simple. The new innovations such at
the first smart phone by Apple are remarkable. Miniaturization of components has
practically merged the cell phone and Internet into one super communication tool.
The articles that have been given to us in class have revealed a lot about Steve Jobs. He
was an extraordinary influence on the technology and communications advances. All of
the readings revealed how involved Jobs were. I would describe him as the propellant to
the fire. He was the one to push his employees to their breaking points in order to achieve
greatness. He used a method call cannibalism to sell his products. He developed the first
IPod and ate all of the hype with the invention of the IPhone. This was very effective in
bringing customers in and really selling his products. Although he might have lost sales
in his IPod, it was greatly made up for in sales of IPhone and popularity in his company.
This is a tactic that businesses have been talking about for a very long time but no one is
crazy enough to actually go through with. His fixation on perfection is what made him
and Apple so innovative, effective, and transformative. The credit that Steve Jobs in
given is tricky. He was infamous for taking ideas that werent completely his. He was a
genius in that he would do anything to develop the next big thing. He has been credited
for the innovation of point and click although he had taken the idea from zerox, who at

that point had not, patented the technology yet. Apple and Jobs are responsible for
transforming computing, recording, and movie, through Pixar. Journalists have stated that
He is an American hero in another sense, too: a supercool billionaire, the dropout son of
the early- 70s counterculture.
Conclusion
I look up to Steve Jobs and have watched so many interviews and videos about him.
These include the memoir of his life, Jobs, his Stanford commencement speech, and
countless other interviews. One that has stuck with me is his comment of stealing. It
comes down to tiring to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done. And
then try to bring those things into what you are doing. Picasso had a saying, Good artists
copy, Great artists steal. We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.
This is by far the thing that has stuck with me the most. Many people have criticized him
for the way that he has ran his life and this has explained how he looks at this. Some
people say that he is a hypocrite for stealing idea then going after other companies for
doing the same thing but this is the way to make it to the top. These readings have raised
many ideas about patents, copyrights, and fairness in business competition.