How was the invention of the telephone not just attaching two microphones to two speakers?

Question

Like, is there some other technological advancement necessary to make it work?

Were electric speakers and microphones not a thing before telephones?

In: 0

Answer 1

The technology of the day did not have an effective way to cancel interference and the energy inefficiency of the system made it an expensive alternative to shouting. Early microphones did not produce good quality audio and it was difficult to understand the person speaking.

Homes that might have a system like this had pull cords that activated bells to call for servants which would be the only practical use for a one-way only communication system.