Some 140 years ago Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray were both filing patents concerning what soon became to be known as The Telephone. Two devices connected with a sometimes very long cable allowing people to talk to each other without being in the same room. This invention alone is probably at the root of more than 99% of the electronics industry that we know today.

The world is literally covered with phone lines and even though wireless telephony has taken over the market, your grandparents' rotary dial phone still works in most countries. But for how long? In France, phone company Orange, originally known as France Télécom and owner of the cabled phone network has announced that it will stop supporting land lines in the near future because maintaining the obsolete equipment is too expensive and qualified technicians are retiring. People wanting to keep phoning over wires will have to switch to internet telephony. The end of an era is nearing.