Telecommunications Hall of Fame

Transcription

TAYLOR: IN 1964 WHEN I SAW THE PICTURE PHONE AT THE NEW YORK WORLD’S FAIR, I COULD SEE THE SOLUTION COMING. IT JUST BLEW MY MIND! IT JUST HIT ME THAT I COULD COMMUNICATE ON A WIRE. ALAN HURWITZ: I REMEMBER VERY WELL PAUL WAS ALWAYS JUST A DREAMER. HE WAS ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT NEW IDEAS. ONE OF HIS MOST FRUSTRATING TIMES WAS WHEN HE WAS NOT ABLE TO USE THE TELEPHONE. TAYLOR: ALL MY LIFE I HAD NEVER USED THE TELEPHONE. I HAD ALWAYS ASKED MY MOTHER, MY HIGH SCHOOL FRIENDS AND OTHER PEOPLE WHO KNEW ME WELL IF THEY WOULD MIND MAKING A PHONE CALL. I WOULD WRITE OUT THE NUMBER FOR THEM AND THEY WOULD DO ME A FAVOR. ONE PROBLEM THAT I HAD WITH THAT, IT DOESN’T LOOK VERY GOOD TO CALL A GIRL THROUGH YOUR MOM AND ASK FOR A DATE! BUT I COULD SEE PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE AS WELL. FOR EXAMPLE, IF I’M IN EMPLOYMENT, PEOPLE WANT TO CALL ME, PEOPLE WANT TO WORK ON SOMETHING TOGETHER OVER THE PHONE, HOW WOULD THAT WORK? HURWITZ: HE CAME ACROSS A GOOD FRIEND OF OURS FROM CALIFORNIA WHO HAD INVENTED TECHNOLOGY THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO USE OLD TELETYPES THAT WOULD FIT WITH A MODEM AND THAT WAY WE COULD USE THE TELEPHONE LINES AND THE TELEPHONE SYSTEM. TAYLOR: HE SAID HE WOULD BE ABLE TO SEND ME AN ACOUSTIC CONVERTER AND THAT WOULD ALLOW ME TO CHANGE THE WIRING IN MY TTY. I WENT INTO THE BASEMENT, TOOK THE THING APART AND MADE SOME ADJUSTMENTS, PUT IT BACK TOGETHER AND THEN HE SUGGESTED THAT I CALL HIM AT HIS NUMBER. SO I DIALED, AND HE ANSWERED IMMEDIATELY. HELLO, GO AHEAD! IT WAS AN EXCITING MOMENT. TO BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE DIRECTLY TO CALIFORNIA FOR THE FIRST TIME. HIS RESPONSE WAS INSTANTANEOUS, WE WERE ABLE TO TALK BACK AND FORTH. AND PEOPLE STARTED COMING TO MY HOME TO SEE THIS MACHINE IN ACTION. THEY WERE ASTOUNDED. IT MADE ME THINK, IF THE ENTIRE DEAF COMMUNITY COULD BE CONNECTED LIKE THIS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. HURWITZ: HE WAS ABLE TO NETWORK WITH THE TELEPHONE COMPANIES AND BE ABLE TO TALK WITH DIFFERENT PEOPLE. I THINK THE IDEA OF HIM ESTABLISHING THE TTY NETWORK WAS NOT ONLY FOR COMMUNICATING BETWEEN TWO DEAF PEOPLE, BUT THE OTHER PART WAS HE REALLY WANTED TO ESTABLISH AN ANSWERING SERVICE, THE RELAY SERVICE, SO THAT HE COULD BE ABLE TO CONTACT PEOPLE WHO WERE NOT DEAF, AND I BELIEVE THAT THAT REALLY HELPED DEAF PEOPLE TO BECOME MORE FUNCTIONAL AND MUCH MORE INDEPENDENT IN THEIR PROFESSIONAL LIVES. TAYLOR: NTID HAD HEARD ABOUT ME AND THE WORK I WAS DOING. THEY KNEW I HAD AN ENGINEERING DEGREE AND THEY OFFERED ME A POSITION TO COME AND WORK WITH THEM. HURWITZ: PAUL IS PROBABLY ONE OF A FEW OUT OF A HANDFUL OF DEAF PEOPLE WHO HAVE ACHIEVED THEIR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING LICENSE. THAT WAS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY WE REALLY WANTED HIM TO COME TO NTID AT RIT AND WE FELT THAT HE COULD MAKE A HUGE IMPACT ON THE LIVES OF YOUNG PEOPLE. TAYLOR: SLOWLY THE TTY’S BECAME LESS AND LESS MECHANICAL AND MORE AND MORE ELECTRONIC. THEY BECAME SMALLER AND SMALLER, WHICH WAS WONDERFUL, THEN EVENTUALLY HURWITZ: WITH TODAY’S TECHNOLOGIES, WITH MOBILE PHONES, FACETIME, VIDEOPHONES, ALL OF THAT, YOU KNOW, I THINK PAUL CAN SIT BACK AND BE PROUD THAT HE WAS ONE OF THE PIONEERS THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO HAVE EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE NOW.