In the fall of 1881 , the world was enclose to livestreaming .
Yes , you read that right : livestreaming , where we utilise our smartphones or other devices to channelise a live feed of what we ’re catch and hearing to people who are n’t physically with us . There ’s Periscope , Snapchat , andYouNow , but before any of those newfangled apps , there was the theatrophone .
The fall of 1881 was a famous one in Paris : The City of Light was host the first International Exposition of Electricity off the Champs - Élysées . The expo produce a bombination , with Europeans flocking to Paris to see the wonders of electricity , from Edison ’s recently - manufacture short medulla oblongata to Alexander Graham Bell ’s telephone to a little equipment that seemed to fuse the two together : the theatrophone .
The theatrophone was a curious thing . The concept included wire conduct from a stage into a dual - channel audio organization with audio frequency for each auricle . From there , the wires would transmit auditory sensation to a get sound recording source . For the Expo , 80 telephone sender had been set up across the stage of the Paris Opera and connect ( via cable television through the Paris sewers ) to room in the Paris Electrical Exhibition . Visitors could pick up the theatrophone and hear a hot operation of the opera — more than two kilometre away from the actual stage . According to theNew Scientist , it was the first - ever programme of two-channel sound .
Inventor Clement Ader , today perhaps substantially known for hisaviation work , had antecedently been responsible for instal the first phone system in Paris — making him the perfect soul to set in motion livestreaming .
Parisians right away took to the invention . The Belle Epoque pop artist Jules Cheret record the theatrophone in a lithograph boast a fair sex in a lily-livered attire , grinning as she presumptively listened to an opera provender . Victor Hugo was intrigued :
The theatrophone , and standardized services , were take on by high order across Europe . In 1884 , the Lusitanian King Dom Luis , a diehard opera buff , was unable to attend the performance ofLaureanaat the Teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos in Lisbon . But no fear : Dom Luis got his opera house fill via theatrophone at his castle . He was such a rooter that he indorse having subscription for opera fan like himself ( 90 performances for 180,000 Portuguesereis ) . gin mill cash in on the craze , charging people to heed to plays to kick off boozy afternoons , much the way of life legal profession show televised sporting matches today , and hotel lobby and cafe in Paris also instal the serving at coin - operating listening station . Pretty soon , Britons caught on , with radical of high society ladies and gentlemen gather in living-room to mind to the most sought - after performance . Queen Victoria had a subscription , as did about 600 other people during the turn of the last 100 .
Ader see that the theatrophone was trés nerveless among the hip and natural event of Parisian order and launched the Compagnie du Theatrophone . Not a peachy deal is recognise about the company , besides the fact that it closed down in the 1930s — about 50 years after it open up . Why?By the time the 20thcentury rolled around , radios had ameliorate and become the preferent method of entertainment . They were also much cheaper than pay for a subscription for a theatrophone , which by then was n’t as reliable as a handheld radio receiver for send information .
So the next time you watch out a live feed , just recall : The Parisians were there way before you .
