掌握科工行動版

旁白：歡迎來到「電信＠臺灣」展廳。你現在是怎麼跟家人、朋友聯繫的呢？LINE？Instagram？都是立即傳送，對吧？！但是在沒有電話、網路的時代，想把重要消息傳到遠方，只能靠書信、馬匹或船隻傳送，往往需要好幾天，甚至幾個月。

到了19世紀，一項改變世界的通信技術出現了—那就是「電報」。電報利用電流的變化，在線路中傳送訊號。1877年，從安平、臺南到旗津，臺灣第一條電報線路誕生，臺灣的電信發展也從此展開。人們開始能在短時間內傳遞遠距離消息，對政府管理、商業活動和社會交流，帶來重大的改變。

那麼，電報是怎麼運作的呢？發報員透過發報機上的按鍵，控制電流的通與斷，短按是「滴」，長按是「答」，放開時則不通電，也沒有聲音。這些有節奏的聲音，就是「摩斯電碼」。訊號傳到收報端後，會在紙上留下點、線與空格，透過排列組合對應不同的英文字母與數字，就能轉換成文字訊息了。

現在，你也可以親自試試看。到左側展區按下電鍵，敲出一段簡單的電碼，感受一百多年前，人們如何用一段節奏，把訊息傳向遠方。

Narrator: Welcome to the Telecom@Taiwan exhibition hall. How do you stay in touch with friends and family these days? LINE? Instagram? It's all instant messaging, right?! But in an era without telephone or internet, if you wanted to send a message far away, you could only do so by letter, horse, or ship. That used to take days or even months.

By the 19th century, a communication technology appeared that changed the world—"electrical telegraphy." Electrical telegraphy uses changes in electric current to send signals through a wire. In 1877, Taiwan's first telegraph route was born between Anping, Tainan, and Qijin. This also marked the start of the development of telecommunication in Taiwan. People began to transmit messages over long distances in a short time, which led to major changes in government administration, commercial activity, and social interaction.

So, how does electrical telegraphy work? The telegraph operator uses the button on the telegraph to control the electric current, allowing it to pass through or not. A short press is a "dit" and a long press is a "dah." When the button is released, no electric current passes through, and it doesn't make a sound either. These rhythmic sounds are called "Morse code." When the signal reaches the receiving end, dots, dashes, and spaces are left on paper. By arranging and combining this code into the different corresponding English letters and numbers, it can be turned into a text message.

Now, you can try it yourself. Press the button on the left side of the exhibition space to tap out a simple code and experience how people over a hundred years ago used rhythm to send messages far away.

貝爾：華生，快過來，我需要你！

華生：聽到了！聽到了！是你的聲音，很清楚！

旁白：1876年，人類第一次透過電線，清楚聽見遠方的聲音，電話因此誕生。發明電話的貝爾，是一位研究聲音、教導聾啞學生的教師。他受到電報的啟發，開始思考：如果電流可以傳遞訊號，那能不能直接傳遞人的聲音呢？

在1875年的實驗中，貝爾發現，聲音的震動可以轉換成電流，沿著線路傳到另一端，再轉換回聲音。這個發現，讓「聲音」本身成為可以被傳送的訊息。從電報的電碼，到電話的人聲，人類的溝通方式，又再次有了變革性的突破。

現在，請你到左側按下按鈕，對著話筒說一句話。你的聲音會讓話機裡的膜片產生震動，並轉換成電流，沿著銅線傳送出去。接著，看向右側。電流傳過來後，會讓另一端的膜片開始震動，聲音也就被「還原」出來了。請聽聽看，你剛剛說的話，是否成功傳到另一端了呢？

Bell: Mr. Watson, come here. I want to see you!

Watson: I hear you! I hear you! It's your voice—it's very clear!

Narrator: In 1876, humans heard clear sound from far away through a wire for the very first time. The telephone was born. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was a teacher who researched sound and taught children with hearing impairments. Inspired by electrical telegraphy, he began to ponder: if electric current can transmit signals, is it possible to directly transmit people's voices?

During an experiment in 1875, Bell discovered that sound vibrations could be transformed into electric current, sent along a wire to the other end, and transformed back into sound. This discovery allowed "sound" itself to become a transmittable signal. From the code of telegraphy to the sound of telephony, human communication underwent another revolutionary breakthrough.

Now, press the button on your left and say a few words into the transmitter. Your voice causes the diaphragm inside the machine to vibrate and turn into electric current; this is then sent along the copper wire. Next, look to your right. After the electric current has been sent through, the diaphragm on the other end begins to vibrate, and the sound is "restored" to its former self. Have a listen—did the words you just said make it to the other end?

接線生：交換局您好，請報號碼。

阿土伯：小姐，我要打市外電話到臺北，臺北3070，大稻埕的新芳春茶行。

接線生：臺北3070號，長途線路接通後會再回撥給您，請先掛斷候叫。

接線生：臺中接臺北，長途一線。

接線生：臺北接通了，請通話。

阿土伯：王老闆，我是臺中的阿土啦~聽說你，最近包種茶的銷量很好，一定很好喝，所以我也想跟你訂一批。

旁白：1900年到1950年代的臺灣，許多人用的是這種要「用手搖」才能通話的磁石式電話。想打電話時，得先轉動手柄，讓電話機裡的磁石發電，把電流送到交換局。交換局人工交換機上的吊牌一掉下來，接線生就知道有人要打電話了。接線生會插線、確認通話對象，再搖動把手，讓對方的電話響起。雙方拿起話筒後，電話才算接通。電話講完之後，還得再搖一次手柄，提醒接線生可以拆線了，否則線路會被占用。

一通電話能不能接起來，不只靠機器，還得靠交換局裡那雙忙個不停的手。現在，換你來轉動手搖把，體驗一通電話是怎麼慢慢接起來的。

Operator: This is the telephone exchange. What number can I connect you to?

A Thóo Peh: Ma'am, I want to make a long-distance call to Taipei. Taipei 3070, Xinfang Tea Company in Dadaocheng.

Operator: Taipei 3070. After the long-distance line has been connected, I will call you back. Please hang up first and wait for the call.

Operator: Taichung to Taipei; long-distance line one.

Operator: Taipei is connected; you may talk now.

A-Thóo Peh: Mr. Wang, this is A-Thóo from Taichung. I heard you've recently been selling a lot of baozhong tea. I bet it tastes great, so I'd also like to place an order.

Narrator: From the 1900s to the 1950s, many people in Taiwan used magneto telephones that had to be "cranked by hand" before you could make a call. When people wanted to make a phone call, they had to first turn the handle to make the magnet inside the telephone generate electricity and send an electric current to a telephone exchange. When the tag dropped at the exchange's manual switchboard, the operator knew someone was trying to make a call. The operator plugged in the cord, confirmed the caller, and cranked the handle again to make the receiver's phone ring. Only when both the caller and the receiver picked up the phone was a connection made. After finishing the call, they had to crank the handle once more to remind the operator that they could pull out the cord, or else the line would stay busy.

Whether or not a call could connect not only depended on machines, but also on the ever-busy hands of the operator at the telephone exchange. Now, it's your turn to crank the handle and experience how long it used to take to make a call.

史特勞傑：最近電話怎麼這麼少，幾乎沒什麼生意找上門。是線路出了問題嗎？還是……有人在動手腳？

旁白：十九世紀末，電話雖然已經出現，但每一通電話都還得靠「接線生」人工轉接。當你撥打電話時，接線生必須手動把線插到正確的位置，兩端才能通話。史特勞傑是美國的殯葬業者。當時，他懷疑是接線生把客戶的電話轉給了競爭對手，於是他開始思考：如果電話能「自己找到線路」，是不是就不需要人工介入了？

史特勞傑在1889年發明了步進制交換機，讓電話可以自動完成接線。從此，接線不再完全依賴人工。現在，請你試著操作看看，拿起左邊或右邊的電話，撥動轉盤。每輸入一個號碼，你都可以觀察眼前這部西門子步進制交換機的動作。它會隨著你的撥號，一步一步移動，幫電話找到正確的接線路徑。聽聽看，電話有沒有響起？是否成功接通了呢？

Strowger: I've been getting so few calls lately. I barely have any business. Is there something wrong with the line? Or... did someone tamper with it?

Narrator: At the end of the 19th century, despite there already being telephones, every single call still required an "operator" to manually transfer it. When you made a phone call, the operator had to manually plug the cord into the correct position before the two ends could talk. Almon Brown Strowger was an American undertaker. At the time, he suspected that the operator was transferring clients to his competitors, so he began to think: if the phone could "find the route by itself," wouldn't that mean we don't need manual intervention anymore?

In 1889, Strowger invented the step-by-step switch that allowed telephones to connect automatically. Since then, connecting has no longer fully relied on manual operation. Now, you can try it yourself. Pick up the phone on the left or right and turn the dial. Every turn enters a number—you can see the Siemens & Halske automatic switching system in front of you in action. As you dial a number, it moves one step at a time, helping the telephone find the correct path to connect. Listen—is the phone ringing? Did it connect?

阿土伯：小姐，你有五角可以跟我換嗎？我現在只有一塊錢，已經排隊一陣子了，不方便再去別的地方換錢。我剛在臺北辦完事情，要回高雄，得先打電話跟家人說一下幾點到。

林小姐：有喔，給你。阿伯你很有良心耶～我之前看到有人打電話卻沒投錢，真的很沒公德心，但我也不敢提醒他……上次電信局開放1200個名額可以裝電話，我去申請，結果沒抽中；如果中了，就不用排隊打電話了。

阿土伯：裝個電話真的很難！我還聽茶行的朋友說，有人轉賣電話，價錢比黃金還貴，真的很誇張……

旁白：二戰後的1950年代，臺灣並不是家家戶戶都有電話。為了讓更多人能使用電話，電信局在1952年開辦了「信用制公共電話」，也就是「良心電話」。由使用者自行把錢投入電話下方的錢箱，全靠誠實與公德心，起初成效不錯，但隨著使用增加，也逐漸出現問題。後來，公共電話開始設在商家裡，由店家幫忙看管與收費，也逐漸發展成投幣式公共電話。現在，請在現場找找看，有你曾經熟悉或看過的投幣式公共電話嗎？

A-Thóo Peh: Ma'am, do you by chance have any half dollars on you? I only have a whole dollar. I've been waiting in line for a while now, so it would be a hassle to go elsewhere for change. I just finished taking care of things in Taipei and want to go back to Kaohsiung, so I have to first call my family to let them know when I will arrive.

Miss Lin: I do, here. You're so responsible! I've seen people make calls without putting in money—truly inconsiderate—but I didn't have it in me to say something... The last time when the Department of Telecommunications opened a quota of 1,200 to install telephones, I went to apply, but my name wasn't drawn. Had I been, I wouldn't have to wait in line to make a phone call anymore.

A-Thóo Peh: It really is hard to get a phone installed! A friend who's in the tea business told me that if you resell your phone, it's worth more than its weight in gold. It's ridiculous...

Narrator: Following the 1950s after World War II, not every home in Taiwan had a telephone. To allow more people to use phones, the Department of Telecommunications set up " honor system public telephones"—or "honor phones"—in 1952. Callers would voluntarily insert money into a box underneath the phone; this relied completely on people's sense of honor. At first, the results were not bad, but as usage increased, problems began to crop up. Later, public telephones began to be installed in stores, with storeowners helping keep an eye on the phones and fees, and coin-operated public telephones were gradually developed. Now, look around. Can you find any payphones that you're familiar with or that you've seen before?

牛老闆：阿土伯！你的電話，臺北打來的，快來接！
阿土伯：來了來了！等我一下！
牛老闆：要打電話的等一下，一個一個來！先去看看有沒有要買的東西，啊如果要買郵票，就直接跟我說…..
旁白：在電話還不普及的年代，許多村落中往往只有一支電話，通常設在雜貨店裡。村民要打電話、接電話，都得跑到這裡來，也讓雜貨店成了全村聯絡消息的地方。1955年，政府開始推動電話建設，讓電話逐步從城市延伸到鄉村。1975年，全臺231鄉已達成「鄉鄉有電話」的目標，並進一步推動「村村有電話」，讓電話走入更多人的日常生活。
當時的雜貨店，不只販售日常用品、零食和玩具，也能打電話、買郵票，是村裡不可或缺的生活據點。現在，請在這個雜貨展示中，找找你記憶中熟悉的零食或玩具吧！

Proprietor Niu: A-Thóo Peh! You have a call, from Taipei! Come here!

A-Thóo Peh: I'm here! I'm here! Hold on a moment.

Proprietor Niu: Everyone who wants to make a call, wait a moment. One at a time! Go see if there's anything you want to buy first, or if you want to buy stamps, just tell me...

Narrator: In an age when telephones weren't widespread yet, many towns and villages only had one phone, usually installed in a grocery store. When people wanted to make or receive a call, they had to make their way over. This also turned grocery stores into places where the entire village got information. In 1955, the government began to promote the installation of telephones, allowing phones to gradually spread from the city to the countryside. In 1975, 231 towns all over Taiwan had met the target of "a phone in every town." The government further pushed for "a phone in every village," bringing telephones into the daily lives of even more people.

Grocery stores at the time not only sold daily necessities, snacks, and toys, but also provided phone services and stamps. They were an indispensable part of village life. Now, see if you can find any familiar snacks or toys you remember in this grocery store exhibition.

新聞節目主持人：1980年代，臺灣的通信方式開始快速改變。電話逐漸普及，越來越多家庭都有電話；同時，行動通信和網路也開始發展，讓聯絡方式不再只有固定電話，變得更加多元，也更方便。今天，我們邀請到通訊見證者林大哥，來和我們分享那個年代的打電話經驗。

林大哥：欸…那時候雖然已經開始有行動電話，網路也剛起步，但是大家最常用的，還是公共電話啦～跟我小時候用的投幣式電話不太一樣，我記得到了大學、當兵的時候，幾乎都是用卡式公共電話了。
新聞節目主持人：1984年，電信局引進卡式公用電話，使用者只要把電話卡插進去，就能打電話，不用再準備零錢。

林大哥：我現在還留著很多以前用過的電話卡，每一張的圖案都不一樣。後來卡面變得越來越多樣，很多人因此會特別收集，甚至還出現了廣告電話卡。

新聞節目主持人：現在，請看看這裡展示的各種電話卡，觀察卡片上的圖案與設計，哪些是你曾經用過的？是不是也讓你想起那段在電話亭前等待的時光？

News Presenter: In the 1980s, communication methods in Taiwan began to change rapidly. Telephones became more widespread, with an increasing number of households having phones. At the same time, mobile communications and the internet were being developed, no longer limiting contact methods to fixed phones but introducing greater diversity and convenience. Today, we have invited communications witness Mr. Lin to share with us his experience making phone calls in that era.

Mr. Lin: Erm... Though mobile phones had already started to pop up back then—the internet, too—I still mostly used public phones! Not those coin-operated public phones I used as a kid, though. I remember that when I was in university or doing military service, I mainly used card-operated public phones.

News Presenter: In 1984, the Department of Telecommunications introduced card-operated public telephones. Callers simply had to insert a telephone card to make a call, no longer requiring cash.

Mr. Lin: I still have a whole bunch of phone cards I used back in the day. They all have different images on them. They kept putting out new designs, so many people started collecting them. There were even phone cards with ads on them.

News Presenter: Thank you for sharing, Mr. Lin. Now, take a look at the phone cards on display here and inspect the images and designs. Which ones have you used? Are you reminded of the times when you used to wait in front of telephone booths?

新聞節目主持人：這裡展示了許多早期的行動電話，有直立式、掀蓋式與滑蓋式。找找看，是否有你曾經看過，甚至用過的款式。

人類對無線通訊的想像很早就開始了，20世紀初，無線通訊主要用在軍事；到了1973年，美國摩托羅拉（Motorola）公司推出第一支行動電話，外型跟磚頭一樣大。現在請你走到圓弧展櫃後方，找找看「AMPS行動電話」。林大哥，你當時有用過嗎？

林大哥：哎呦！「黑金剛」很貴捏，我哪用的起啦！那時候香港電影裡的黑道大哥或公司大老闆都拿這一支，所以又叫「大哥大」。我是用BB Call，也就是呼叫器。只要一響，就知道有人找你，得趕快找電話回撥。

新聞節目主持人：1980年代，臺灣開始發展行動通信。1989年行動電話系統開放，「隨時通話」成為可能。早期手機體積龐大，之後逐漸縮小，也加入拍照、聽音樂等功能。到了3G時代，手機不只是通話工具，也成為連結資訊與人際的重要媒介。

為什麼人可以一邊走動，一邊講電話，還能順利接通？其實是透過「基地台」傳遞訊號。城市被分成不同區域，每區都有基地台負責收發；通話時，訊號會在基地台間切換，即使移動也不中斷。

林大哥（男聲）：以前根本不會想這些，只覺得能隨時打電話就很方便。後來手機越來越小、功能越來越多，現在根本是最重要的生活工具了。

News Presenter: Shown here are many early mobile phones—vertical phones, foldable phones, and sliding phones. Look around and see if you can find any you've seen or maybe even used before.

People began imagining wireless communication very early. At the start of the 20th century, wireless communication was mainly used in the military. In 1973, the American company Motorola released the first mobile phone. It was as big as a brick. Now, step behind the arched display case and look for the "AMPS cell phone." Mr. Lin, did you use this back in the day?

Mr. Lin: Woah! A "black diamond" like that cost a fortune—there's no way I could afford that! Back then, gangsters and bosses in Hong Kong movies all had one, which is why they were also called "big brother" in Chinese. I used a beeper—a pager. Just a single beep and you'd know someone was looking for you, so you had to hurry off and find a phone to call them back.

News Presenter: In the 1980s, Taiwan began to develop mobile communications. In 1989, the mobile phone system was launched, and "calling at any time" became possible. Early mobile phones were very large before gradually becoming smaller, and camera and music playing functions were added. When the 3G era had arrived, mobile phones were no longer simply tools of communication, as they had also become an important medium connecting information and people.

How is it possible to move while making a call and still have a good connection? This is because of signals transmitted by "cell towers." Cities are divided into different areas, and each area has a base station responsible for sending and receiving messages; when making a call, the signal is switched at the cell tower, so that it won't be interrupted even when moving.

Mr. Lin: I never thought about any of this before. I just thought it was convenient, being able to make a call at any time. Later, mobile phones became smaller and smaller, and they got more and more functions. Now it's simply the most important tool in life.

新聞節目主持人：觀眾朋友你知道嗎，我們曾經看到的黑色通訊電纜線，裡面包的是「光」喔！

林大哥：哈哈，你是說「光纖電纜」吧！我年輕時在電纜公司工作，我們沿著高速公路、省道與鐵路鋪設線路，甚至要拉海底電纜到澎湖、金門、馬祖，真是辛苦的大工程啊！我們花了十幾年才把整個臺灣用光纖電纜串連起來。

新聞節目主持人：多虧了你們！光纖電纜比銅線輕多了，傳輸速度也快非常多，是讓我們有便利通訊的重要基礎建設。

林大哥：其實早在1960年代以前，人們就知道玻璃可以導光，但那時製造玻璃的技術還不夠好，雜質太多，光大概跑不到20公尺就消失了，沒人相信玻璃能拿來通訊。一直到1970年，美國康寧公司研發出「低損耗光纖」，才真正打開商業應用的大門。臺灣也很快跟進，從1979年開始試驗，1983年正式導入，讓我們一步一步將光纖通訊串聯全島。

新聞節目主持人：在你眼前這個像拉長水滴的透明玻璃棒，就是光纖的「預形體」。把它加熱之後，機器會像抽絲一樣，把它拉成好幾公里長，變成像頭髮一樣細的光纖。不過，一段光纖的長度還是有限，所以鋪設時要用精密的「熔接」技術，一段一段接起來，訊號才能一路高速傳出去，從臺灣連到世界各地。

News Presenter: Did you know? The black communication cables we usually see are filled with "light!"

Mr. Lin: Haha, you must be talking about "fiber-optic cable!" I worked at a cable company when I was young. We laid cables along freeways, highways, and railways. We even pulled cables across the ocean floor to Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. That was a massive undertaking! We spent over a decade connecting all of Taiwan by optical fiber.

News Presenter: And we can't thank you enough for that! Optical fiber is much lighter than copper wire, and its transmission speed is also much higher. It's the important foundation that lets us have convenient communication.

Mr. Lin: Actually, even before the 1960s, people already knew glass could carry light, but the technology to make glass wasn't good enough back then. There were too many impurities, and the light would go out within 20 meters, so no one believed glass could be used for communication. It wasn't until 1970, when the American company Corning developed "low-loss optical fiber," that it really opened the door for commercial applications. Taiwan caught up quickly, starting tests in 1979 and officially introducing it in 1983. This is what has let us connect the entire island by fiber-optic communication, one step at a time.

News Presenter: This transparent glass rod in front of you that looks like a stretched-out drop of water is the "preform" of optical fiber. After heating the glass, a machine pulls it like spinning silk until it's many kilometers long, turning it into optical fiber as fine as hair. However, the length of optical fiber still has a limit, so when laying optical fiber, precision "fusion splicing" technology is needed to connect one part to another. Only then can signals be transmitted at the speed of light, connecting Taiwan to the rest of the world.