The microphone was supposed to be a hearing aid.

The first microphone was invented by Emil Berliner in 1877. Like many other inventors, Berliner was not the only person working on the development of the microphone at that time. In fact, Alexander Graham Bell (the inventor of the telephone) also worked on the microphone and even created a working prototype before Berliner. However, Bell is not considered the inventor of the microphone because his device was not practical.

Interestingly, Bell had another reason for creating the microphone. While other inventors were probably interested in increasing the volume of sound, Bell was trying to create a hearing aid that would amplify the sound for people with hearing impairments. Bell came up with the idea to create a microphone when he was visiting his mother, who had hearing problems. He also worked with people with hearing problems. Bell has been associated with hearing impairments since childhood. As we mentioned earlier, his mother was partially deaf.

His father, Melville Bell, also invented a writing system called Visible Speech for the deaf. Alexander Graham Bell worked as a teacher at a school for the deaf in Boston on Pemberton Avenue. He later married Mabel Hubbard, who was one of his students at school.