"The telephone is a curious device that might fairly find place in the magic of Arabian Tales. Of what use is such an invention? Well, there may be occasions of state when it is necessary for officials who are far apart to talk with each other."

People were uncertain about the potential impact of new inventions on the future of American business and daily life.

Explanation:

The advances that occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries were quite significant, at the same time that they occurred quickly. For people who until then lived with a way of understanding reality, the arrival of new and strange technologies such as the telephone, the radio, and the Morse code was seen as something unusual and whose use was still unknown for what.