In a recent interview, Rafael Pérez, an expert in photonic technology, analyzed the evolution of telecommunications in the Canary Islands, demystifying Alexander Graham Bell as the sole inventor of the telephone. Pérez attributes merit to the connections driven by the banana industry in Arucas and the English businessman Thomas Miller, highlighting the early arrival of the telephone to the islands.
The commercial development of the telephone in the Canary Islands began in the early 1895 s, with the first trials in La Laguna. Although the first call was made in La Palma, inter-island connections were not established until 1929. Many of these early lines were private, used by banana companies to connect their warehouses, as was the case with the telephone company in Arucas.
“"If you have to look for a historical equivalent to this, I would tell you that the closest thing is metallurgy. That is, suddenly we learn to handle metals, and then with that you can do a lot of things. The change from the Neolithic to the 11th century is the closest thing to what we can experience now with artificial intelligence. It is a complete change of paradigms."
Pérez also addressed the confusion between patent and invention, noting that although the first telephones in the Canary Islands used models covered by Bell's patent, the Italian Antonio Meucci had already developed an earlier prototype. The history of patents, according to Pérez, often favors commercial development over superior technical innovation.
Currently, Rafael Pérez works on photonic technology projects in the ULPGC laboratories, including vehicular communications for autonomous driving systems and a system to reduce satellite weight by eliminating cables. They are also exploring “Digital Twins” to optimize processes in the tourism sector, an application that, like many innovations, is intertwined with artificial intelligence.
