Bell did amazing research under that monopoly, the downside was that they also buried some of it. They had magnetic storage and an answering machine in the 30s

Bell did amazing research under that monopoly, the downside was that they also buried some of it. They had magnetic storage and an answering machine in the 30s, but were terrified that it might reduce demand for telephone services, so they suppressed the technology for sixty years. https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-ma-bell-shelved-the-future-for-60-years-5691604 https://io9.gizmodo.com/how-ma-bell-shelved-the-future-for-6... Maybe that one would have never come to light without their help anyway, but they also fought inventions of outsiders that touched the telephone network, under the monopoly protection laws that allowed them to control anything "connected to" their network. Probably the most absurd example is when they fought to stop people from using a physical barrier to make phone calls a little less loud: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-battle-over-net-neutrality-started-with-the-1920s-era-hushaphone https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-battle-over-net-ne...