Pearse and others dream of unifying the mess, with a box that blends both optics and electronics, fusing the circuit-switched world of phone calls and packet-switched world of Internet data.

FORBES: The God Box

In time, packet networks will almost entirely replace more expensive and less capable circuit-switched networks.

ECONOMIST: Internet telephony

Circuit-switched telephone systems have been replaced by packet-switched networks (most notably the Internet).

FORBES: In Digital Age, U.S. Military Still Stuck With Vietnam-Era Jammers