It is almost impossible to imagine life without mobile phones today as many of us spend a significant amount of time with our devices, with social media taking our obsession to new heights. Even the inventor of the mobile phone, Martin Cooper, who is known as the ‘Father of the cell phone’, feels devastated by his own invention, as he believes that people are becoming ‘obsessed’ with their mobile phones.
He expresses his concerns about people crossing the street while looking at their phones, stating that they are ‘out of their minds’. However, he adds that people will eventually figure it out after a few accidents.
Despite his worries, Cooper believes that mobile phones have immense potential and will revolutionize education and healthcare in the future. He acknowledges that this may sound like an exaggeration, but he firmly believes that within a generation or two, we will be able to conquer disease.
Cooper wears an Apple Watch and uses a top-end iPhone. He tests almost every new phone model, but admits that it is all becoming a little too much for him. He also comments that he will never understand how to use mobile phones the way his grandchildren and great-grandchildren do.
Cooper talks about the first mobile phone, which used to cost around $5,000 per handset. He explains that early adopters of the technology saw an edge in it as it allowed them to show people houses and answer the phone for new clients at the same time, doubling their productivity.
Cooper made the first-ever mobile phone call on April 3, 1973, using a weighty block of wires and circuits. He was leading a team of designers and engineers at Motorola who were trying to create truly mobile technology. The company aimed to beat Bell System, a company that had dominated US telecoms since 1877. Cooper wanted to create a proper mobile phone that could be used anywhere, and by the end of March 1973, he made a breakthrough and unveiled the DynaTAC phone. It weighed over a kilo and had a battery life of around 25 minutes of talking.
The first-ever call he made was to his competitor, Dr Joel Engel at Bell System, where he announced that he was talking to him on a handheld cell phone. Engel was shocked, and Cooper remembers him being silent on the other end of the line, possibly gritting his teeth. Nonetheless, Cooper’s invention paved the way for mobile technology as we know it today.
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