The history of mobile telephony.

If you’re like me, just that act

Published 07-11-2022

How did it all start … The history of mobile telephony began in 1956 with the introduction by the Swedish company Ericsson of a mobile phone the size of a suitcase and weighing less than 40 kg. This phone cost the same as the car. The first mobile phone network was established in Stockholm, with a range of 30 km and 100 subscribers. As technology progressed, both the dimensions and prices of mobile phones decreased significantly, and the telephone network was gradually increasing its range. At the outset, it is worth clarifying one important issue right away. Although the Motorola DynaTAC 8300 phone was presented by the manufacturer on April 3, 1973, the same device could reach the hands of consumers only … 10 years later. Pioneering equipment required adequate infrastructure, many permits, approval from the US Federal Communications Commission, and a lot of new regulations. And even when the device was finally approved and available for purchase, only a few could afford it. The world’s first mobile phone cost almost $ 4,000. The appearance of a personal cell phone is mainly due to the elderly man in the above photo — Martin Cooper. The engineer at the time (in the 1970s) at Motorola, now a staunch retired 90-year-old, was the first to turn Star Trek’s vision of Captain Kirk’s personal messenger talking to reality. It is no coincidence that we mention this character from the cult SF series here. Cooper himself admitted that these scenes inspired him. The way Cooper presented his invention is also interesting. He did not organize a closed press presentation. He just took his invention and went for a walk around Manhattan with him, still not sure if the device would work, and then dialed the number of his then competitor Joel Engel, an engineer at AT&T. The conversation was short, and Cooper recalls Joel’s speech lost when he heard, “Joel, I’m calling you on a real portable cell phone.” Today, when asked about the most important people in the history of the industry, technology fans will surely name Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Larry Page. Meanwhile, without taking anything away from these three gentlemen, they didn’t really develop anything from scratch, but only refined the ideas of others. Therefore, it is also worth remembering Martin Cooper. Click here

If you’re like me, just that act (which takes a few seconds of attention throughout your day) will start to shift how you use your time. Once you’re aware of how much time you spend on mental junk food like Facebook or game apps, you may find that you start making different choices.
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