“The problem with cell phones is that people keep looking at them.” This is the opinion of engineer Martin Cooper, the man responsible for inventing these devices 50 years ago.
Martin Cooper, the electrical engineer and designer The American who became known as the father of the mobile phone says that the device has virtually unlimited possibilities and that it could one day help in the fight against some diseases. However, remember that right now there are people who are obsessed with this technology.
“I think that’s badWhen I see someone crossing the street and look at a cell phone. They don’t think94-year-old Martin Cooper told AFP in his Del Mar, California, office.
Cooper has an Apple Watch and the latest iPhone, on which he intuitively jumps from email to photos to YouTube.
With each new version, the engineer changes the device and subjects it to a thorough analysis. However, keep in mind that with millions of apps available, the selection can be overwhelming. “I’ll never learn to use a cell phone the way my grandchildren and great-grandchildren do,” he says.
actual mobility
Cooper’s iPhone, which he uses primarily for making phone calls, is a far cry from the unwieldy block of wires and circuitry used to make the first mobile call, on April 3, 1973. I was working for Motorola at the time leading a team of designers and engineers in a race to produce the first truly mobile technology and avoid being left out in an emerging market.
The company had invested millions of dollars in the project, hoping to beat the Bell System, a company that had dominated telecommunications in the United States since its inception in 1877.
Bell engineers came up with the idea of a telephone system shortly after World War II, and by the late 1960s were able to put telephones in vehicles, in part because of the massive battery needed to function.
For Cooper, this was not “real mobility”. Then, in late 1972, he decided he wanted to create a device that people everywhere could use.
With Motorola’s resources, it brought together experts in semiconductors, transistors, filters and antennas, who worked non-stop for three months.
At the end of March, the team unveiled the DynaTAC (short for Dynamic and Adaptive Total Area Coverage) model.
“This phone weighed over a kilogram and had a battery for 25 minutes of talk time,” he recalls. “But the latter was no problem. The phone was so heavy that you couldn’t hold it for more than 25 minutes.”
The first phone call didn’t take long. It was enough to be successful. And what better receiver than your rival?
“I was on Sixth Avenue [em Nova Iorque] and it occurred to me that my competitor at Bell System, Dr. Joel Engel, to call. Said: Joel, this is Martin Cooper. I’m calling from a phone. But a real personal, portable phone. There was a silence on the other end of the line. I think he was grinding his teeth.”
“Overcoming Diseases”
Valued at around $4,500, the first cell phones weren’t cheap, but they brought benefits to their first users, who Cooper says included people in the real estate industry.
“Those who worked with real estate, showing houses or making appointments with clients over the phone. With the mobile phone, they could now do both things at the same time, doubling productivity,” he explains.
“The cell phone has become an extension of the person. It can do so many things,” Cooper said.
“We are just at the beginning. We are only beginning to understand what it can do. In the future, we hope that the mobile phone will revolutionize education. It will revolutionize the medical field,” expects he.
“I know it seems exaggerated, but in one or two generations we will overcome disease,” he added. Just as your watch monitors your heart rate and your cell phone controls hearing aids, cell phones will one day be connected to a series of sensors in the body that will detect diseases before they develop.
The distance between that ‘brick’ of five decades ago and today’s devices is gigantic. However, Cooper always knew that the device he and his team created would change the world.
“We knew that one day everyone would have mobile phones. We are almost there. There are more mobile phones in the world than people. So part of our dream has come true”he claimed.
However, new technologies bring challenges. “When television came along, people were mesmerized. But somehow we’ve managed to understand that there’s a quality to watching television,” he noted.
According to Martin Cooper, we are in the phase where we look at our cell phones without thinking, but this won’t last forever. “Each generation is smarter than the last. They will learn to use their mobile phone more efficiently. Sooner or later, people will find out”he added.
Source: DN
