MARTIN COOPER INVENTS THE CELLULAR-MOBILE PHONE

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The telephone was developed to be cordless by Martin Cooper in early 1973, beginning a new developmental era in cellular communication. This was a proven success when he made the first cellular phone call to the head researcher at one of AT&T’s labs, with witnesses or reporters to confirm the call. It was later reported in the New York Times which is quoted as saying “Mr. Cooper predicted that through use of advanced circuitry & new technologies the size of the hand sets could be reduced even further to the point where they might fit in a breast pocket…” [2]

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It booted the eventual creation of the AEG Telecar CD, which is considered as the first mobile phone, invented in late 1980.[3] The phone was relatively large, the device was a box with a handle and a strap for transport. It had a hand held radio, mouth piece and speaker, for the user to speak into and the speaker had numbers for dialling when being used, this was attached by a spiral cord so the device did not get separated and lost. This phone was the first mobile phone that got used widely amongst the general public, not just field professionals. This device used a two way radio transmitter turning the voice of the person using it into radio waves, this caused it be used in keying the phone call phrase “Can you hear me now?” [4]

Around this time the touch tone phone was also becoming increasingly popular among teenagers, this is often depicted in movies and tv shows and is consider a relevant factor towards the teenage aesthetic for this period. The touch tone phone was a cordless in home phone that was usually accessible and easy to be used in bedrooms rather than typically being kept in the main rooms of the home. This became quite popular due to the new technological advancement having its own natural appeal as well as the availability of the fact it offered teenagers more privacy which made it a desirable item for most of the youth of this time.

By the mid 1980’s the cordless phone was allowed a frequency range of approximately 48 MHz, this was granted by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and this allowed the cordless phone to have easier communication due to lessening the power needed for it to operate as well as having less interference with the call and quality of the call[1]. By 1990 the FFC extended that frequency range to 900 MHz. This was a much more major step forward that provided many benefits to the quality of calls, going from 48 MHz to 900 MHz created an improvement of nearly 2000%.

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By the end of the 1980’s the flip phone had been created, this was the Motorola MicroTAC 9800X[4]. This phone was the start of making mobile telephones much easier to transport and take up less space, while it was still 9 inches long and relatively heavy compared to modern cellular devices. It had a dial pad hidden beneath a panel that flips down to be used as a microphone and a speak was above the dial pad. It also had an antenna on the top that is used in order to help the call connect more clearly so there was less disturbance, such as crackling over the call or disconnecting accidentally.

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This device was over £1000[5] but that did not lessen its popularity as many people were taken by the new technology and the product was in high demand. Due to the time period this device was produced in the phone would cost the equivalent of approximately £2500 in 2019, this is because of inflation and this reference price for this has been calculated using the Bank of England’s online inflation calculator.[6]

The concept of modern phones requiring that amount of pay is a very concerning concept now given the fact that modern phone prices have adapted to become more affordable and accessible for the majority of people, phones now cost around half if not less than the original selling price, and five times less in reference to the price provided by the inflation calculator. This heavily reflects the

public opinion of the phone given the fact it was so expensive and yet maintained popularity and was still highly in demand.

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Sources:

1. Thought Co., How The Telephone Was Invented, accessible online via. https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-the-telephone-alexander-graham-bell-1991380 accessed 20/02/2020

2. Timothy Hughes Rare & Early Newspapers, accessible online via. http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/596532 accessed 02/03/2020

3. Time Toast, Evolution of the Telephone, timeline, accessible online via. www.timetoast.com/timelines/evolution-of-the-telephone--5 accessed 24/02/2020

4. Evolution of the Telephone, accessible online via. https://prezi.com/x3qaw3qz2jhh/evolution-of-the-telephone/ accessed 28/02/2020

5. Mobile Phone History, accessible online via. https://www.mobilephonehistory.co.uk/motorola/motorola_9800X.php accessed 24/02/2020

6. Inflation Calculator by Bank of England accessible online via. https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator accessed on 27/02/2020