PORTABLE PHONES
“1 in 10 survey respondents said they’d rather lose their mother-in-law than their cell phone.” -­‐Leger Marketing
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April 3, 2013 will mark the 40th anniversary of the first public telephone call placed on a
portable cellular phone. Martin Cooper (now chairman, CEO, and co-founder of ArrayComm
Inc) placed that call on April 3, 1973, while general manager of Motorola's Communications
Systems Division. It was the incarnation of his vision for personal wireless communications,
distinct from cellular car phones. That first call, placed to Cooper's rival at AT&T's Bell Labs
from the streets of New York City, caused a fundamental technology and communications market
shift away from the place and toward the person.
The development of the mobile phone has seen a tremendous number of changes since the first
cell phones were introduced. It was only at the beginning of the 1980s when mobile phone
technology started to be deployed commercially. Since then there have been many new cell
phone or mobile phone systems introduced, and many improvements have been made in this
form of radio communications technology. The mobile phones themselves as well as the
associated equipment including base stations and the other network equipment and cellular
technology has become much cheaper and far smaller. Mobile phone history is often divided into
generations (first, second, third and so on) to mark significant step changes in capabilities as the
technology improved.
One of the major changes is the level of market penetration that has been achieved. Cellular
technology has enabled many people to have phones where it would not otherwise be possible. In
many countries there are more mobile phone accounts than people, i.e. many people have more
than one account, possibly one for private use and one for work. In this way cellular technology
has enabled market penetration to become more than 100%.
No contemporary cultural artifact embodies the genius and excess of capitalism as clearly as the
cell phone. Ever-present in most developed societies in Europe, the Americas and Asia, the cell
phone has become a laboratory for testing the limits of technological convergence. Less a
telephone today than a multi-purpose computer, cell phones are game consoles, still and video
cameras, email systems, text messengers, carriers of entertainment and business data, and modes
of commerce. Particular age groups and subcultures have begun to appropriate cell phones for
personal uses that help to define their niche or social identity.(this could be the starting point and
hook for our 17 year old) The cell phone has become a technological object and a cultural form
whose uses and meaning are increasingly various.
Early Development
“As a teenager you are at the last stage in your life when you will be happy to hear that the
phone is for you”
-Fran Lebowitz (author)
Cell phone technology is based on radio technology that was developed from the 1940′s onward,
going back to shore-to-ship demonstrations of radio telephony, through the Second World War
with military use of radio telephony links, and civil services in the 1950s. The beginning of cell
phones can be traced to the innovation in taxi cabs, police cars, and other service vehicles where
two way radios allowed taxi drivers or police officers to communicate with one another or with a
central base. Early cell phone communication technology can even be traced back to individuals
with special radios that patched into a phone line via live operator to make a phone call.
On June 17, 1946 a driver in St. Louis, Missouri pulled out a handset from under his car's
dashboard, placed a phone call and made history - it was the first mobile telephone call. A team
from Bell Labs had worked more than a decade to achieve this feat. By 1948, wireless telephone
service was available in almost 100 cities and highway corridors. Customers included utilities,
truck fleet operators and reporters. However, with only 5,000 customers making 30,000 weekly
calls, the service was far from commonplace.
That primitive wireless network could not handle large call volumes. A single transmitter on a
central tower provided a handful of channels for an entire metropolitan area. Between one and
eight receiver towers handled the call return signals. At most, three subscribers could make calls
at one time in any city. It was, in effect, a massive party line, where subscribers would have to
listen first for someone else on the line before making a call. Expensive and far from "mobile", the service cost $15 per month, plus 30 to 40 cents per local
call, and the equipment was excessively weighty. Just as they would use a CB microphone, users
depressed a button on the handset to talk and released it to listen. Improved technology after 1965 brought a few more channels, customer dialing, and eliminated
the cumbersome handset. But capacity remained so limited that Bell System officials rationed the
service to 40,000 subscribers guided by agreements with state regulatory agencies. For example,
2,000 subscribers in New York City shared just 12 channels, and typically waited 30 minutes to
place a call. It may have been wireless, but it had strings attached.
Modern cell phone technology started when D.H. Ring from Bell Labs created hexagonal cells
for mobile phones in 1947. Later on, another engineer from Bell Labs came up with the idea of
cell towers that would transmit and receive signals in three directions instead of two. However,
although some technologies have been developed, electronics and other technologies take
decades to mature. For instance, the electronics that were used in the first cell phones were first
developed in the 1960′s.
Throughout the decades, many technologies that made mobile phones available existed. Most of
the time, these phones were installed in vehicles due to the large battery requirements. For
instance, the MTA (Mobile Telephone System A) that the Eriksson Corporation developed was
available in Sweden in the 1950s. Unfortunately, it weighed over 80 pounds. Later versions
weighed around 20 pounds, which is still ineffective in comparison to the portable devices that
are used today. The Swedish police used the first official mobile phone in 1956. The technology
was connected to the telephone network and was distinctive of two way radio technology. The
phone was not very practical as it could only make 6 phone calls before the car’s battery was
drained.
Selling the Cell
“Apparently we love our own cell phones but we hate everyone else’s.”
-Joe Bob Briggs (comedian)
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In 1960, John F. Mitchell became chief engineer of Motorola's mobile communications projects.
Martin Cooper reported to Mitchell, and during the 1960s was instrumental in turning pagers
from a technology used in single buildings to one that stretched across cities. Cooper helped fix a
flaw in the quartz crystals Motorola made for its radios. This encouraged the company to massproduce the first crystals for use in wrist watches. Cooper also worked on developing portable
products, including the first portable handheld police radios, made for the Chicago police
department in 1967.
In the early 1970s, Mitchell put Cooper in charge of its car phone division where he led
Motorola's cellular research. Cooper envisioned mobile phones that would be used not only in a
car, but also small and light enough to be portable. Thanks to years of research and development
in portable products directed by Cooper and new technologies from all over the company, it took
only 90 days in 1973 to create the first portable cellular 800 MHz phone prototype. Cooper has
stated that watching Captain Kirk using his communicator on the television show Star Trek
inspired him to develop the handheld mobile phone.
While AT&T's research arm, Bell Laboratories, had introduced the idea of cellular
communications in 1947, in the sixties and early seventies Motorola and Bell Labs were in a race
to incorporate the technology into portable devices. Martin Cooper won that race! He set up a
base station in New York with the first working prototype of a cellular telephone, the Motorola
Dyna-Tac. After some initial testing in Washington for the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), Cooper and Motorola took the phone technology to New York to show the public.
On April 3, 1973, at a public demonstration and using a heavy 30-ounce phone, Martin Cooper
placed the first cell phone call - to his rival at AT&T Bell Labs - from the streets of New York
City. This first cell phone call caused a fundamental technology and communications market shift
toward the person and away from the place. It also created another vision for Martin Cooper for personal wireless communications. Following the April 3, 1973, public demonstration,
Cooper started the 10-year process of bringing the portable cell phone to market.
The original Motorola DynaTAC handset weighed 1 kilogram (2.2 lb), had 35 minutes of talk
time, and a 10 hour recharge window. By 1983 and after four duplications, Cooper’s team had
reduced the handset’s weight by half that of the original. Motorola introduced the 16-ounce
"DynaTAC" phone into commercial service in 1983, with each phone costing the consumer
around $3,500. (Cooper left Motorola before they started selling handheld mobile phones to
consumers) It took seven additional years before there were a million subscribers in the United
States. Today, there are more cellular subscribers than landline phone subscribers in the world,
with mobile phones weighing as little as 3 ounces.
The Future
“Cell phone dependency is now called compulsive communicating. Chain dialers call
continually to get another fix.”
-Spokesman Review
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Mobile telecommunications have come a long way in the last 15 years. How primitive some of
the earlier models of mobile phones now seem and how astounded people were by the ability to
send an SMS message and phone friends and family on a mobile device. There was then a period
of mobile phones getting smaller and smaller, until you could barely hit the correct buttons. The
smaller the device you had the more status it gave you.
There has been an explosion in functionality since the arrival of smartphone technology. We have
now reached a point where our mobile phones are more like mini computers than phones.
Companies such as Google, Apple, HTC, Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft and many others are
developing smarter handsets at a rapidly increasing pace. Tomorrow's cell phones may bear little
resemblance to the snap-open handsets or even the sleek, flat rectangular phones we sport today.
Visionaries from design firm Pilotfish and sensor maker Synaptics have created a phone that has
no buttons - it's operated with gestures. Designer Manon Maneenawa has built a phone that can
be converted into an alarm clock or a wrist watch. Sweden's GoldVish sells a phone for $1.26
million that features diamonds and a secret compartment.
And in a true example of “No freakin’ way!” and giving a whole new meaning to hands-free
cellphone use, in April, 2011 neuroscientists at the University of California, San Diego,
announced they'd discovered a way to dial a cellphone just by thinking of a phone number!
Apparently anything is possible - here are a few examples of phones available now (or soon)…
Music Phone "Ondo" by PILOTFISH
Conceptual mobile phone for the music enthusiast who seeks to interactively capture, edit and
share sounds. The Ondo concept enables OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) to visualize
a new form of user interaction for mobile phones. Going beyond software-based solutions of
other products, it is specifically designed to effectively collect pure sounds and is specially
constructed to create a tactile sound editing experience. Like a portable recording studio, “Ondo”
makes mixing tracks easy, because each “stick” picks up isolated sounds from each individual
instrument. Made from form-sensitive flexible materials, the “Ondo” allows the user to modify
recorded sounds by physically twisting and bending the device.
Concept Samsung ISD Phone
Concept smartphone – Samsung device with a 720p display. The handset is bigger than the
iPhone, a bit wider and comes with an 8 megapixel camera at the back and front, strange as that
may seem. The Samsung ISD supports fingerprint authentication, sliding on the screen for
navigation purposes and more. Inside there’s a Hummingbird CPU and the phone is supposed to
run the latest version of Windows Phone OS. ISD is a device with an edge to edge display,
something that has been waiting to become reality for a while now. Interestingly the front camera
is integrated into the top left side and will probably give a great video-call experience if this
model has LTE connectivity.
Concept iPhone 5:
The design offers a new iconic phone that will have a 23% smaller size - less is more. Instead of
the home button this time you’ll see a fingerprint scanner to unlock the phone. In fact, you can
choose to assign a specific finger as password to open your mail, Twitter or Facebook. The
iPhone 5 features a touch wheel on the back of the phone, so when you read the Twitter status of
a friend, you can simply scroll up and down with your finger on the back the iPhone.
Concept Communication Device Nokia Essence
Nokia Essence features a touch pad on the other side, which can be used to control many
applications. This can be flexibly used as a remote control for different pieces of equipment or
wireless touch pad while making presentations. The concept will make good use of the internet
and will work like computers that can connect globally. Phones are turning into mini computers
that solve additional purposes other than just dialing or receiving calls. Essence will introduce
the concept of ‘Network of Things’, which will include products from various categories and join
them together. The device is simple to look at and has two switches, one at each end, for local
connection or global connection. The number pad of this pocket-sized gadget has been designed
in an ergonomic manner. Menu will appear magically if you hold down the number 5 key.
Holding the green and red buttons for 5 seconds will let the user make an emergency call.
Concept Futuristic iPhone
We have seen laser keyboards existing for a couple of years now, but sadly they were never a
true solution for everyone due to their lack of precision. This is a device with a holographic
interface and what looks like a projector. Since Apple recently patented a pico-projector and
bought the domain applepico.com, it’s only a matter of time till we’ll see iPhones with projectors
inside and capable of projecting holograms for interface.
Concept Nokia Phone Runs on Coke
As a general rule, cell phone batteries are costly, resource-intensive, and difficult to dispose of
properly. So why not ditch them and run our cell phones on soda? That’s the thinking behind
designer Daizi Zheng’s concept phone for Nokia. Instead of running on traditional batteries, the
concept phone uses a bio battery that generates electricity from carbohydrates.
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Social Effects
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“The only still center of my life is Macbeth. To go back to doing this bloody, crazed, insane
mass-murderer is a huge relief after trying to get my cell phone replaced.”
-Patrick Stewart (actor)
The social effects of mobile communication is a huge topic – the director will have to
capsulize it down to its barest form.
The widespread adoption of the cell phone as a tool of communication and entertainment has
revolutionized society, redefining patterns of social contact and relationships among individuals.
As a personalized device, it has provided more personal freedom, but it has also blurred the
boundary between personal and public life. No longer just a communication device, it has
become a fashion tool, a device to shape an individual’s identity and prestige, and has created a
new subculture, particularly in the case of adolescents. (this might be a good starting point for
the episode, as kids’ lives revolve totally around their cell phones- grab that 17 year old!)
Cell phones are crucial telecommunications technology that has changed the face of business.
Telecommuting and business travel have both been greatly enabled by the spread of cellular
phones. Newer advances in wireless internet technology has led to the spread of powerful phones
capable of running functional office applications and connecting to the internet at high speeds.
New technology always brings new challenges. One of the most common complaints among
modern workers is that of feeling tethered to their job constantly by an array of
telecommunications devices. In some cases, an employee can be made to feel that they have no
boundaries and that their job has expanded to take over their entire life.
As cell phones continue to increase in power and capability, they have come to rival mobile
computing devices for functionality and portability. This makes it easier for many workers to
travel off-site or work from home to do their business. Forward-looking companies distribute
their workers further out than was common in the past, as technologically enhanced mobility
reduces the relative value of keeping employees physically clustered together. Global companies
in particular benefit from being able to spread out employees into a virtual office network,
increasing the size of their available labor pool.
Random Cell Phone Social Info
A study by Motorola found that one in ten cell phone subscribers have a second phone that
often is kept secret from other family members. These phones may be used to engage in
activities including extramarital affairs or clandestine business dealings.
Some organizations assist victims of domestic violence by providing mobile phones for use
in emergencies. They are often refurbished phones.
The advent of widespread text messaging has resulted in the cell phone novel; the first
literary genre to emerge from the cellular age via text messaging to a website that collects the
novels as a whole.
Mobile telephony also facilitates activism and public journalism being explored by Reuters
and Yahoo! and small independent news companies such as Jasmine News in Sri Lanka.
The United Nations reported that mobile phones have spread faster than any other
technology and can improve the livelihood of the poorest people in developing countries by
providing access to information in places where landlines or the Internet are not available,
especially in the least developed countries. Use of mobile phones also spawns a wealth of
micro-enterprises, by providing work, such as selling airtime on the streets and repairing or
refurbishing handsets.
In Mali and other African countries, people will travel from village to village to let friends
and relatives know about weddings, births and other events - this is avoided if the villages
are within mobile phone coverage areas. In many African countries, mobile phone coverage
is greater than land line penetration, so most people own a mobile phone. In the smaller
villages without electricity, phones are recharged using a solar panel or motorcycle battery.
The TV industry has recently started using mobile phones to drive live TV viewing through
mobile apps, advertising, social TV, and mobile TV. 86% of Americans use their mobile
phone while watching TV.
In parts of the world, mobile phone sharing is common. It is prevalent in urban India, as
families and groups of friends often share one or more mobiles among their members. There
are obvious economic benefits, but often familial customs and traditional gender roles play a
part. For example, in Burkina Faso, it is not uncommon for a village to have access to only
one mobile phone. The phone is typically owned by a person who is not natively from the
village, such as a teacher or missionary, but it is expected that other members of the village
will be allowed to use the cell phone to make necessary calls.
Studies have shown that around 40-50% of the environmental impact of a mobile phone
occurs during the manufacturing of the printed wiring boards and integrated circuits. After
purchase, the average user then replaces their mobile phone every 11 to 18 months. The
discarded phones then contribute to electronic waste.
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