Post Image

Today, the world has become a global village simply because irrespective of the location, except in extreme regions where telecommunication facilities have not been erected, everyone, family, friends and business partners, can be connected through the mobile phone. The mobile phone you have right now has evolved through different designs, specifications and even weight, from what it first was. As such today, we will dive a little into history to the first mobile phone created.

Mobile phones are mobile communication devices that connect wirelessly to the public switched telephone network through a radio frequency link that establishes a connection with a mobile phone operator.

Prior to the advent of the first mobile phone, the means of communication had advanced from gongs and drums to analog radio communications used in trains and ships for communication. The journey to creating a portable mobile telephone device started after World War II (1939-1945) with different telecommunication company in many countries of the world.

In 1973, John F. Mitchell, the Chief of Portable Communication Products, Martin Cooper a senior engineer at Motorola and other team members played a major role in the development of the first mobile telephone. Martin Cooper made the first mobile telephone call to a rival telecommunication company (Bell Labs) on April 3, 1973.

Although the telephone weighed about 1.1 kg, with dimensions 228.6x127x44.4mm, a talk time of 30 minutes and a battery charge that took 10 hours, it was the first in the evolvement of the portable and accessible mobile phones we have come to have. This mobile phone was created with celebrities like Gordon Gecko in mind and not the average citizen and it signaled a new season of technological breakthrough and interconnectedness for the world as different telecommunication companies began to create more commercial automated cellular network for mobile phones which over time became modified from the zeroth generation (0G) to the first commercial analog automated cellular network (1G) in Japan in 1979. These first generation systems (1G) supported more simultaneous calls but used the analog cellular technology.

 By September 21, 1983, Motorola released its first commercial mobile phone – Motorola DynaTAC (Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage) 8000X which cost about $3995 with a little improvement from its first production. It stood at 13” tall and weighed 0.85 kg and offered the same 30 minutes talk time but with 6 hours standby and a storage of 30 phone numbers. Motorola DynaTAC 8000X was dubbed the “Boot” and a slimmer version was developed and dubbed the “Brick”. This creation was available to a diverse set of people ranging from businessmen to doctors and even housewives, basically everybody.

The journey to creating a more portable technology and a better interconnections system did not stop at the development of the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, drastic improvements have taken place in the networking of wireless communication, with smartphones becoming common globally and a growing proportion of Internet access now done via mobile broadband. Today, distance, cost and accessibility are no longer issues in connecting people all over the world as relationships and businesses can continue to thrive because of the advent and evolvement of the first mobile phone.

Source:

Know Your Mobile

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

News

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Featured image source: Techlomedia


You might also like:
This article was first published on 23rd April 2019

aanu-olajide

Aanuoluwapo Olajide is a freelance writer who believes that words are fundamental blocks and are the force of life and death. She is a tech enthusiast, fashion designer and a lover of words.


Comments (81)

81 thoughts on “Did You Know? The World’s First Mobile Phone”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *