You know that smartphone you love, that ultimate expression of handheld convergence that some would call a mobile computer? It's crap. Or so says octogenarian, Martin Cooper, former lead engineer at Motorola said to have invented the handheld cellphone -- really, his name is on the "Radio telephone system" patent and he's credited with making the very first private handheld cellphone call from a busy New York City street on April 3rd, 1973. Well Marty doesn't like those newfangled handsets. In fact, according to our sterling Mr. Cooper, "Our future I think is a number of specialist devices that focus on one thing that will improve our lives." Words uttered this week during a conference in Madrid. Imagine it: a future where we carry a portable radio, film camera, wind-up watch, Kaypro luggable computer, HP calculator, and Atari handheld... oh wait, that was the eighties.
posted Nov 6th 2009 3:37AM
Does he own stock in Peek?
It's always fun to see overt age discrimination/mockery is alive and well on Engadget.
What he most probably meant was: Cellphones have become too complex ..for him ...
No, but his other cell phone is a Jitterbug.
i bet Edison would say the same thing about his cell phone. buttons? that's far too complicated!
If its to complicated, you're too old!
"Moooooooommmmm, Grandpa's into the cell phones again..."
He looks like Santa after Jenny Craig.
I really think we should boycott engadget until they regain some credibility. With their late night talk show appearances and mentions in Apple patents, they have really let it get to there head.
@Freakin Ijit - True that. Is it that hard to imagine that some people just want a phone that will just, you know, make calls? My job necessitates being on e-mail all the time, but for people like my parents, there's just no need for it in their day to day lives. Additionally, many people who live in small towns don't need the bells and whistles of a smartphone, they just need something they can call their SO on to see what to pick up at the grocery store.
He is being misquoted. He was implying that most modern cellphones are too complicated in the sense that it takes a new user a while to get anything about the device. He meant that calling someone meant you press the numbers and the dial button. Nowadays you have them hidden with sliders, buried with qwerty keyboards, touchscreen technology etc... How is some moron who has never seen an inphone in their life going to dial something if they cant get the virtual keyboard to display?
He was also implying that phones are becoming like "one phone to rule them all". Meaning they keep adding features that are supposed to reduce the redundancy in life but don't actually do it that well.
You can call someone but battery life becomes a problem in the day because the phone caters to other things, You have mp3 capabilities but not as good as an iPod etc... You can take pictures but they are nowhere as fast or as good as standalone cameras, you have internet browsing but it doesn't compare with a computer, etc.
Also, show the man respect. What have most of you done in your life that you can thumb your noses down at him? Thumbs down to engadget writers for misquoting the poor man.
Before the heavy Apple lovers here at engadget chew me alive, I meant iphone. I wish there was an edit button on engadget.
'inphone' is a pretty awesome Freudian slip.
My god, the snark in this post is just overwhelming. The guy INVENTED the cell phone. Without him, you guys would only post half the stuff you do.
That doesn't make his comments any less ridiculous.
While that is true, its bordering on, like, disrespectful.
No, without him, someone else would have invented it
Snark attack! Everyone out of the water!
@ agentstarke
Yeah, eventually but at a later date. If he didnt invent it when he did Id be stuck here right now with a Nokia 5190 thinking its the shit.
Those were the days...
Far, FAR less than half, Sasuke.
“Whenever you create a universal device that does all things for all people, it does not do any things well,”
Far different from "smartphones are crap".
I understand this is a blog and you guys try to do this with humor, but you still need to be careful of putting words in others mouths.
THIS is what I mean by engadget could suffer a bit more journalistic quality.
Still, it got me to click a link, and that's what it's all about, no?
@ Trey
Mmm...good point
what's ridiculous? that specialized devices do jobs better than convergence devices?
when there's no longer any growth left in convergence devices, some marketing/design genius is going to start the next "revolution" with a "simple" device.
since era worship always seems to always go back 2 decades, expect it to become fashionable in a few years to wear several electronic devices in fake leather cases of one's belt while playing 32-bit platform games on your wrist emulator.
cWj:
Exactly.
Mobile phones these days are quickly becoming Jack-of-all-trades, masters-of-none.
Think about it: A decent (but not great) camera, Acceptable (but not outstanding) web browser, Basic (but not very useful) GPS, Not bad (but not good) MP3 Player. Etc. etc.
I still carry my iPod around with me, because I want to listen to music in decent quality, without having to worry about special headphones if I want to make a phone call. I also carry around a Digital camera, because I want to take photos that can be blown up to a decent size without losing quality. I (usually) carry around a laptop, because I want to type out emails and homework, and browse the web, without having to worry about eyestrain and thumb-carpal-tunnel.
I still HAVE a pretty divergent phone (a G1), but nothing beats a dedicated device.
sorry, I meant to say 'Convergent', not 'divergent'
Hei this is Engadget, what did you expect? They have this need to sound superior to others even if they never achieved anything else in their life expect to cash that monthly cheque.
Come on, the guy didn't invent the cell phone. He might have invented the hand held cell phone, but we had cell phones in Sweden in back '56.
Yeah, somebody else would have invented it. But they didn't. He did. Respect.
Convergence isn't always a good thing:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/tools/8b97/
If invented means the lead engineer that mostly just oks other people work(An entire team) but gets to put his name on everything because he has a fancier title in the company and the first to demo it in public/press... than ya this guy invented mobile cell phones. >_>
> If invented means...
Ah, so THAT'S what Jon Rubinstein did with the iPod!
The average home computer has in many ways achieved this convergence of technologies as you say. Perhaps if the average cellphone attained some sort modular upgrade capability where components that fit the needs of the consumer were interchangeable with the cheap junk commonly integrated in todays cellphones, perhaps convergence can be achieved in this area as well.
It's the Miner-49-er
Miyamoto is a king among game developers, but he hasnt made a sane statement in over 10 years.
Respect only carries so far
He sounds like my sister. She always has to say something negative whenever a commercial for a cell phone comes on.
Your sister sounds hot. Tell us more
Sounds like he's in the market for a twitterpeek.
maybe he is now in the business of utility belt?
I keep getting this chain email in which the cellphone and voicemail are described as having been invented in Israel.
and I keep getting emails from Nigeria describing the millions of dollars that are invented there
bow to the jedi phone master...lets all go smoke some weed and wear our cool tyedie engadget shirts.....puts a new meaning to words "can you hear me now?"
Rock N Roll IS too loud, the colour red is too bright, and kiwifruit is too redundant.
Yeah, but I can't push my cell phone volume low enough to make it comfortable to listen to my conversations...I can't imagine anyone turning the volume on high.
Haha, kiwi... fruit... I see what you did there.
our future cell phones will require us to download patches on day 0.... :(
If they're from Palm.
SteveB says : "Wrong dude. Our future patches will make you want to download new phones, on day 0".
Awwww, look at the little puppies.
I agree
Well excuse us for being able to surf the internet, keep up with Engadget on the go, watch movies, listen to music, check our Email, play video games, Twitter, etc...etc.... Oh, and make phone calls as well on our iPhones, Droids, HTC Touch Pros etc. Yeah, LIFE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!! :-)
@torontodirk:
I did all of that with some tethering yesterday and my HTC Diamond battery lasted 2 hours :(
Batteries SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!
In defense of Dr. Cooper, although I cannot prove it (I was not at the conference) I am convinced he is being misquoted. He may well be referring to the fact most phones are too fiddly for the elderly and/or those with poor eye sight. And he is right. And he has already done something about it. Google 'Jitterbug'.
a) Every device uses a different operating paradigm to others (consider Android - every phone has it's own UI!), so the minute you switch devices, you have to learn all over. And if we can leave being rude to them aside, people in their prime of life find it harder to re-learn any process. Consider your own relatives.
b) Performing even basic functions on most phones requires several steps and the only reason young people manage is because they learn the process out of pure desperate need to communicate. (Sending a text message from a Samsung used to be a multistep nightmare! It's taken them years to simplify the process.) Wait until you're 40+ and you'll find learning hard - your brain will be occupied with all the 'baggage' of life, just as one collects more physical stuff with age. But you'll be wiser. :)
c) The VCR is an example of how complex tech put people off. The VCR did not succeed because it allowed us to record TV programs, it succeeded because of the rental market. 1. Insert cassette. 2. Hit PLAY. 3. Watch! On the other hand, could you change the clock from a flashing 12:00 in order to use the machine to record a program? If so, you were in the minority. And the DVR was born.
d) Now, with regards to all in one devices, with the exception of the Pre, Dr. Cooper is correct here too. They do not yet tightly integrate the experience or offer the instantaneous ease of use of separate devices. Phone camera shutter releases are often tiny little buttons with little tactile feedback, and then, the shutter release is 3 or 4 times slower to activate than a stand alone camera. This makes 'Kodak' moments difficult to capture - such as Grand kids looking cute. Music players and radios are often burried in a layer of icons or folders. (The Sony Ericsson K800i - best phone ever made? - has a PLAY button hidden on the top left - something few probably notice, but it is very useful for starting the radio or music player. Only downside is the button is a bit small, but it makes a difference. These little things count!) Apple dealt nicely with this issue on the iPhone/iPod Touch by upgrading the OS such that double clicking the (only) button brings up a mini playback control. BACK - PLAY/PAUSE - NEXT. Next issue for them to tackle is the camera.