Cellphone inventor Marty Cooper says he knew everybody would have one someday

Marty Cooper may have kept a fairly low profile since inventing the cellphone in the early 1970s, but he has been out in the public eye a bit more recently, and has now given a fairly lengthy interview to CNN in which he ruminates on the invention that quite literally changed the world. Perhaps most notably is that he says he and his team at Motorola always "knew that someday everybody would have a cellphone," but that he found it "hard to imagine that that would happen in my lifetime." Of course, he was also once again asked about his current cellphone, and surprisingly revealed that he's actually been trying out a Vertu recently. Hey, you've earned it, Marty.

[Thanks, Jeff]

[kent99 Posted Jul 10th 2010 3:08PM]

@R94N Until you realize it was Stubblefield that first had the idea nearly 70 years ago and to learn that Cooper is on Motorola's payroll.

[xelastik2002 Posted Jul 10th 2010 3:26PM]

That is sucks lol

[Versed Posted Jul 10th 2010 3:30PM]

hey, he should sue every phone maker and carrier in the world for using his technology, yeah its crap but he has a better claim then anyone else. Just follow the lawsuit trend.

[kent99 Posted Jul 10th 2010 4:11PM]

Marty Cooper is a paid spokesman for Motorola and a self aggrandizing individual that worked for Motorola and is now being paid to perpetuate the myth that he/Motorola invented wireless telephony. Nathan Stubblefield invented wireless telephony in 1908. See his patent.

You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time Cooper. Give Stubbleflied's estate credit you liar.

[hlpeng Posted Jul 10th 2010 4:35PM]

@kent99 stop spouting your own anti-Cooper propaganda, iPhone fanboy.

[kent99 Posted Jul 10th 2010 4:44PM]

@hlpeng I could care less about the iPhone, Droid, WinMo, BB or Nokia. I care about what is the truth.

[kent99 Posted Jul 10th 2010 4:45PM]

@hlpeng Refute the 1908 patent troll.

[JonHolstein Posted Jul 10th 2010 8:01PM]

@kent99
the truth is that many technologies used in the firt mobile came from differentinventors. He might have initiated the project. But the inventingwasdone by others... Like with many eddisons invetions, he actually hadinventers employed, and took credit for their work, its possible he came upwith something on his own, but many things was invented by his employes. This guy seem to be trying to do the same thing, take credits for others work, to get him self a name.
But since I never think of him when I think of Mobiles. And would never remember his name, he clearly didnt suceed.

And L M ericsson did mobile phonecall in the late 1800-early 1900 by using a backpack sized telephone that he simply tapped on to the the exposed copper telephone lines.
Sure, not wireless, but pretty cool for the time.

[fyjoaquin Posted Jul 10th 2010 4:19PM]

Nobody can predict the future.
I call BS.

[Bill Reader Posted Jul 10th 2010 4:51PM]

Isn't that the most interesting man in the world????

[Crockett Posted Jul 10th 2010 5:02PM]

My wife and I don't have one, and we just got back online last week after not having a personal computer for 3 months. It's been nice to be 'unplugged' and to slooow down life.

[apolloa Posted Jul 10th 2010 5:03PM]

My mum had a friend who had some money, she wanted to invest it into mobile phone and was advised by the banks and her finance and visors not to bother as they'll never catch on!!!! Some people REALLY are short sighted, I think I can say that the mobile phone has changed communications MORE then any other technology in history, bar the invention of the phone itself of course.

[NeatOman Posted Jul 10th 2010 6:12PM]

Today is Nikola Tesla's Birthday, and maybe you should look into this

http://gizmodo.com/5530841/nikola-teslas-uncanny-cellphone-prediction

This is because he not only gave us the Radio (1947 the u.s. supreme court overturned Marconi's patent) But also cellular technology.

Nikola Tesla BBC Documentary 1982
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1o70x9iUjg&feature=related

Nikola Tesla - The Forgotten Wizard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1gklD28hPw

[iPooh Posted Jul 10th 2010 8:00PM]

I found it interesting that at the end of the article he compares the iPhone platform to the android platform... even the geezers get in on the debate

[pablodroid Posted Jul 10th 2010 8:44PM]

Wow the amount of radiation coming from that hefty phone must be quite a doze

[adrian13 Posted Jul 11th 2010 12:58AM]

Vertu was a Nokia for riches

[fourzero40 Posted Jul 11th 2010 4:10AM]

I wish someone could start gathering up all the Apple bias significances from Engadget throughout the years... but then again, no one would ever finish.

[tnethacker Posted Jul 11th 2010 9:33AM]

umm... marty never invented the cellphone... he invented a radiophone... check your facts. first REAL mobilephone (Pre-GSM) was invented at nokia...

[bufbarnaby Posted Jul 11th 2010 5:09PM]

An antenna that works.
Buttons can be seen in daylight.

[cray Posted Jul 11th 2010 6:09PM]

Every inventor hopes to create something everyone uses, unless of course it's invention for government defense.