MartinCooper
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It's been 40 years since the world's first mobile phone call
On April 3rd 1973, Martin Cooper made the first mobile call on the nine-inch (and 28-ounce) Motorola DynaTAC. Dialing up a rival at AT&T, he apparently said that he was ringing "to see if my call sounds good at your end." While briefcase-size models had come before it, it's Motorola's truly mobile (that is, handheld) phone that became the go-to power accessory for the likes of Gordon Gekko, Zack Morris and, er, American Psycho's Patrick Bateman. Since its heyday, however, the AMPS analog networks that the phone used to run on have now largely disappeared, replaced by digital ones that have added better call clarity, not to mention data connectivity at ever-improving speeds. We've come a long way.
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]
Cellphone inventor Marty Cooper uses a Droid.... and a Jitterbug
Sure, you read reviews and take recommendations from friends before you buy a new cellphone, but have you ever stopped to consider what the inventor of the cellphone uses on a daily basis? C-SPAN has, and recently took the opportunity to ask the man himself, Marty Cooper, that very question during a wide-ranging interview. While Cooper said that he has used an iPhone previously, he recently passed it on to his grandson in favor of a Motorola Droid, which he says he chose because he wanted to get more experience with Android. But that's not all, Cooper also revealed that he carries a Jitterbug as well for when he just wants to make phone calls. Surprising for a pioneer of mobile technology? Not exactly, as Cooper actually co-founded Jitterbug with his wife, who he credits with inventing the phone. Head on past the break to watch the complete interview.
Cellphone inventor says they've become 'too complicated,' rock-n-roll too loud
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.
