Come here, Watson! I want you!
“Can you hear me now?”
I just got a cell phone at age 67. Playing ketchup is tough. :-)
Long live the brick...
1st cell phone at age 67. But bought a GPS (Garmin) about 20 years ago.
Come here, Watson! I want you!
In 1976 Motorola put phones in the MAST/DUSTOFF UH-1H’s at Ft. Lewis. This 35K20 “helped.” That was amazing then.
And now we’re totally dependent on them. Feel freaked out when we realize we left it at home.
I remember at work in The mid 90’s they were testing out a Motorola Text device to replace our beepers which was pretty cool, i could e-mail etc with it.
Then they quickly replaced that with the heavy brick Nextel phone.
I have HATED cell phones ever since.
I still cringe when i hear that nextel alert noise.
My first cell phone was a Motorola Brick in 1992. Still have it packed away to show my someday grandchildren. (I’m 40.)
FReeper HUMOR BUMP!
“Whether for good or for bad is a question only you can answer. “
Yesterday I sat at a wake for a dear friend who passed away after a long illness. While the priest was giving the service, cell phones went off on two separate occasions in what was a group of about 40 people. The sound of the clownish ring tones cut through your mind like a blowtorch.
I really could not believe the complete lack of consideration of these people. One carried on a 5 minute conversation that you could plainly hear before hanging up.
Would it have been too much to ask to simply leave it in the car or turn it off for what amounted to about an hour of consideration for this departed soul?
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On this day in 1973 — on April 3 of that year — a man did something no one had ever done before.
You may bless him for it or curse him for it. At this juncture, it hardly matters. The impact of what he did is so enormous that judging it now is almost beside the point.
The man’s name was Martin Cooper. He was 44 at the time.
He made a cell phone call.
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Oh please; this wasn’t anywhere near the ‘cellular system we have today, in fact, the 870 - 890 MHz spectrum was still assigned to TV broadcast CHs 70 - 83!
On top of that, ‘Mobile phone’ service had been offered since the 50’s, although the spectrum was limited and therefore the availability was restricted in populated areas ...
I think I may have the distinction of having the only remaining rotary dial cell phone.
The rest of the story:
He was driving at the time and drove straight into a tree.
A little more authoritative account:
http://www.privateline.com/PCS/history8.htm
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On October 17, 1973, Motorola filed a patent entitled ‘Radio telephone system.’ It outlined Motorola’s cellular radio system and was given US Patent Number 3,906,166 when it was granted on September 16,1975. Inventors on the patent were Martin Cooper, Richard Dronsuth, Albert J. Mikulski, Charles N. Lynk, Jr., James J. Mikulski, John F. Mitchell, Roy A. Richardson, and John H. Sangster. This came a year after the Bell System patent was approved.
...
On May 1, 1974 the F.C.C. decides to open an additional 115 megahertz of spectrum, 2300 channel’s worth, for future cellular telephone use. Cellular looms ahead, although no one know when FCC approval will permit its commercial rollout.
Bet he found out the two-way communicator is pain in the a$$ 90% of the time,to many useless calls.
A ham radio operator friend explained that they were for a cellular service being developed by Motorola.
Can't remember where they began, but I always noticed them the most while approaching Arlington Hts.