For more discussion on mobility, please visit Service Provider Mobility Community at https://communities.cisco.com/community/solutions/sp/mobility

1. The Birth of the Mobile Phone
Posted by kelliwon Jan 12, 2012
With MLK Jr. Day this month, it got me thinking of his famous I Have a Dream speech, which I very much
treasure, made in 1963. The only thing this time, being a fan of mobility, I decided to finish off that
sentence with "... to one day have a mobile phone!". Imagining the times before mobile phones were
invented, I couldn't help but wonder who exactly had this dream of the possibility of mobile phones? I
fully admit I would not have that genius thought back when it was developing and I would have most
likely resorted to the classic two can, one string of yarn method as a solution to my communication
problem- very ineffective I must say.
As I thought of this question about the birth of the mobile phone, I decided to do some research and
discovered "the first hand-held mobile phone was demonstrated by Dr. Martin Cooper, an engineer
form Chicago, Illinois and now 83 years old, in 1973, using a handset weighing around 1 kg". Cooper is
considered to be the inventor of the first mobile phone for handheld use and after his initial testing in
Washington for the F.C.C. he took the phone technology to New York to show the public. I guess we can
say the rest is history! Thank you Dr. Martin Cooper for the birth of the mobile phone - its been a
lifestyle changer and proved it from 1990 to 2010 alone, when worldwide mobile phone subscriptions
grew from 12.4 million to over 4.6 billion. Who would have thought the development of mobile phones
would have come to be what it is today with features such as apps, cameras and touch screens? Still
amazed and still grateful.
If the story of the birth of the mobile phone interest you, watch this video with Dr. Steven Shepard
featuring stories of the pioneers of the telecom network, including the transatlantic cable in 1858.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4LU3A-icrw0
Coming Up
Look forward to more blog posts relating the two things I love: Technology and the Holidays. Every
month, I will focus on one holiday and share a neat way on how others can incorporate technology to
celebrate. There are so many different ways on how technology, and particularly mobility, has made my
holiday seasons easier and more fun so I thought, "Why not share?".
For more Technology and the Holidays commentary, visit Service Provider Mobility Community:
https://communities.cisco.com/community/solutions/sp/mobility/blog