Half a century between us: the cell phone turns 50 after the first call

Today many people will walk among intersection of Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street in New York and, of course, some will take their smartphone to take a selfie, check a text message, or change a song on Spotify. Perhaps few people call this place, which in 2022 seems like another corner of the big apple, but April 3, 1973 became the scene of one of the most revolutionary events of our time: first call from a mobile phone.

He Motorola engineer Martin Cooper was responsible for holding a heavy object weighing 1.1 kg and a height of 23 centimeters during wireless connection with Dr. Joel Engel, its competitor at Bells Labs. This prototype took 10 hours to fully charge, giving us up to 30 minutes of usage time. Today it’s the other way around.

The first call, almost a prank call, was used by Motorola executives to announce to competitors that they had developed a full-featured handheld phone. Silence on the other end of the line. To this day, Joel doesn’t remember that call and I don’t think I can blame him.” Cooper mentioned in an interview with Bloomberg in 2015.

connectivity. Each generation of connectivity has been the cornerstone of all technology adoption, and with each version jump we have had tool development. With 1G, we have the ability to transmit voice over a wireless network. With 2G came text messages. 3G opened up the possibilities of mobile internet dedicated to services. 4G has accelerated media consumption and content creation. With 5G, the benefits of the platform will be huge by combining speed, low latency, and the Internet of Things.

Operating systems and applications. Although pre-iOS and Android phones had complex programming, it wasn’t until the advent of these platforms that we truly understood the possibilities that a smartphone could offer. Unlike what has been developed before, Google and Apple have offered operating systems as a canvas for any digital artist who, with the right tools, can create an application that solves a problem. The democratization of mobile ecosystems has sparked the revolution we have today.

cameras. No one can deny the importance of a camera in a phone, to the extent that it is the first purchase requirement for many users. On June 11, 1997, Philippe Kahn made history as the first person to send a photo taken with his phone to more than 2,000 people around the world. From there, experimentation took us from cameras with internet connectivity to smartphones with amazing photographic capabilities.

nanotechnology. The first phone was 23 centimeters tall and weighed over a kilogram. It charged in 10 hours and gave us a lifetime of up to 30 minutes. 48 years later, each piece of equipment integrates nanometric architecture, where millions of elements interact at monstrous speeds. What used to fit in a thermos-sized phone now fits perfectly in the space occupied by a bag of light cookies.

Design. Aesthetics is not accidental, but meets trends and needs at the same time. Lighter equipment that is water and dust resistant, from polycarbonate to glass and aluminium, with higher resolution panels and smooth curves. The same design brings together more power in the antennas, internal heat dissipation, microscopic component insertion, and even room for a differentiated look.