5 ms·

Nikola Tesla predicted mobile phones in 1909

33 points by hoag 16y ago

hoag 16y ago
I never realized the extent of Tesla's clairvoyance. This is a pretty cool read.
noonespecial 16y ago
Usually when inventors take off on flights of fancy regarding the implications of their inventions, they embarrass themselves. Witness Dean Kamen and his goofy little scooter. Tesla is a whole different thing. Its not only fascinating to read how many things he foresaw, but also some of the things he predicted that still haven't happened and might. He was good at predicting both how devices would work and how they would effect society almost to the point where you start to wonder if he didn't invent that time machine after all and managed to keep it a secret.
ericmsimons 16y ago
It's a pity that schools teach more about Edison than Tesla. Tesla was a genius, just as much if not more so than Edison.
- hoag 16y ago
  Agreed: I rarely heard much of him at all until my undergrad E&M courses at UCLA. Shame.
  - BerislavLopac 16y ago
    You would if you lived in Croatia, Serbia or pretty much anywhere in former Yugoslavia. He's pretty much considered a national hero over here, and primary schools organize trips to his birthplace, or to technical museums which have permanent exhibitions with working copies of his best inventions. ;)
    - forkrulassail 16y ago
      That is awesome to hear. He is mostly hidden by other cultures.
- fiesycal 16y ago
  Isn't that because Edison was a much better business man than Tesla. In modern terms Edison was the 'entrepreneur' while Tesla was the 'hacker'.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
  - hoag 16y ago
    While I get your point, isn't it today's hackers that become the best entrepreneurs? In fact, I think one could say that if one is a successful entrepreneur, then one is necessarily a good hacker (although obviously not necessarily the other way around, and hence your point which, again, is not missed).
  - ErrantX 16y ago
    Absolutely; it is something of a shame that Edison is often treated as that era's only example of a great inventor - he was a smart guy for certain, but had many flaws. Not least a ruthless business side that often crossed into the nasty and vindictive, and a single mindedness that meant he wouldn't accept his beliefs could be incorrect (hence sticking to promotion of DC for so long). Tesla had numerous flaws as well; but he was much more a pure inventor and ultimately uninterested in money. Probably the smarter of the two, and certainly his work was fundamental to modern life (i.e. AC power transmission). There is probably a lot to take away from learning about both men equally :)
- raghava 16y ago
  In my place, I bet only 10% of 'engineers' know about Nikola Tesla. Pity. Even his contemporaries (and ones with a similar vision and thought) like Sir. J C Bose are not quite well-known.
christoph 16y ago
His "World System" pretty much describes a large part of the tech world today to me... 1. The inter-connection of the existing telegraph exchanges or offices all over the world 2. The establishment of a secret and non-interferable government telegraph services 3. The inter-connection of all the present telephone exchanges or offices on the Globe 4. The universal distribution of general news, by telegraph or telephone, in connection with the Press 5. The establishment of such a "World System" of intelligence transmission for exclusive private use 6. The inter-connecting and operation of all stock tickers of the world 7. The establishment of the World-System of musical distribution, etc. 8. The universal registration of time by inexpensive clocks indicating the hour with astronomical precision and requiring no attention whatever 9. The world transmission of typed or hand-written characters, letters, checks, etc. 10. The establishment of a universal marine service enabling the navigators of all ships to steer perfectly without compass, to determine the exact location, hour and speed, to prevent collisions and disasters 11. The inauguration of a system of world-printing on land and sea 12. The world reproduction of photographic pictures and all kinds of record
nitrogen 16y ago
I have often wondered whether modern computers would have been possible with Tesla's envisioned wireless power permeating the air. Large-scale wireless power transmission is the only thing in that article that hasn't yet been integrated into society.
- JoeAltmaier 16y ago
  Its probably not possible. Tesla was a genius, but had little formal EE theory - he somehow intuited much of what he did. His high-frequency coils were not mathematically understood until well after his death.
drstrangevibes 16y ago
why dont we have wireless power then?
- fhars 16y ago
  We have. It is called a microwave oven and usually restricted to small, shielded compartments for health reasons.
  - drstrangevibes 16y ago
    I hardly think Tesla was proposing sending massive microwaves towards a huge metallic object as a means of power. Ever put metal in a microwave? Dont!
    - chc 16y ago
      They didn't have microwave ovens in Tesla's day, so it's not entirely clear that this would have occurred to him or that he would believe it to be insurmountable.
- pbhjpbhj 16y ago
  >why dont we have wireless power then? It's hugely inefficient to transmit power wirelessly. About 8 years ago I conceived a plan to harvest power from electromagnetic waves permeating a particular space (my house I guess). It looks like free power (but of course isn't). If you can have a wireless radio then you can use that same power to trickle charge a battery, multiply by the various frequencies with powerful signals, etc., etc.. [I'm sure many others here have had a similar idea]. On a very short range this has come out as a gadget in the form of wireless charging pads (eg http://www.powermat.com/ http://www.powermat.com/) and reports are out of using the trick above to charge lower power devices over long distances (http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/22764/?a=f http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/22764/?a=f). Haven't seen anything of this sort in the shops yet though. I suspect it might not be legal in my jurisdiction.
  - drstrangevibes 16y ago
extension 16y ago
He seems to be confused between wireless transmission of information and transmission of power. He says he can power a boat from shore, which is ridiculous, but I assume he's only controlling it from shore. Did people understand the difference back then?
- grayrest 16y ago
  It's not a mistake. That's what Tesla Coils were meant to do. Tesla was a great proponent of wireless power transmission and actually believed it would be possible to transmit enough power to move a ship. The reason it doesn't exist currently is energy loss in the transmission. The wikipedia article has a picture of his device along with a general overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_energy_transfer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_energy_transfer
  - drstrangevibes 16y ago
    no, read the article again, Tesla electrical waves get damped when transmitted through the air, but he is talking about transmitting electrical current
  - chopsueyar 16y ago
    I thought it didn't exist because JP Morgan said "No way!"
- fhars 16y ago
  No, he was not. For Marconi, wireless transmission of information was just a byproduct of the far more important wireless transmission of power. In the linked text he is explicitly distinguishing his idea from the mere wireless transmission of information with electric waves which are quickly damped out. Yes, he was completely wrong about that. And ubiquitous wireless communication was a widespread idea at the time, here is an example from 1897: http://www.citizenarcane.com/index.php/archives/2005/03/28/et-phone-home http://www.citizenarcane.com/index.php/archives/2005/03/28/e...
  - fhars 16y ago
yeahsure 16y ago
Great related read: http://www.badassoftheweek.com/tesla.html http://www.badassoftheweek.com/tesla.html
julian37 16y ago
Not to diminish Tesla's genius, but doesn't this read more like he predicted the hand-held radio instead of the mobile phone? "The song of a great singer [...] may thus be delivered to an audience all over the world" sounds like radio to me. And the part about the businessman dictating in New York is followed by the qualifier "from his desk"--I'm not sold. While technically radio transmission was invented earlier, according to Wikipedia the first radio station only went online in 1920 so there was still plenty of room for this kind of prediction in 1909.
- eftpotrm 16y ago
  "It will soon be possible, for instance, for a business man in New York to dictate instructions and have the appear instantly in type in London or elsewhere. He will be able to cal up from his desk and talk with any telephone subscriber in the world. It will only be necessary to carry an inexpensive instrument not bigger than a watch, which will enable its bearer to hear anywhere on sea or land for distances of thousands of miles." The passage you quoted predicted broadcast radio, but the passage before that sounds more like a telephone to me. As with many others it underestimated the difficulty of transcribing voice into print, but otherwise....
  - BerislavLopac 16y ago
    And all of those together comprises Internet, basically... ;)
bane 16y ago
Tesla was an undisputed genius. Crazy, yes (I particularly liked his portrayal in "the Prestige"). But one of those rare super geniuses that history looks back on reveres as something just a step up the evolutionary ladder.
vannevar 16y ago
Not bad considering the first mobile phone call (from a car) wasn't placed until 37 years later, in 1946.

33 points by hoag 16y ago

hoag 16y ago

I never realized the extent of Tesla's clairvoyance. This is a pretty cool read.

Usually when inventors take off on flights of fancy regarding the implications of their inventions, they embarrass themselves. Witness Dean Kamen and his goofy little scooter. Tesla is a whole different thing. Its not only fascinating to read how many things he foresaw, but also some of the things he predicted that still haven't happened and might. He was good at predicting both how devices would work and how they would effect society almost to the point where you start to wonder if he didn't invent that time machine after all and managed to keep it a secret.

ericmsimons 16y ago

It's a pity that schools teach more about Edison than Tesla. Tesla was a genius, just as much if not more so than Edison.

hoag 16y ago
Agreed: I rarely heard much of him at all until my undergrad E&M courses at UCLA. Shame.
- BerislavLopac 16y ago
  You would if you lived in Croatia, Serbia or pretty much anywhere in former Yugoslavia. He's pretty much considered a national hero over here, and primary schools organize trips to his birthplace, or to technical museums which have permanent exhibitions with working copies of his best inventions. ;)
  - forkrulassail 16y ago
    That is awesome to hear. He is mostly hidden by other cultures.
fiesycal 16y ago
Isn't that because Edison was a much better business man than Tesla. In modern terms Edison was the 'entrepreneur' while Tesla was the 'hacker'.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
- hoag 16y ago
  While I get your point, isn't it today's hackers that become the best entrepreneurs? In fact, I think one could say that if one is a successful entrepreneur, then one is necessarily a good hacker (although obviously not necessarily the other way around, and hence your point which, again, is not missed).
- ErrantX 16y ago
  Absolutely; it is something of a shame that Edison is often treated as that era's only example of a great inventor - he was a smart guy for certain, but had many flaws. Not least a ruthless business side that often crossed into the nasty and vindictive, and a single mindedness that meant he wouldn't accept his beliefs could be incorrect (hence sticking to promotion of DC for so long). Tesla had numerous flaws as well; but he was much more a pure inventor and ultimately uninterested in money. Probably the smarter of the two, and certainly his work was fundamental to modern life (i.e. AC power transmission). There is probably a lot to take away from learning about both men equally :)
raghava 16y ago
In my place, I bet only 10% of 'engineers' know about Nikola Tesla. Pity. Even his contemporaries (and ones with a similar vision and thought) like Sir. J C Bose are not quite well-known.

christoph 16y ago

His "World System" pretty much describes a large part of the tech world today to me... 1. The inter-connection of the existing telegraph exchanges or offices all over the world 2. The establishment of a secret and non-interferable government telegraph services 3. The inter-connection of all the present telephone exchanges or offices on the Globe 4. The universal distribution of general news, by telegraph or telephone, in connection with the Press 5. The establishment of such a "World System" of intelligence transmission for exclusive private use 6. The inter-connecting and operation of all stock tickers of the world 7. The establishment of the World-System of musical distribution, etc. 8. The universal registration of time by inexpensive clocks indicating the hour with astronomical precision and requiring no attention whatever 9. The world transmission of typed or hand-written characters, letters, checks, etc. 10. The establishment of a universal marine service enabling the navigators of all ships to steer perfectly without compass, to determine the exact location, hour and speed, to prevent collisions and disasters 11. The inauguration of a system of world-printing on land and sea 12. The world reproduction of photographic pictures and all kinds of record

nitrogen 16y ago

I have often wondered whether modern computers would have been possible with Tesla's envisioned wireless power permeating the air. Large-scale wireless power transmission is the only thing in that article that hasn't yet been integrated into society.

JoeAltmaier 16y ago
Its probably not possible. Tesla was a genius, but had little formal EE theory - he somehow intuited much of what he did. His high-frequency coils were not mathematically understood until well after his death.

drstrangevibes 16y ago

why dont we have wireless power then?

fhars 16y ago
We have. It is called a microwave oven and usually restricted to small, shielded compartments for health reasons.
- drstrangevibes 16y ago
  I hardly think Tesla was proposing sending massive microwaves towards a huge metallic object as a means of power. Ever put metal in a microwave? Dont!
  - chc 16y ago
    They didn't have microwave ovens in Tesla's day, so it's not entirely clear that this would have occurred to him or that he would believe it to be insurmountable.
pbhjpbhj 16y ago
>why dont we have wireless power then? It's hugely inefficient to transmit power wirelessly. About 8 years ago I conceived a plan to harvest power from electromagnetic waves permeating a particular space (my house I guess). It looks like free power (but of course isn't). If you can have a wireless radio then you can use that same power to trickle charge a battery, multiply by the various frequencies with powerful signals, etc., etc.. [I'm sure many others here have had a similar idea]. On a very short range this has come out as a gadget in the form of wireless charging pads (eg http://www.powermat.com/ http://www.powermat.com/) and reports are out of using the trick above to charge lower power devices over long distances (http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/22764/?a=f http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/22764/?a=f). Haven't seen anything of this sort in the shops yet though. I suspect it might not be legal in my jurisdiction.
- drstrangevibes 16y ago

extension 16y ago

He seems to be confused between wireless transmission of information and transmission of power. He says he can power a boat from shore, which is ridiculous, but I assume he's only controlling it from shore. Did people understand the difference back then?

grayrest 16y ago
It's not a mistake. That's what Tesla Coils were meant to do. Tesla was a great proponent of wireless power transmission and actually believed it would be possible to transmit enough power to move a ship. The reason it doesn't exist currently is energy loss in the transmission. The wikipedia article has a picture of his device along with a general overview: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_energy_transfer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_energy_transfer
- drstrangevibes 16y ago
  no, read the article again, Tesla electrical waves get damped when transmitted through the air, but he is talking about transmitting electrical current
- chopsueyar 16y ago
  I thought it didn't exist because JP Morgan said "No way!"
fhars 16y ago
No, he was not. For Marconi, wireless transmission of information was just a byproduct of the far more important wireless transmission of power. In the linked text he is explicitly distinguishing his idea from the mere wireless transmission of information with electric waves which are quickly damped out. Yes, he was completely wrong about that. And ubiquitous wireless communication was a widespread idea at the time, here is an example from 1897: http://www.citizenarcane.com/index.php/archives/2005/03/28/et-phone-home http://www.citizenarcane.com/index.php/archives/2005/03/28/e...
- fhars 16y ago

yeahsure 16y ago

Great related read: http://www.badassoftheweek.com/tesla.html http://www.badassoftheweek.com/tesla.html

julian37 16y ago

Not to diminish Tesla's genius, but doesn't this read more like he predicted the hand-held radio instead of the mobile phone? "The song of a great singer [...] may thus be delivered to an audience all over the world" sounds like radio to me. And the part about the businessman dictating in New York is followed by the qualifier "from his desk"--I'm not sold. While technically radio transmission was invented earlier, according to Wikipedia the first radio station only went online in 1920 so there was still plenty of room for this kind of prediction in 1909.

eftpotrm 16y ago
"It will soon be possible, for instance, for a business man in New York to dictate instructions and have the appear instantly in type in London or elsewhere. He will be able to cal up from his desk and talk with any telephone subscriber in the world. It will only be necessary to carry an inexpensive instrument not bigger than a watch, which will enable its bearer to hear anywhere on sea or land for distances of thousands of miles." The passage you quoted predicted broadcast radio, but the passage before that sounds more like a telephone to me. As with many others it underestimated the difficulty of transcribing voice into print, but otherwise....
- BerislavLopac 16y ago
  And all of those together comprises Internet, basically... ;)

bane 16y ago

Tesla was an undisputed genius. Crazy, yes (I particularly liked his portrayal in "the Prestige"). But one of those rare super geniuses that history looks back on reveres as something just a step up the evolutionary ladder.

vannevar 16y ago

Not bad considering the first mobile phone call (from a car) wasn't placed until 37 years later, in 1946.