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‘Father of cell phone’ reflects on making first call and history 50 years ago
- happytiger 3y agoIt’s so crazy that he’s lived long enough to watch his invention go mainstream and now reach the point where it is basically about to be obsoleted. I, like so many, am at the point where the “cell phone” part of my cell phone needs to go away — the signal to noise for voice isn’t worth it. It’s basically just junk mail at this point. Of course I want voice, but it’s stepped back to a distant fifth or sixth for utility on my mobile devices, and no longer the reason I carry cell phones. Of course the invention is intrinsically far more than voice, but it’s interesting that the inventor has lived long enough to watch the utility of his original vision and invention decline (as voice calls specifically). I wonder if there is an enshitification phase for all technologies that become profoundly commercially successful.
- poulsbohemian 3y ago> reach the point where it is basically about to be obsoleted. Sorry, maybe I'm a luddite, but I don't follow - what do you believe puts mobile devices on the brink of obsolescence?
- ghaff 3y agoI think the argument is actually using it to make voice calls is a pretty small use. Which, even as an older person, I generally agree with.
- SllX 3y agoA fairer characterization might be that it’s a more marginal but no less essential use. We don’t rely on voice calls to communicate at a distance as much as we used to because there are other mediums the modern smartphone can access for that application, but a lot of us still do rely on voice calls on our smartphones for communications of some kind whether it’s WebEx meetings, Discord calls or straight up POTS emulation.
- ghaff 3y agoIf I didn't have a cellphone for voice, I'd still have a landline (which would actually be better, just not worth the added cost) in which case, other than when traveling which I do less of these days, I'd basically never use my cell phone for a voice call. I do video calls from my computer and never use Discord. Short exchanges of information/reminders are almost always texts. So I'm pretty much at the point where voice conversations on my cell are not an essential use especially if I'm not on an extended trip.
- SllX 3y agoSure, but not essential or nearly not essential for you does not mean it isn’t essential.
- Clamchop 3y agoBut honestly still essential when you're meeting up with someone or trying to find them.
- kalleboo 3y agoYou don't just send a pin?
- datavirtue 3y agoMy grandmother refuses to text but she emails like crazy.
- hhs 3y agoRegarding the future, Martin Cooper says: “We still have a way to go. I think phones are too complicated now. The way we use them is not very natural. Holding a phone up to your ear with your elbow opening is not what you’d call a very natural way of talking. We have a way to go. I think that the cell phone is still in its infancy. I think that the children of today’s cell phone, if I could use that analogy, are going to be used for things like connecting to your body, measuring things on your body, understanding when you’re starting to get sick. But talking to a computer somewhere that does a physical examination of you — not every year — but every 30 seconds. I believe that the cell phone is going to be an important part of eliminating disease. And I really mean that.”
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- PaulDavisThe1st 3y ago> Holding a phone up to your ear with your elbow opening is not what you’d call a very natural way of talking. On the order of half the people I see using a cell phone already do not do this. They have an in-ear thingamijig with a mic somewhere on the cable, or they have the phone on a surface in front of them and are using the speaker.
- musicale 3y agoWhat people do now is far worse - turn the phone to max volume and hold it in front of themselves as they walk around.
- vouaobrasil 3y agoTo be honest I think cellphones have made the world an overall worse place. Already some places are pushing hard to make them mandatory for certain services, like two-factor authentication -- several banks already do this. This makes it harder for people who want the freedom of not using a mobile phone. Mobile phones also have caused people to be less present in social situations and they provide too much information. There's less time just to think and be a person. I know we have many conveniences with smartphones and cellphones but I do not believe they are worth it and humanity would be better off without them.
- MichaelZuo 3y agoCan you list out the upsides and downsides you have so far identified?
- LelouBil 3y agoOne upside: you can contact everyone and everything (almost) instantly One downside: everyone and everything can contact you (almost) instantly
- tekla 3y agoJust block and ignore. Its not hard
- throwaway17138 3y agoIt's not polite either.
- Brajeshwar 3y agoI believe it is -- either block or ignore.
- calrain 3y agoThere are two services 'smartphones' are delivering on. Firstly, the ability to make calls remotely, and secondly to run application that can access the internet. The ability to make a phone call remotely is amazing, but the use of that phone is no different to a wired one. If you don't want to answer the call, then don't. The second issue is that people get sucked into dopamine pumping applications on their internet connect smartphone, that is a completely different issue.
- jnaina 3y agoHad the privilege to meet him in Singapore some time ago. Elderly statesman for the telco industry vibe. Very smart and clearly a visionary.
- dudeinjapan 3y agoHe was trying to invent a camera, but it kept making pesky calls.