For Martin Cooper, an American engineer nicknamed the “father of cell phones,” the little device has near-endless potential and could even help eradicate disease one day.
But he immediately judges that maybe we’re a bit too addicted to it.
“I’m devastated when I see people crossing the street and looking at their phones. They’ve lost their minds,” the 94-year-old inventor told AFP from his office in Del Mar, California.
“But if a few people get run over by cars, they’ll understand,” he jokes.
Apple Connected Watch on his wrist, state-of-the-art iPhone in hand, he intuitively switches from his emails to his photos and from YouTube to the application for fitting his hearing aids.
He procures each new model and thoroughly tests their capabilities.
But, he admits, the millions of applications available make one dizzy.
“I will never be able to use a cell phone the way my grandchildren and great-grandchildren do,” he says.
Real mobility
Martin Cooper’s cell phone, which he uses primarily for making calls, bears little resemblance to the heavy block of wires and electronic circuits he was using on March 3.
At the time, he was leading a team of designers and engineers from Motorola that had invested millions of dollars trying to beat Bell System, an American telecommunications giant, in developing the first cellular phone system.
Bell System had floated this idea at the end of World War II, but only managed to put phones in cars from the late 1960s, particularly because of their enormous battery.
For Martin Cooper, this did not allow for real mobility.
After three months of uninterrupted work, his team finally succeeded in developing the DynaTAC rover.
“This phone weighed more than a kilo (…) and its battery lasted around 25 minutes,” he recalls.
But “that wasn’t a problem” because the device “was so heavy that you couldn’t lift it for 25 minutes,” he specifies.
For his first call, Martin Cooper had the brilliant idea of asking his rival at Bell System, Dr. Joel Engel to call.
“I said to him: + Joel, this is Martin Cooper (…) I’m speaking to you from a cell phone. But a real cell phone, personal, portable, handheld. +”
“It was quiet on the other end of the line. I think he gritted his teeth.”
“Beat the Disease”
Those early cell phones weren’t cheap: around $5,000 each.
According to the inventor, the first to adopt them were real estate agents. Thanks to Mobile, they were able to both show homes and cater to new customers. “It has doubled their productivity,” he says.
“Today, the mobile phone has become an extension of the human being, it can do much more,” says Martin Cooper. “And that’s just the beginning, we’re just beginning to understand what he’s capable of.”
“In the future, we can expect mobile communications to revolutionize education and health,” he said. “I know I sound like I’m exaggerating, but just know that we will beat the disease in a generation or two.”
Just like his watch monitors his heart rate when he swims, he thinks phones will one day be connected to body sensors that can detect diseases before they occur.
The former engineer knew cell phones would eventually change the world, although he had no idea what they would be capable of.
“We knew that one day everyone would have a phone. We are almost there.”
As for people being hypnotized by their phones, he believes that’s about to change.
“Each generation is getting smarter. They will learn to use smartphones more efficiently,” he predicts.
“Sooner or later people always end up moving forward.”