A quick trivia question for you; how old would you be if you were born in the year 1973? Yes, that’s right, the same age as the first mobile phone, i.e 40 years old! The first mobile device that could be used outside your vehicle that is. Another pop question; can you name the company that was the first to release the very debut handset? No, not Nokia, it was actually Motorola.
April 3rd, 1973 marks the 40th anniversary of the widely regarded first public mobile phone call. Martin Cooper, a Motorola employee, had the honor of making this call in New York City on a Motorola DynaTAC, a device that was designated as a “brick” due to its size and weight.
If you actually think about the fact that 40 years ago, people were restricted to only using their landline, you’ll realize it is quite amazing how far we’ve come. Nowadays, basically everyone (even kids that are not yet 10 years of age) are holding a device and using it with extreme ease. In accordance with a study released just recently by the United Nations, there are circa seven billion people living on the planet. Now another quick trivia question: how many of those do you think hold a mobile device? A colossal six billion! Yes, we are not even kidding.
Getting back to the historical call that was conducted on the Motorola DynaTAC; it’s worth mentioning that the device was 9inches tall with a talk-time of 35 minutes and required 10 hours to recharge.
The two major breakthroughs in the mobile phone technology have been the widespread availability of devices and their ability to access the internet, conforming to Dr Mike Short, an expert from the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Mobile phone technology has come very far ever since; an achievement that has led to years of development, new inventions and the very creation of our beloved Smartphones. These smartphones are being used for internet acces, social networking, maps, morning alarms, games, snapping pictures, watching video clips, texting and obviously calling (though the actual telephone calls are soon to become obsolete with WhatsApp, Skype and Viber).
There is one thing that is truly both surprising and alarming that the previously mentioned UN study had revealed. Apparently, there are actually more individuals who have access to a cell phone today that those who have access to a toilet. Yes, only 4.5 billion have access to a toilet in this day and age!
Even though we cannot deny the increase of usage of smartphones while being in the toilet, if you had to choose between the two, what would your choice be?
Be part of the smart crowd and download G Cloud today; it’s free!