He was inspired by Star Trek. When he called, there was silence. The unusual invention of the American is already 50 years old

There has never been a phone before that caused as much of a surprise as the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x in 1973. In a world accustomed to using landline telephones, taking a “handheld” telephone from a briefcase on the street and making a call was only wishful thinking.

50 years ago, the history of mobile phones began

The famous New York presentation of April 3, 1973 changed the way we communicate with the world for good. Exactly 50 years ago in the center of Manhattan, Martin Cooper, an American scientist and head of Motorola’s research department, showed the DynaTAC 8000x model to the public. It is the first ever mobile mobile phone. Of course, it was not the device that we see today when we hear the word “cell”. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000x was powerful, weighing 1.13 kg, and the size (dimensions 22.86 x 12.7 x 4.44 cm) and shape resembled a brick. That’s what she was jokingly called then.

The first mobile phone was also extremely bulky and allowed very little. In its prototype version, it didn’t even have a display, but only 21 keys, a microphone, a speaker and, of course, a long antenna. Not surprisingly, the DynaTAC 8000x’s capabilities were limited to making phone calls, but at the time it was still impressive. The first ever text message was sent in the UK two decades later (December 3, 1992).

Motorola’s product was able to operate in sleep mode for about eight hours, and charged for two hours more. The battery also allowed for only 25-30 minutes of wireless conversation, but it was not a problem at the time. As Martin Cooper himself joked years later, the phone was so heavy that no one would be able to hold it to the ear for half an hour. After all, it was a device that gave at least some mobility. At that time, there were telephones installed in the cabin of cars – they were manufactured by both Motorola and AT&T’s Bell Labs. There were also telephones that fit in small suitcases, but Cooper did not consider them an invention worthy of its time. He needed something with which he could get out of the car and move freely on the city sidewalks without interrupting a conversation. The phones of the time were too big to carry around and too power hungry to be powered by batteries.

He called his rival and heard silence

The DynaTAC 8000x was not only adapted for completely mobile operation, but was a fully operational copy already at the time of the aforementioned presentation in April 1973. Martin Cooper conducted the first phone call ever from a cell phone without wires and power. He was then standing in front of the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue in New York in the presence of journalists. Interestingly, a Motorola engineer called his main rival Joel S. Engel from Bell Labs and boasted about what device he was using. that at first he heard only silence in the receiver, because his counterpart from Bella was probably gritting his teeth in anger. However, not everything went exactly as Cooper envisioned it. He hoped that the first phone would go to customers just three years after the presentation. However, that did not happen. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000x was so innovative at that time that it took much longer to complete all the formalities.

Motorola had to wait until September 1975, almost two and a half years, for the granting of a patent for a mobile phone. The main reason for the delays, however, were the objections of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which for years processed the application for Motorola’s commercial use of the AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System) analogue cellular network developed in 1968-1983 by Bell Labs. The FCC finally issued the appropriate permission only in August 1983 (more than a decade later!) and the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x appeared in stores, albeit in a slightly modified form. Years of waiting meant that the manufacturer managed to equip the mobile with a miniature display (with only a few digits), a phone book with a database of up to 30 numbers, and slimmed down the device to “only” 790 grams. The layout of the keys has also been redesigned, making it more intuitive (four rows of three keys plus nine function keys).

The idea from Star Trek, the price from space

Unfortunately, the price for the first – as the Americans sometimes called it – “radio telephone” was prohibitive. Motorola DynaTAC 8000x cost $ 3,995, which – taking into account the change in the value of money – gives about 10.5 thousand today. dollars or 45 thousand. PLN net (before state tax). This is far too much for the average American to afford the first real mobile phone ($4,000 is more than a 1.5-month average salary), but not enough to convince wealthy Americans. And this despite the fact that initially it could only be used in downtown Chicago, where the first AMPS system transmitters appeared.

However, owning a mobile phone soon began to be considered a sign of wealth and luxury, and within a year from the start of sales, the characteristic “brick” from Motorola was sold in the number of 12,000. copies. The 8000x model, in turn, initiated a whole series of phones signed with the DynaTAC name. Only in 1994 this series was replaced by much smaller and more handy Motorola MicroTAC phones distinguished by a characteristic flap protecting the keyboard.

Martin Cooper is still considered the father of mobile phones and still – despite his very old age (he is 94) – uses smartphones (currently the iPhone 14 Pro). He also admitted that he was inspired to create the foundations for modern mobile phones, and then today’s smartphones… Captain Kirk’s communicator from Star Trek.