The One-Pound Cell Phone

 The One-Pound Cell Phone

    Cell phones seem to be our constant companions these days. Today there are more cell phone subscribers than there are wireline phone subscribers.

    In the world of wireless communication, how did we get from the telegraph to the cell phone? In 1842, Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph, had something to prove. He wanted to show that an underwater cable could transmit signals just as well as copper wires on poles. But when a passing ship, pulled up the cable, Morse chose to carry out the experiment without the cable. He sent telegraph signals through the water itself. He was able to achieve this because water conducts electricity.

    This gave inventors ideas, and they began alternating between experiments with wire lines and wireless telegraphs. In 1865, a dentist transmitted telegraphic messages a distance of 18 miles. He used Earth's atmosphere, instead of water, as a conductor of electricity by launching kites enclosed with copper screens. These were linked to the ground with copper wires.

    The basic foundation for wireless communication had been set. Now all that was needed was someone with a vision. That someone was Martin Cooper, who developed the first portable handheld police radios. In 1973, he placed the first wireless telephone call from the streets of New York City.

    It took another ten years to develop the first cell phone for the public, which weighed a pound and cost $3,500! Seven years later, a million people in the United States had cell phones. The system uses many stations with towers, and the service areas are divided into cells. Calls are sent from station to station as the phone user travels.