The history of the cell phone comes a long way, but not as long as you may expect. In 1984 the first cellular devices were made commercially available. This was when the cell phone was the size and weight of a car battery. A few people who have contributed towards this wonderfully convenient device are Douglas H. Ring, Dr. Martin Cooper and Joel S. Engel.
Douglas H. Ring was born in 1907 and died in Red Bank, New Jersey (my hometown). Douglas was one of the Bell Labs engineers who proposed the first hexagonal cells for mobile phone also known as the inventor of the cell phone. He wrote the internal memo in which proposed development of a cellular telephone system by AT&T.
Dr Martin Cooper is considered an inventor of the first portable handset and the first person to make a call on a portable cell phone in April 1973. He was the general manager for the systems division at Motorola. The first call he made was to his rival, Joel Engel, Bell Labs head of research. AT&T’s research arm, Bell Lab proposed the thought of cellular communications in 1947. Coopers idea was for individuals to be able to carry their cellular device where ever they pleased to go. In In 1973, while he was a task manager at Motorola, Cooper set up a base station in New York with the primary working trial product of a cellular telephone called the Motorola Dyna-Tac. After dabbling in testing in Washington for the F.C.C., Mr. Cooper and Motorola took the phone technology to New York to show the public.
Another contributor of the cellular phone was Joel Engel who was born on February 1936 in New York City. After attending the City College of New York in 1957, he received his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. His professional career began at the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory while pursuing a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering. He took the position of Vice President of Research & Development for MCI. In these titles, he has been accountable for technical planning and development. In his encounters with the FCC and other branches of the government on mobile radio had given him a lot of skill in authoritarian situations.
All of these men have contributed something towards the convenience in our life today. Because of them, we can now be connected to whomever we have contact with at any given time. It is truly amazing how much our lives have changed because of this little device of media technology.
Author unknown. IEEE- Joel S. Engel, 1936-. Rutgers- The State University. 2009. http://www.ieee.org/web/aboutus/history_center/biography/engel.html. November 10, 2009.
Author unknown. Douglas H. Ring. Intelius People Search. 2000. http://www.spock.com/Douglas-H.-Ring. November 9, 2009.
Author unknown. Martin Cooper- Inventor Of The Cellphone. 2006. http://www.cellular.co.za/cellphone_inventor.htm. November 9, 2009.
