Cellphone Celebrates 50 Years in Existence

The first cellphone was invented fifty years ago this week. The man who built that phone, Martin Cooper, is now 94 years old.

Cooper, who has been called the "father of the cellphone," has been speaking with the media as he looks back at his efforts to create a device that greatly changed our world.

In the early 1970s, Coper worked for American technology company Motorola. At the time, Motorola and other manufacturers were attempting to create wireless¹ phones that could work in vehicles and also be carried.

There was intense competition between Motorola, Bell Labs and AT&T to build the first truly portable phone. The technology used to create the first cellphone is known as cellular². This technology uses many small, interconnected transmitters that give off wireless signals and connect cellphones to the internet.

Cooper made the first public call from a handheld portable telephone in New York City on April 3, 1973. The device, called Dyna-TAC, weighed about 1 kilogram and was 28 centimeters long.

He developed the phone with his team at Motorola over a period of five months. The first model permitted about 25 minutes of talk time. Cooper noted³ that such a talk time was not a problem, since "This phone was so heavy, you couldn't hold it up for 25 minutes."

Speaking about that moment to The Associated Press, Cooper said, "The only thing that I was worried about: ‘Is this thing going to work?' And it did." Cooper admitted that at the time, "We had no way of knowing this was a historic moment."

While Cooper is pleased that his invention has opened up a series of technological⁴ possibilities for cellphone users, he thinks many people are just too obsessed⁵ with their devices.

"I am devastated⁷ when I see somebody crossing the street and looking at their cellphone. They are out of their minds," Cooper told the AP. "But after a few people get run over by cars, they'll figure it out," he joked.

Today, Cooper uses a late model iPhone. He likes that the phone permits him to do numerous things, such as read emails, watch YouTube and control his hearing aid devices. But mostly, he says he uses the phone just to talk to people.

Cooper said the modern progress of cellphones is sure to continue long into the future. He predicts phones will develop to the point of being able to be "distributed on your body," with sensors⁸ "measuring your health at all times."

Cooper said batteries could even be replaced by human energy. "You ingest food, you create energy. Why not have this receiver for your ear embedded¹⁰ under your skin, powered by your body?" he imagined.

But the cellphone inventor has also expressed worries about how the device has created serious risks for users, especially in the area of privacy. "My most negative opinion is we don't have any privacy anymore because everything about us is now recorded someplace," Cooper said.

But, he noted he is hopeful that cellphones will continue to progress in ways that can greatly help humanity. "Each generation is going to be smarter...They will learn how to use the cellphone more effectively," Cooper said. "Humans sooner or later figure it out."

Words in This Story

cellphone – n. a mobile phone

portable – adj. able to be carried

transmitter – n. a piece of equipment used to send out signals for radio, television, telephone, etc.

obsessed – adj. to think about something or someone all the time

devastate⁶ – v. to destroy or damage something very badly

distribute – v. to give something out to people or places

battery – n. an object that provides electricity for things such as radios, toys, cars, etc.

embed⁹ – v. to fix something firmly into a substance

negative – adj. not expecting good outcomes

1 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

2 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

5 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

6 devastate   

v.使荒芜，破坏，压倒

参考例句：

• A few days before,a fire had devastated large parts of Windsor Castle.几天前，温莎城堡的大部分被一场大火烧毁。
• Earthquakes can also cause tsunamis,which devastate coastal regions.地震还引发海啸，它直接破坏海岸地区。

7 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

8 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

9 embed   

vt.把…嵌(埋、插)入，扎牢；使深留脑中

参考例句：

• The harpoon struck but did not embed.鱼叉击中了但并没有插入。
• This photo showed us how did the root of plant embed the soil deeply.这张照片显示植物的根是如何深入到土壤里去的。

10 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。