04/10/2012
A Brief History of the Cell PhoneThe use of mobile communications started long before the 1970′s. As early as 1921 mobile radios were utilized by police (in Detroit) nearing 2MHz. The frequencies rose to about 30-40 MHz by 1940. This encouraged the building up of the police systems. It also attracted the following groups to invest in and utilize mobile units:
1.Private companies
2.Public agencies
3.Individuals
Rapid Expansion of the Cell PhoneIn 1945 the first public mobile telephone system was instituted. This system had 3 channels with 150 MHZ. By 1947 a public mobile system was installed between New York and Boston. This system introduced the “push to talk” operation.
In 1964, the phone system had developed as far as to do away with the push to talk function. Customers could now dial the numbers themselves without the aid of mobile operators. 1953 ushered in even greater frequencies, by expanding to an 800 MHz region.
First Commercially Available Cell PhoneThe first commercially available phone on the market was the Motorola Dyna-Tac. While using the same name of the prototype, it weighed less. This Dyna-Tac weighed in at 16 ounces. The hefty part was the price. The tag on the Dyna-Tac? $3,5000! Yep, you read it right – the price of the first cell phone was three thousand five hundred dollars!
More than just the high price tags of cell phones have changed over the years. Check out this cool image representation of how the size of cell phones have changed over the years courtesy of Kyle Bean from Design Milk (the Dyna-Tec is the first phone on the left):
