Dennis Grijalva English 100 Mr.

Mayfield November 1, 2010

Martin Cooper Martin, also know as Marty, Cooper insisted that people have the freedom to communicate with others on the go, aside from the car telephone (Anjarwalla). Cooper was an electrical engineer who thrived to make our means of communication the way it is today. In 1973, Cooper and his team at Motorola, a communications company, designed the first cellular phone prototype (Cauley). Following the successful design of the cellular phone, on April 3, 1973 Cooper demonstrated this new device on a New York City sidewalk by calling his rivals at Bell Labs (Schweber). This cellular phone that Cooper and his employees at Motorola pioneered is not only significant in contemporary society due the fact of communication, but it gives people freedom, assurance, and it is also helpful in many aspects of everyday life. Coopers prototype cellular phone was designed in in 1973, but it was not until 1983 that it was actually on the market for consumers (Anjarwalla). This cellular phone was called the DynaTAC, which stands for Dynamic Adaptable Total Area Coverage (Cauley). Furthermore, it weighed two and a half pounds, and costed about 3,000 dollars, which is equivalent to about 15,000 dollars today (Cauley). Prior to the cellular phone, the only other means of portable communication was the walkie-talkie. These devices did have one flaw though, only one party

could talk at a time, which is one of the technological advances Cooper had to make (Cauley). Surprisingly, it only took Cooper and his team 3 months to come up with a prototype (Anjarwalla).The conception of the cellular phone is astonishing, but the advantages it provides are very impressive as well. At the end of the day, the technology that has prove[n] the most valuable for locating lost or missing people has been the cellular phone (Reardon). The modern cellular phones contains many useful tools, but the safety aspects of these devices are by far the most valuable. Even the GPS(global positioning system) is not as valuable as a cellular phone because there is no way to alert safety. If someone is lost and there cellular phone happens to run out of battery, the location of this person is still know by the service provider. When cellular phone are within range, they constantly let cellular towers and the mobile switching center, which is connected to multiple towers, know their location (Reardon). Usually, mobile operators store the most recent communication between device and mobile switching center for a period of 24 hours (Reardon). This can be very useful when someone is lost because rescuers will at least have an idea where the missing person is. Also, all cellular phones must fulfill the E911 government mandate, which allows authorities to send signals to find the exact location of any given cellular phone (Reardon). This makes it possible for authorities to locate people reported missing, or people who are seeking help but do not have a location to give. Saving lives is by far the best advantage of the cellular phone, but these devices also offer parents who have young children a piece of mind. For many parents, a cell phones convenience and the peace of mind it offers -- being able to reach your child at any time, anywhere -- is hard to argue against (Wilson). In the beginning, it almost seems ridiculous to buy a child a cellular phone, but in reality, it is not so

bad due to the fast pace lifestyle many parents live. While many children go to school, play sports, go to their friends houses, and participate in other activities, it is nice for parents to be able to reach their children at any given time. On the other end of the spectrum, it is reassuring for parents to know that their children can reach them or call 911 if something were to go wrong. By 2011, experts predict that 54 percent of 8 to 12 year old children will have a cellular phone (Wilson). The cellular phone offers many safety benefits, but also, it includes important benefits that many people do not appreciate. Although many cannot imagine life without a cellular phone, the truth is, cellular phones have not been around forever (Park). Nonetheless, the cellular phone has made life easier for many people in contemporary society (Park). Before the invention of the cellular phone, people were not always so accessible. In this period of time, answering machines and mail were much more common, but nowadays, many people are just one phone call away. Also, rather than needing multiple tools, the cellular phone incorporates them all. For example, many modern cellular phones consist of the phone, calculator, camera, clock, the weather forecast, and an mp3 player. Furthermore, some more sophisticated cellular phones have even more to offer; GPS(global positioning system), compass, email capabilities, and video cameras. Without the invention of the cellular phone, the ease of communication that many take advantage of, would not be what it is today. Overall, the invention of the cellular phone that Martin Cooper and his team and Motorola produced, has made life easier in many ways. Parents depend on these cellular phone to keep track of their children, and also, to assure that their children can contact them at any given time. Furthermore, the cellular phone has become a lifeline for many people who get lost. As a result, many peoples lives have been spared. Since the first cellular phone, these devices

have came a long way, and it definitely does not seem like the innovation of cellular phones is coming to a stop.

Works Cited Anjarwalla, Tas. Inventor of cell phone: We Knew someday everybody would have one 1980. 01 Nov. 2010 <http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/mobile/07/09/ cooper.cell.phone.inventor/index.html?iref=allsearch> . Leslie, Cauley. "It all started with the DynaTAC." USA Today n.d.: MasterFILE Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Oct. 2010.

Park, Michael. Cell Phones Are the Latest Addiction 2006. 06 Nov. 2010 <http:// www.foxnews.com> Reardon, Marguerite. Turning cell phones into lifelines 2006. 06 Nov. 2010 <http:// news.cnet.com/Turning-cell-phones-into-lifelines>. Schweber, Bill. "Cell phones shrink, their market explodes." EDN 50.21 (2005): 122. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 29 Oct. 2010. Wilson, Jacque. What to know before buying your kid a cell phone 2008. 06 Nov. 2010 <http://articles.cnn.com>.