The Mobile Cell Phone: A Key Development in Twentieth-Century Science and Technology
A “mobile cell phone” is a portable, hand-held device that connects virtually to a cellular radio network. During the 1960s, mobile phones did exist, but only in cars because installing a phone on a vehicle was the only way to make it mobile (Moss, 2021). Only car batteries could power the cell phone because it was energy-intensive. For any given area, only twelve channels existed, and users had to wait up to 30 minutes to get connected (Bliss, 2021).
A cellular architecture that breaks extensive coverage areas into smaller ones enabling multiple people to use phones in their cars simultaneously, marked the beginning of the mobile cell phone era (Moss, 2021). Motorola took advantage of this new technology to defy the industry’s narrow vision of car phones and went for personal portable forms of communication (Moss, 2021). By March of 1973, using microchip technology, Cooper and his team had built a prototype of a smaller cell phone with less power consumption (Bliss, 2021). In 1983, Motorola released consumers’ first portable mobile phone after years of development (Moss, 2021). Cell phones have advanced significantly in a relatively short period, and the potential applications are nearly limitless.
Social or Cultural Context Effect on Mobile Cell Phone Technology and Impact on Society
The first cell phone was seen as mobile because it could be carried despite being enormous by today’s standards. Although phone phones were costly when introduced into the market for regular consumers, they became a pop culture showing up in everyone. It created a group of trendsetters who are unafraid to try new things, and everyone else follows. As technology advanced, mobile phone companies could fit all the functions consumers wanted into a more compact, portable, and reasonably priced device (Moss, 2021). Therefore, to improve consumer convenience, phone companies progressively added functions like voicemail, email, and address books to early cell phones that were only for talking.
Mobile Cell Phone Emerging with 21st Century Generation
It is fascinating to imagine mobile cell phones emerging in the 21st Century after satellite, computer, and internet technology have advanced how people communicate. People already use computers to communicate across the globe, meaning the invention of the mobile phone may have had less impact on society if the performance of the first mobile phone was any close to the first one in 1973. People would use faster means available in satellite and internet communication using their computers instead of slower mobile cell phones. Unless the first cell phones in the 21st Century come with similar or advanced capabilities to the available computer technology, its acceptance, general use, or development may only influence users as much as it did in the 20th Century.
Social Context of STEM Research
The adoption of communication technology has advanced so much that introducing a mobile cell phone with similar functionality, like in 1973, would feel inferior. Devices like computers have turned from a technological to a social tool, and that is expected of new technology that aims to advance communication. Electronic communication has become an integral part of daily life, and STEM research should focus on improving people’s social lives through mobile technology (Harris & Cooper, 2019). Mobile phones, which offer much more than communication services, have evolved into virtual life partners and are increasingly essential to modern life.
References
Bliss, D. (2021). The first mobile phone call was made 75 years ago. Smithsonian Magazine. Web.
Harris, A., & Cooper, M. (2019). Mobile phones: Impacts, challenges, and predictions. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, 1(1), 15–17. Web.
Moss, S. (2021). From “brick” to smartphone: the evolution of the mobile phone. MRS Bulletin, 46(3), 287–288. Web.