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30 Years of Cell Phone Calls

freitasm writes "30 years ago, 3 April 1973, Dr Martin Cooper placed the first cellular phone call, to a rival scientist. The NY Times has an article about the "crime scene". Dr Cooper now works as CEO of Arraycom." There's also a story on siliconvalley.com.

134 comments

  1. 2003? by nurightshu · · Score: 2, Funny

    30 years ago was 2003? Jesus, somebody must have signed me up for a subscription, because I'm getting stories from the distant future!

    --
    They that would sacrifice their .sig space for that cliched Franklin quote deserve neither.
    1. Re:2003? by nurightshu · · Score: 0

      And GNU/Hurd ships in just one more year -- I hear it's using Enlightenment 1.0 as its GUI!

      --
      They that would sacrifice their .sig space for that cliched Franklin quote deserve neither.
    2. Re:2003? by suman28 · · Score: 1

      Am i missing something. I know i read the article. But i don't see anything here that says 2003.

  2. sigh by Joe+the+Lesser · · Score: 5, Funny

    Unfortunatly, Cooper made the call from a nearby movie theatre during a dramatic scene, thus being not only the first cell phone caller, but the first guy with cell phone to create feelings of distain and loathing from the surrounding populace.

    --
    "I only speak the truth"
    Karma: null(Mostly affected by an unassigned variable)
  3. gloating by nath_o_brien · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dr Martin Cooper placed the first cellular phone call, to a rival scientist

    Do you think his first words were "ha ha! beat you!"?

    --
    - Welcome the coming of the New World Odour
    1. Re:gloating by pacc · · Score: 1

      Dr Martin Cooper placed the first cellular phone call, to a rival scientist

      Don't you realize that this scenery implies that the rival scientist had to get the cellphone first, Dr Martin Cooper must have been second to be able to make the first call...

    2. Re:gloating by WestieDog · · Score: 1

      I don't know about you but my cell phone can call 'land lines'. Perhaps his could too!

    3. Re:gloating by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      Or maybe he just called to other scientist's landline.

      Sorry. That joke only works for Alexander Graham Bell.

    4. Re:gloating by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Do you think his first words were "ha ha! beat you!"

      yes, but also...

      I invented the time machine first!

  4. First call? by Penguuu · · Score: 5, Funny

    So what did they talk about in first call? Just called to another, and shouted "FIRST CALL!"?

    --
    The problem in the world today is communication. Too much communication - Homer Simpson
    1. Re:First call? by nurightshu · · Score: 0, Funny

      Well, yes, but almost immediately after shouting that the volume on the connection got turned way down. Dr. Cooper called back and said, "First Ninnle Call," then "Early Call," and finally "Last Call" (although this may have been the voice of the bartender in the background, as anyone behaving as foolishly as Dr. Cooper was is obviously intoxicated).

      --
      They that would sacrifice their .sig space for that cliched Franklin quote deserve neither.
    2. Re:First call? by archetypeone · · Score: 3, Funny

      Damn! I wanted to make that joke! Guess I'll have to wait until this story is posted again...

    3. Re:First call? by VirtualAdept · · Score: 1

      Actually, according to NPR, the first cellular call was made to a colleague in Bell Labs to inform him that they had finished their cell phone first. :)

  5. Oh my god, look at the size of that thing! by 91degrees · · Score: 1, Funny

    Did it come with a trolley to push it around on?

    Yes, I realise it was an impressive feat at the time, but considering my phone is less than a tenth of the weight of that, it seems impossibly heavy.

    1. Re:Oh my god, look at the size of that thing! by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      Heh, that looks like a handy-dandy model, for the time! I remember most cell phones 15 years ago were far bulkier than that: a black box the size of a small car battery, with a long antenna and a handle to carry it around, with a separate handset connected by a curly wire. (Here's a picture)

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:Oh my god, look at the size of that thing! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      if you can't lift 2lbs I feal impossibly sorry for you.

  6. Re:And the first answer was.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1) What...?

  7. We need a few other firsts by 91degrees · · Score: 2, Insightful

    First annoying ringtone.
    First person to make a phoner call during a film.
    First person to say "I'm on the train loudly for the benefit of everyone else to hear"
    First person top get their credit card details stolen because they didn't realise that anyone sitting nearby can hear everything they say.

    1. Re:We need a few other firsts by toriver · · Score: 1

      First person to make a phoner call during a film.

      Try "a funeral" too: During the funeral of one of the best-known lawyers in Norway, there were TEN mobile-phone calls made to IDIOTS who didn't turn their off.

    2. Re:We need a few other firsts by NDPTAL85 · · Score: 1

      Who cares? He was just a lawyer.

      --
      Mac OS X and Windows XP working side by side to fight back the night.
    3. Re:We need a few other firsts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would someone say "I'm on the train loudly for the benefit of everyone else to hear" ?

    4. Re:We need a few other firsts by realdpk · · Score: 1

      Well, that's what ya get for having a funeral. For me, y'all can just toss me in the ocean or whatever and call (on your cell phone!) for some pizza.

    5. Re:We need a few other firsts by ggwood · · Score: 1

      ...like the first case of cancer linked to cell phone radiation?

      Seriously, if it's been 30 years, I would think some better studies could have come out with decisive evidence one way or the other on the cancer issue. The "no, don't cause cancer" I have read are not as convincing as I would like, and the "yes, do have an effect" articles are rather tenuous. Well, it's biology so I know it will take a while and the answer will be complex.

      --
      a war on terrorism? How can we end a war on a method?
    6. Re:We need a few other firsts by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      You mean nobody's ever said that? Maybe I get to e the first.

      Okay, I promise to get my quote marks in the right place next time.

    7. Re:We need a few other firsts by croddy · · Score: 1

      Sorry, links to Bugzilla from Slashdot are disabled.

    8. Re:We need a few other firsts by realdpk · · Score: 1

      Yeah. I wonder if there's a good way around that other than having to manually cut and paste the URL.

    9. Re:We need a few other firsts by croddy · · Score: 1

      I would hope not.

  8. They don't make 'em like they used to by kinnell · · Score: 4, Funny

    Those were the days - cell phones which didn't get lost down the back of the couch and could double as a lethal weapon. Not like the girly things you get these days. Back in those days, the designers understood that a cell phone is an extension of your manhood, and made them with presence. And they call it progress! I don't know....

    --
    If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
    1. Re:They don't make 'em like they used to by kruczkowski · · Score: 1

      I know I picked my Nokia 5690 becouse it's nice and sturdy, sure it's tiny, but If I throw it at someone they will fell it.

      --
      hmm... for fun I enjoy launching DDoS attacks against 127.87.42.5
    2. Re:They don't make 'em like they used to by suicidal · · Score: 1

      If it's being thrown, hasn't it already been felled?

  9. He said "logo...." by NetPoser · · Score: 0

    He tried to say "LOGON" but he lost the signal at "LOGO..."

    or that could have been the Internet one

  10. Cell Phones Then and Now by nath_o_brien · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dyna-Tac (1973)
    Features: Talk, listen, dial

    Really, when it comes down to it, do you need anything else? Sure, text messaging is a bonus and games are fun(ish) when you're stuck in a traffic jam but you only need to be able to dial, talk and listen to ruin someone's cinema experience.

    --
    - Welcome the coming of the New World Odour
    1. Re:Cell Phones Then and Now by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Tell me about it. My Philips phone "reboots" intermittently, beeps all the time when stuff happens, runs out of batteries in... i dunno but it sure doesn't last a work week. I couldn't care less about text messaging and auto-complete and ring tones and hearing it go "beep" every time i touch a button. All i want is a small address book, a regular ring, and a battery that'll last a week or two (preferably longer). Are there really that many people who want all these extra features? I know all the kids dig it, but surely there are plenty of stiff-upper-lip businessmen or industry/mining workers who just need something sturdy and reliable with no frills? *sigh*

    2. Re:Cell Phones Then and Now by nath_o_brien · · Score: 1

      I've got a Motorola T720 and to tell me it has a low battery, it lights up its two screens and beeps. Every few minutes. There is something very wrong with that I'm sure.

      --
      - Welcome the coming of the New World Odour
    3. Re:Cell Phones Then and Now by priceb · · Score: 1

      Up until recently I had an older cell phone that did not have all these fancy features. The only reason I upgraded was for digital reception. Sometimes, however, I wish I still had the old one. I could hear better and it had a better battery life. They just don't make them like they used to. Even the phone I have now, which is about a year old, is considered ancient. What ever happened to KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)?

    4. Re:Cell Phones Then and Now by CharlieG · · Score: 1

      Gee, I still carry a Startac 7760, and don't buy the inbound SMS

      It's a nice plain phone. It sits in my pocket, and has for oh, 4 or 5 years now. It rings when it's supposed to, and gets my calls out. It could use a new antenna. Other than that, I have NO problems with it

      Sometimes old is good

      --
      -- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
    5. Re:Cell Phones Then and Now by NickFitz · · Score: 1

      My Ericsson A2618s has such a bad user interface, I've thought of writing a paper pointing out its flaws from the perspective of HCI.

      One of its amazing features is that the longer a text message gets, the longer it takes for it to respond to letter selection. (No predictive text, thank God.) I've easily managed to get 10 to 12 characters ahead of it. Presumable every time it adds a character to a string, it copies the whole string to a buffer one character longer and then appends the new char...

      That's a performance issue, but what about the way it unlock the keypad when it receives a text? Knocking the "yes" key brings up the message, knocking it again brings up the subsequent menu, and knocking it a third time selects the first option of the subsequent menu - which is "Delete".

      Several times I've received texts which had been deleted by the time I got the phone out of my pocket.

      --
      Using HTML in email is like putting sound effects on your phone calls. Just say <strong>no</strong>.
  11. first phone conversation by kipsate · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hello this is Dr. Cooper. Can you call me back please because my batteries are running emp

    --
    My karma ran over your dogma
  12. And the first reply was by Porag_Spliffing · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm on the train......

    With apologies to Private Eye.

    --
    Maybe you live in interesting times
  13. I never realized by John_Renne · · Score: 1

    Well I never realized these things were that old. I remember in the Netherlands we first had the kermit (green phones) that had to be very near to access points. Back then we used to laugh at people making a cellular call.

    With the arrival of Libertel (now Vodafone) in 1995 I took my first subsscription. I remember getting the phone for donating a small amount (about $10) to the red cross.

    The first few phones were big, heavy and had very little battery-life compared to modern cellphones

    Wow this sure brings back memories :-)

    --
    /(bb|[^b]{2})/
  14. 30 years of _american_ phone calls... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    In Finland, building of commercial wireless ARP (car radio phone) network started in 1969 and network was in use a year later.

    In early 1980s first multinational cell phone network (NMT) was already in use in Scandinavia.

    More information about telecommunication history can be found here.

    1. Re:30 years of _american_ phone calls... by Lars+Arvestad · · Score: 1
      I also had trouble believing some claims in the article because of remembering the early NMT networks. However, the article seems to really be about handheld mobile phones, and I am not sure when the first truly handhelds for NMT came out. I remember those systems with a special unit to lug around to which your reciever was connected. They were most appropriately put in a car, and would only look dorky for a yuppie to bring to a bar...

      When did the first handhelds arrive in NMT?

      --
      Reality or nothing.
  15. The First Call by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
    Dr Martin Cooper placed the first cellular phone call, to a rival scientist.

    ring...ring...

    Hello?

    Hear this byotch? It's the sound of me 0wnz0ring you!

    1. Re:The First Call by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      nah, he'd have had to have been some kind of cunt to say THAT

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
  16. Times article is OLD by big_gibbon · · Score: 1

    It may well be 30 years since the first cellphone call, but it's three years since the NYT article was written . . . couldn't you find something a little more up to date?!

    P

  17. Talking while driving by red_dragon · · Score: 3, Funny

    "30 years ago, 3rd April 2003 Dr Martin Cooper placed the first cellular phone call"...

    It is also apparently obvious that Dr. Cooper placed that call while driving a DeLorean.

    --
    In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
  18. Re:And the first message was.... by nathanh · · Score: 1

    Pfft, everybody knows the first message was...

    WASSSUUPPPPPPP!!!

  19. hmm by Epistax · · Score: 1

    30 years ago, 3rd April 2073 Dr Martin Cooper placed the first cellular phone call, to a rival scientist... ironically they were both driving SUV's and crashed into eachother... and it was good...

  20. GSM and SMS history by GQuon · · Score: 1

    GSM is a digital standard in Europe, and many other countries. "GSM for Iraq!" by the way :-|

    GSM.
    SMS/MMS.

    Some of my tutors have seen the logic port prototypes of the first GSM phone, and that took several trollies to cart around.
    Then they were able to make a portable version. Well, portable, I guess it weighed over 10 kg, and was carried in a "backpack" configuration. Like those field radioes you see in Vietnam war movies, only twice as big and heavy.
    I saw a picture of one guy on a testing trip with that thing on, and cross country skis, visiting a cabin in Norway. He'd better stay on his feet. Ouch! Not to mention all the damaged tech.....

    --
    Irene KHAAAAAAN!
    1. Re:GSM and SMS history by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      One opf my friends commented that the GSM spec formed one of his office walls. Despite the precise specification, different manufacturers still manage to interpret aspects of it differently.

  21. You bet! by GQuon · · Score: 1

    One of my university tutors, a Ph.D. in circuit design, told the students about the first working GSM phone, made with standard logic components. It was, I think, some 4 or 5 heavy boxes, about 50cm x 50 cm x 50 cm. And you did need a trolly unless you were participating in "the Strongest Man in the World Contest".

    But, of course, they only made one of those....

    --
    Irene KHAAAAAAN!
  22. Nope, just perspective by jolshefsky · · Score: 2, Funny

    They don't mention it in the article but Martin Cooper is only 2 feet tall. The phone he's holding is actually a mere six inches long.

    --
    --- Jason Olshefsky

    Karma: Poser (mostly affected by adding this line long after everyone else did)

  23. Re:And the first message was.... by mgblst · · Score: 2, Funny

    "What are you wearing?"

  24. ooo, I have one of those by AssFace · · Score: 1

    They compare the old phone to a "new" (1999) Nokia 8860. I still have one of those - it is nice and shiny, but wasn't that terrific a phone - but I guess still better than a brick from 1973.

    I should pop over to EBay and see if anyone is still buying the Nokia 8860s - I never use mine anymore since I have the 8890 now.

    --

    There are some odd things afoot now, in the Villa Straylight.
  25. I'd hapily swap the "talk" bit for "SMS" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hate talking on the bloody things, and text messages are so handy.

  26. Moore's law on size of cellphones? by lingqi · · Score: 1

    Well, considering the olden-days them things are about the size of a 4-year old child (and just as heavy) - and these days we have wrist phones as per previous /. story (ok ok, it's only PHS - but real cellphones are getting pretty easy to lose now - look at one of those ultra-thin samsung ones that Sprint offer), anybody (conan-the-early-adopters, especially) figure that the cellphone size (volume, let's say) follows or exceeds moore's law?

    I would think it should - but anyhoo...

    --

    My life in the land of the rising sun.

    1. Re:Moore's law on size of cellphones? by Enry · · Score: 1

      Futurama had an episode where Amy got a call on her cell phone. It was about the size of a fingernail, and she had to hold it to her mouth to speak, then move it to her ear to hear.

      The charger was about the size of a standard beige PC.

      Yay progress.

    2. Re:Moore's law on size of cellphones? by Eccles · · Score: 2, Funny

      Futurama had an episode where Amy got a call on her cell phone.

      In Futurama, I would have thought it would actually be a cell (as opposed to a contraction of cellular.)

      --
      Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
  27. Memories by rf0 · · Score: 1

    I remeber my first cell phone. It was analgo and was the Nokia Ringo (Ring-Go). Absolutly horrible phone and was like carrying around a small brick. Now many years down the line I've got a Nokia 7650 which can take photos, texting, is digital and is still the size of a small brick :)

    Of course I could just get a Nokia 7250 but thats not the point

    Rus

  28. An American failure..... by harriet+nyborg · · Score: 5, Informative
    Cellular is an Anerican failure, not a Scandinavian success.

    NMT was more or less a copy of AMPS which was developed by Motorola and AT&T.

    It's in the paper, so you know that's a fact.

    In 1990 - two years before GSM was launched - the United States had a single country-wide cellular radio system (AMPS) and Europe had a hodgepodge of incombatible standards (NMT, TACS, etc.) In 1990 an American could drive between New York and Washington DC and have AMPS coverage the whole way... while a European could not drive from Antwerp to Aachen (about 1/3 the distance) without having to use a different phone.

    America invented cellular, but our pro-competitive government thought it would be a good idea to let a variety of 2G standards (DAMPS, CDMA, Nextel) to compete against each other in the market, and killed it. Thank you Ronald Reagan.

    While competition was creating a patchwork quilt of cellular standards in the US, the Europeans developed GSM and agreed to use the SAME standard in all the European countries.

    Today, I can take use my GSM phone in 100 countries (even the US), but I can't use a CDMA phone in all 50 states.

    Thus did "Old Europe" kick the shit out of the New World.

    i.e., We did it to ourselves.

    1. Re:An American failure..... by LX.onesizebigger · · Score: 1

      Standards are good though. Doesn't that mean we should have a lot of them?

      --
      I for one welcome our new SCOviet Russian overlords to whom all our base are belong.
    2. Re:An American failure..... by kin_korn_karn · · Score: 1

      we're upping our standards, so up yours.

    3. Re:An American failure..... by The+Ape+With+No+Name · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And the sick thing of all this is that while we Americans laud "choice" and "competition," teeny-tiny countries like Slovenia have 5 providers for a 2-million head market. Calls are dirt cheap (often free for intra-provider) and coverage is amazing. When you go into a Mobitel shop, you get help and clear, understandable plans like "calls are 10 tolars a minute and one tolar Mobitel to Mobitel. You don't even have to get a plan and still have a full featured phone (SMS, voicemail, bank account access, web, etc.) using prepaid.

      Here in Tennessee, you are saddled with shit coverage. I can stand on one side of my yard and not get a signal with line-of-sight to the tower but go in the basement and it comes right up. You are saddled with shit sales support. Going to a Verizon or Cingular shop is like stepping back into the Ottoman Empire. You are saddled with equally Byzantine plans. 400 anytime minutes with rollover and 1000 nights and weekend minutes for $49.95. Get bill: $219. What? See you called between 1830 and 1700 on a Tuesday. Well, if you read the teeny-tiny print on the contract you'd see we reserve the right to not honor our agreement during that time if market rates for long-distance are not beneficial to the aggregate good of our customer base. What about my rollover minutes? Sorry, sir. You have to use those all up by the end of each quarter or they are lost.

      Put pistol in mouth. Pull trigger.

      --
      Comparing it to Windows will be a moot point, since El Dorado is going to have a 40% larger code base than XP.
    4. Re:An American failure..... by mrmoa · · Score: 1

      America invented cellular, but our pro-competitive government thought it would be a good idea to let a variety of 2G standards (DAMPS, CDMA, Nextel) to compete against each other in the market, and killed it.

      It's a bit difficult to make a case that the market is dead given that roughly half the population owns cell phones.

      And it was the FCC, not Reagan, who (correctly, IMO) decided that it should not impose a technology on the market but that it could and should let market forces determine which technology won out.

      You make it sound as if AMPS networks went away as soon as digital cellular started getting deployed. It didn't happen like that - most of the AMPS base stations are still in place and operating. They're just used as fall-backs for where digital signals don't reach.

    5. Re:An American failure..... by operagost · · Score: 1
      And it was the FCC, not Reagan, who (correctly, IMO) decided that it should not impose a technology on the market but that it could and should let market forces determine which technology won out.

      Hey you- don't you dare get in the way of Democratic Reagan-bashing! How are they ever going to get the history books falsified if you're going to keep correcting them!

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  29. Maybe first in America... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually Ericsson and The Swedish Telecom developed a cellphone prototype back in 1950 and Sture Lauhrén made the first call on the 3rd of December.

    In 1955 the first automatic mobile phone system was launched in Stockholm to the public.

    1. Re:Maybe first in America... by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      are yu sure that's a CELLULAR phone network ather than just an old fashioned RADIO phone system? Radio telephones were available in the 50s in the UK too...

      as for me, my first phone was a Sony CMH 333 (Mars Bar) which I think I got in '90 or '91 - though my father had a SIMPLEX TACS Motorola car phone several years before that. I now use a Nokia 8910 - it having just displaced my old Ericsson T-28s because Ercsson don't make gorgeous phones anymore with covered keypads, whereas Nokia do...

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    2. Re:Maybe first in America... by nnnneedles · · Score: 2, Funny

      If you read american news, americans are always first at everything. It's no use trying to correct this, because people are so used to it, that they simply wont believe you.

      --
      Will code a sig generator for food
    3. Re:Maybe first in America... by mrm677 · · Score: 1

      Every time I talk about an American innovation, a European always tells me that they were actually first. Transistors, integrated circuits, televisions, you name it!

      The facts are usually twisted to give one country the credit over another. In this case, The Swedish Telecom likely had a radio system patched into land-lines. Can you verify that it was truly a cellular system?

    4. Re:Maybe first in America... by operagost · · Score: 1

      Not if you're wrong! Radio != cellular

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  30. but... by Ribert · · Score: 1

    ..shouldnt his rival be honored for having invented a device that could recieve the call?

    That would be the hard part.....

    1. Re:but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You've just demonstrated that you know nothing about how cellular phones work. I think Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing the device that answered the call.....the standard, plain-jane, vanilla, land-line telephone you idiot!

  31. You've heard of "Ma Bell" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    IIT (No longer affiliated with IITRI) calls him "Pa Cell." There's actually a bus stop bench on campus (32nd and State st...if 32nd actually existed through campus. Use your imagination.) that has a B+W photo of him with the quote "Meet Pa Cell."

    Graduate from a shitty college in the ghetto, start my own comm company, get my face plastered on a bus stop bench. Now I FINALLY have a goal in life!

  32. DynaTac Security by MoeMoe · · Score: 2, Funny

    They failed to mention it in the article, but since the DynaTac was such a huge and priceless piece, it came with its own anti-theft measures... Simply take the phone, throw it at the head of the thief, and watch him go down from the impact of that huge thing.

    --
    Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
    A scam in which all people involved perceive as beneficial...
  33. No, they are about 20 years late. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    3 december 1950 was the first automatik cell phone call made by Sture Lauhrén.

    An recent interview with Sture is availble here (in swedish) http://www.aftonbladet.se/it/0001/03/mobil.html

    1955 Stockholm, Sweden has a working cell phone system.

    More on the topic can be found here (in english :-)

    http://neptunus.approach.se/pdf/1_2001_The_Roots .p df

    1. Re:No, they are about 20 years late. by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      I just read your pdf and, interesting though it was, what was described was the first AUTOMATIC (ie operator-less) radio telephone system, not the first CELLULAR radio telephone system.

      Mind you, Americans always says they invented things first, so it could well be that the Slashdot story's a load of bollox...

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    2. Re:No, they are about 20 years late. by clarkc3 · · Score: 1

      still, i find that it took 20 something years to make the 1st cell phone call a bit of BS. They had been around since '47 - just not in much use, and not in the the celluar structure we think of today until '68. Do a little research and the idea that the first cell phone call was mde in '73 is quite laughable

  34. cell phone?? by lfourrier · · Score: 4, Interesting

    what is interesting with cell phone is not the portable phone, it is the cell(s).
    So when was the first cell boundary crossing without dropping the conversation?
    That would be a date to remember.

  35. points for identifing the quote: by mlknowle · · Score: 0

    "HELLO? NO, I'M IN AN ART GALLERY. No, IT'S ALL RUBISH. OK, CHOW!"

    (lower caps to pass the filter - muster)

    1. Re:points for identifing the quote: by brokenspoke · · Score: 0

      Easy-peasy. Dom Jolly - Trigger happy TV. That scene was funny. Shame it happens so often in real life. Go back to the old phones I say. So heavy it was actually less effort to go to a call box rather than carry one!

      --
      -- I am Jack's sig line.
  36. Early "cell" phones by Alioth · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My Dad used to be a salesman for Nacanco (a can making company). In about 1980, they equipped their sales force with car-phones. They had a whole fleet of Ford Cortinas with (presumably at the time) very expensive car phones!

    The car phone looked a bit like a CB with a normal telephone handset attached instead of a CB mike. You didn't have a phone number as such, you had a call-sign. My Dad's was "Amber zero eighty six". You had to manually change the cell you were in with a switch on the front of the CB-like unit. The units came with a map to tell you where you should switch cells.

    The bit you talked into was like a normal phone handset connected to the CB-like bit. Except it was half duplex and had a push-to-talk switch, so you were encouraged to say "Over" after you were done saying something to the person at the other end. The phones were incapable of dialing a number - you picked them up, and spoke to an operator who dialled the call for you, and then called you back when the other end answered. The operator couldn't tell who was calling - you had to give them your callsign so they could call you back.

    The phones were made to ring (as far as I could tell - I wasn't very old at the time) by some kind of analogue tone signalling broadcast. When the phone recognised its tone sequence, it'd start to ring (well, beep loudly actually). The AirCall operator would then connect you to whoever called (or the party you were calling, if you were trying to make an outgoing call).

    It was trivial to use the equipment to listen to everyone elses calls, too :-) I think these carphones were more "radio phones" than cell phones that we think of today.

    1. Re:Early "cell" phones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The manual switching of "cell" makes me guess this was actually one of many (dozen? hundred? thousand?) commercial radio systems used then (and probably still now). It was no doubt a buttload cheaper to contract with whoever ran the "Aircall" service than to use a 'real' cellphone, which, I assume by definition, would automatically switch cells.

      There're tons and tons of these systems-you've-never-heard-of out there. Heck, look how many people still use pagers.

    2. Re:Early "cell" phones by operagost · · Score: 1

      I can't see why they didn't just use good old CB radios. Sure, 7W isn't much power, but with good stations with properly calibrated antennas they could have gotten killer range. If you're only half-duplex, a telephone style handset is a nuisance. I suppose that's necessary for privacy.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    3. Re:Early "cell" phones by Mignon · · Score: 1
      You had to manually change the cell you were in with a switch on the front of the CB-like unit. The units came with a map to tell you where you should switch cells. ... it was half duplex and had a push-to-talk switch

      And people think just talking on a modern cell phone is dangerous!

  37. Can you hear me now? by Neck_of_the_Woods · · Score: 1



    Good!

    --
    Neck_of_the_Woods
    #/usr/local/surf/glassy/overhead
  38. Re:30 years of _cellular_ phone calls... by multipartmixed · · Score: 1

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but ARP was not a cellular network, but a semi-automatic network with a bunch of base stations and uplink channels.

    A similar car phone network, but smaller than ARP, was in place in Chicago during the 1930s. Al Capone used a car phone -- but not a CELLULAR phone.

    This article is not about car phones, it's about CELLULAR phones.

    BIG difference. Non-cellular car phones are, for all intents and purposes, more powerful versions of the wireless phone you have in your house hooked to a PBX. Cellular phones do things like frequency and tower-hopping in order to keep a customer connected along a very large geographic area.

    --

    Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
  39. And tomorrow marks... by Hershmire · · Score: 3, Funny

    the anniversary of the first drunk cell phone call at 3AM to Cooper's ex-girlfriend.

    --
    if(!toilet_paper) roll.replace(new roll); //Stupid roommates.
  40. First words were? by paiute · · Score: 1

    To his rival: "Dr. Watson, don't come here. I don't want you."

    --
    If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  41. First cell phone call by triaxcaribdis · · Score: 1

    One side of the phone call to the rival scientist: Eh? No, it works well What? Well my brain does feel a bit warm now you mention it. Why are you laughing? Really? You're working on some kind of oven instead of the cell phone now? Look I'm going under a bridge, talk later.

  42. no brain tumor yet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    hmmmmm.....
    i guess i must be safe....

  43. Re:And the first message was.... by pipeb0mb · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    You're such a fucking retard.
    First, you're only pissed because you got banned from SA. You should be used to being banned from places by now.
    Second, that's my wife. And I live with her and my children, so your juvenile humor is extremely unappreciated.
    Third, Ginger is a fat, grotesque butterface.

    Lastly, do you still like this game Bowie? Why don't you piss of before things get ugly?

  44. Re:And the first message was.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    thank god you said something...I've been watching him post your information for months. he posts it everytime someone disagrees with his moronic opinions.

    I would pursue legal action, if I were you.

  45. Spotty coverage by patmandu · · Score: 1

    Ya, and the signal coverage at the spot the first call was made from is probably still spotty...

  46. Analog cellular phones... by antdude · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They didn't cause interference to hearing aids like mine. These days, many digital cellular phones interfere my hearing aids. :(

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  47. Re:And the first message was.... by pipeb0mb · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    He's an idiot. He sent me this a few minutes ago over at SomethingAwful:

    Look. I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you, or what beef you have with me, but you need to stop stalking me, right now. Please.

    The instant you do, I'll stop posting your personal information and warning other people about you. It's that simple. Don't talk TO me, don't talk ABOUT me, don't REPLY to me, and don't EVEN FUCKING TOUCH my fiance's picture EVER AGAIN. If you do, I will tear your fucking life apart. Stay the fuck away from me and you won't have any problem, ever again. It's as simple as that. Take it or leave it. If you keep it up, I'll make you suffer. Stop stalking me, and you won't have me to worry about.

    I don't know what else I have to do to convince you to leave me the fuck alone. I've tried emailing you, i've tried addressing you in public, i've even tried calling you personally. And each time, you've refused to leave me the fuck alone.

    If you keep it up, it's going to become much worse for you. If I have to post your wife and your daughter's information, i'll do that too. If I have to have a friend of mine (who has already offered to) show up on your doorstep and beat your ass bloody, I'll do that too. You either stop your bullshit and leave me alone, or else.

    The instant you stop your bullshit, you'll have nothing to worry about, ever again.

    Stay the fuck away from us. You don't have a fucking clue what I can do to you.


    Malda or whever can confirm that until soemone sent this post, I hadn't posted here since last year.

    Bowie is a psychotic, and yeah, it's very possible that some type of action needs to be taken.
  48. Re:And the first message was.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have a feeling that's a bot... Or my faith in humanity needs a major rewrite. ;)

  49. First cell phone call? by Cruciform · · Score: 2, Funny

    "The person you are trying to call is out of the service area at this time. Please try your call again later."

  50. All wrong. by Stonent1 · · Score: 1

    The first cell phone call was this:

    "lo! -'m -alling -ou -rom my -ell phone! Can -ou speak -ouder? -'m -aving -rouble -earing -ou! I'll -all ou -ack -rom a land -ine!"

    1. Re:All wrong. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds Cockney to me!

  51. Re:And the first message was.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    jesus...it's worse than I thought. that right there is harassment, and I WOULD put a restraining order on the guy if I were you.

    what did he say when he called you ?

  52. did you really email this to someone ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "If I have to have a friend of mine (who has already offered to) show up on your doorstep and beat your ass bloody, I'll do that too."

    jesus.

  53. Re:And the first message was.... by pipeb0mb · · Score: 1

    'you should give me a call so we can work all of this out'...

    he's messaged me again and told me if i stop, he'll stop. but honestly, i haven't done anything to provoke him.

    i'm trying to see how many times he has posted that here, but the search function won't return what i need...this is more than a bit disturbing.

  54. Re:And the first message was.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From what I can tell, he thinks that everytime someone trolls him back for some dumb comment he makes, he thinks it's you, then he posts your info.

    The only reason i'm following this is because about a month back, I responded to something he said, and he posted your info. I wasn't aware that he's threatened you....I would at the very least log a call to the authorities.

  55. TV memory by poot_rootbeer · · Score: 1


    "No, it's not a pay phone, it's a CELLULAR PHONE!"

    -the only scene from "That '80s Show" that anyone has ever seen.

  56. The more things change... by Sway · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And according to this article, the Designated Hitter is also celebrating it's 30th birthday. Even then it was the geeks vs. the jocks!

    --

    Peace. Sway

  57. Re:And the first message was.... by commodoresloat · · Score: 1

    Hi! How are you?

    I send you this file in order to have your advice.

    See you later. Thanks

  58. Last Post! by alpg · · Score: 0

    Go not unto the Usenet for advice, for you will be told both yea and nay (and
    quite a few things that just have nothing at all to do with the question).
    -- seen in a .sig somewhere

    - this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...