“Can you hear me now?”

Cell Phones, By Sarah King

Introduction:

The cell phone originally was introduced in the 1970’s, and they were about the size of a car battery. Dr. Martin Cooper from Motorola was the first person to show a mobile phone. Motorola introduced the first commercially available mobile cell phone in 1973. By 1990, 12.4 million people worldwide had cell phones.

Discovery:

The first call placed from a cell phone was from a car in St. Louis, Missouri on June 17, 1946. However, this system was too impractical from what we consider a mobile handset today. The equipment weighed 80 pounds and the service cost around $337.33 today.

The first commercially automated cell phone service, 1G, or first generation, was launched in Japan, and within five years grew to a nationwide service. In 1991 Finland introduced the first “modern” network technology, on digital 2G, or second generation. In 2001 the first commercial launch of 3G, or third generation was again in Japan.

Today, cell phones are quickly advancing to 4G, or fourth generation. In December, 2009, Sprint began advertising the first 4G cell phone. Future advancements for the mobile phone are close on the horizon, as prototypes are being built and tested daily.

Investigator:

Martin Cooper was born December 26, 1928. After World War II, he left the Navy and in 1954 was hired by Motorola to work on their mobile communications project. On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper made the first cell phone call in public. This phone connected Cooper to the base station on the roof of the Burlington House across the street from a hotel where Cooper was supposed to later hold a press conference. Reporters and passer-bys watched as Cooper dialed, help the phone to his ear, and spoke to Dr. Joel S. Engel. After demonstrating the cell phone prototype, Cooper allowed some reporters to call anyone they wanted to show how well the cell phone could work.

Impact:

Cell phones have become a norm in today’s society. When the cell phone as first introduced, it was simply a way to make calls on the go an communicate between people. Today, it has become a way to surf the net, check emails, play games with friends across the globe, and to create and identity for yourself, to name a few functions. Users can choose a background, a ringtone, and personalize voicemails and contact pictures. Cell phones can help to make everyday lives easier by making things such as emails and business information accessible on the go.

But with all the pluses, are of course negatives. Because cell phones have become part of us, many people don’t think twice about using cell phones while driving, increasing the numbers of fatal accidents. Cell phone users need to be more cognicent of where cell phones are used. Noise pollution is also an issue. In 2003, cell phone conversations totaled almost 830 billion minutes. Today, certain places are banning cell phones and asking people to silence their cell phones.

Review of Journal Article:

In the journal article “Cell phone Induced Failures of Visual Attention During Stimulated driving, it examines the results of how talking on a cell phone affects simulated driving. The findings of the study are that using a mobile phone while driving distracts the driver from fully being able to focus on the road, and drivers who used cell phones were more likely to look directly at a road sign or such and not remember it later.

Bibliography:

Javadi, K. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.askkia.com/articles/societal-impact-of-wireless-technology-on-society.html

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone

(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2006/wong/visualattention.pdf

Nash, J., & , Initials. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.suite101.com/content/cell-phone-history-a47053