Humans are naturally unsatisfied beings. So, it’s no surprise that ever since the beginning of times, we have always had a bit of an obsession with perfection and efficiency.
We needed to be better in order to survive so, through experimentation and innovation, we sought ways to improve ourselves and our quality of life. Every invention created, every shiny new toy, was a step closer to greatness, to excellence, to an easier life.
It is worth noting that all our prestigious creations impacted the world in some way. However, in these last few years, no single device created as much of a change in the world as the mobile phone.
Contrary to popular belief, the idea of a cellphone didn’t emerge in the 70s. But rather, in 1917, a few years before the roaring 20s.
That year, Eric Tigerstedt applied for a patent on a “pocket-sized telephone”. However, much to his dismay, Eric didn’t live to see his creation come to life since he ended up passing away in 1925.
Only half a century later, in 1983, was the first cellphone ever manufactured when Motorola took charge of the project. Unfortunately, this hand-held device wasn't exactly the dream.
The phone was shaped like a large brick, weighed about 2.4 pounds and could only execute calls for 30 minutes after a 10-hour charge.
At the time, these phones were poor in development and didn’t come equipped with anything besides a small antenna and dial buttons.
Over time, however, the cell phone has evolved to connect us in ways that perhaps its creators never imagined. Truth is, if we went back to the past, everything about a mobile phone would feel like a culture shock to us. Nowadays, we rarely use our phones to call someone, but during these early stages of development, that was all you could do.
It took ten years to make this new portable phone available to the commercial public. According to Wired, this first batch of phones was heavy and bulky and cost approximately $4,000, thus becoming obtainable to only a certain group of people. Consequentially, cell phones were seen as a status symbol since only the rich could afford to have one.
In the 90s, developers began to release the 2nd generation of phones with the commercialization of the new IBM Simon in 1992. This phone was considered the first-ever smartphone but acted more as a planner with the added ability to make calls than an actual phone. It could store contacts and create task lists, but that was all that Simon could handle. In the end, this hand-held device was too expensive for what it could do, retailing at around $900. Nonetheless, Simon was a hit as close to 50,000 people rushed to buy the product that paved the way for smartphones.
Even though Simon’s success was undeniable and new mobile phones with different styles were being released every year, the technology was still young and awkward enough that most people still preferred to used pagers.
In the late 90s, a shift began to occur as competition flourished and the prices of smartphones started to drop. This led to an increase in the subscriptions for the mobile phone that exceeded the number of fixed telephone users. People were now opting for the new and more convenient alternative that they could carry wherever they went.
Years later, smartphones are now all there is in the market. The society of today can’t live without a cellphone, but who knows? Maybe, one day, our unsatisfied nature will lead us to a path that will make us surpass the need for cell phones.
As of now, that reality seems a bit farfetched, but humans have always made things happen at the most unexpected of times.
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