COM257: Media History and Theory

In his article Mobile Telephone History, Tom Farley traces the development of the mobile telephony since it first appeared in 1940s until today. The history of public mobile telephony begins with the end of World War II. Mobile phones existed before, but were only for the use of the government.  Civilians expressed a need for communication, too. That need could now be met. America stepped up and led the process of development of the mobile telephony for three reasons: the U.S. was physically intact after the war, Bell Telephone Laboratories had many scientists and radio engineers to use, and the Motorola Corporation had grown a lot during the war. The service was started on June 17, 1946 in Saint Louis, Missouri, by AT&T and South-Western Bell and was called MTS (Mobile Telephone Service). The mobiles were all car-based radio-telephones. Cellular systems were first discussed in 1947; automatic dialing and the transistor were introduced in 1948.  The 1950s and 1960s brought more improvements into the service having to do with direct dialing, automatic channel selection, reducing bandwidth, increasing speed at which the signal could be caught, et cetera. Pay phones placed on board of trains were the first mobile phones. Creating a microprocessor made the phones more portable. Motorola filed its first patent for its cellular radio system in 1973. In 1974 more capacity was added to the phone by FCC.  Demand kept growing, and in 1976 the wait list for the service consisted of 3,700 costumers with 545 already subscribed. Mobile telephony was gradually spreading around the world. In 1979 INMARSAT allowed for calls to be made from aircraft. Commercial cellular development blossomed worldwide in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In Europe, cellular service was first introduced in 1981 in Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and Norway.  South Korea entered the business in 1984 to later become a leader in cellular radio. In the U.S. roaming made it possible for people from different states and citied to actually communicate, as well. Europe took the technology a step further by developing digital technologies and incorporation them in the phones. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) began working on the issue, presenting more channels and carriers, and in 2004 had one billion costumers. Mid-1990s brought a fundamental change into the mobile telephone history by integrating a computer into a mobile phone. Not only the reception of faxes was now possible, but Internet access, as well. Since the mid-1990s the same systems were used and improved.

Today the incorporation of the Internet and cellular technologies all over the world make the base of the common-day mobile telephony. Iphones is as far as the technology has gotten us so far. The devise itself is compact, easy to use, multifunctional, makes any information easily accessible. Radio phone was new media at a certain point, but its technological development never stopped. Today iphones are new media, as Manovich would have defined it, and the development still never stops. More and more cell phones acquire functions of the optional internet connection in the phone. Copanies, at the same time improve on the basics, such as texting, voicemails, and voice to text converters. What is going to be our next destination in achieving even more comfortable and easy communication can only be guessed upon, but there is no doubt that even iphones will be substituted by another form of new media in a few decades.

Nastassia Astrasheuskaya

In this text, Tom Farley describes the history of cellular phones. A
cell phone, Farley states, is "a mobile telephone [that] is a wireless
device which connects to the public switched telephone network and is
offered to thegeneral public by a common carrier or public utility". Farley says that 'public mobile' telephony began in the mid-19 th century post-World War II, but notes that some "primitive
mobile telephones existed before the War", which were more like two-way
radios. The U.S. was able to begin developing cellular devices soon
after WW II unlike much of the rest of the westernized world, which was
in ruins from war. The first "true cellular radio system formobile
telephony" took place in December of 1947 in Bell Telephone
Laboratories. In July of the following year, Bell Labs made public its
revolutionary invention of the transistor, which brought all
electronics into a fundamentally modern era. Large mobile devices were
being released by the late 1950s. In 1958 Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments created the integrated circuit. Kilby
created a complex circuit from a single piece of germanium. The idea of
cellular radio was widespread amongst telecommunications companies by
the end of the 1960s.
    Bell Systems released the cellular radio publicly in January 1969. Passengers aboard the Metroliner
train could make paid calls while the train was in motion, detached
from any wires. Farley states that, "the first cell phone was a
payphone" versus a mobile device for private use. Motorola had a patent
filed for a cellular radio in 1973. Motorola's market mainly focused on
dispatch radios for taxis and public safety officers. The first
commercial cell phone system of its kind was released by The Bahrain
TelephoneCompany in 1978. INSMARSAT began in 1979 and focused
on telephony via satellite, but later connected their network to land
and aircraft equipment. New services were released by Bell Laboratories
and other companies after the government split American Telephone and
Telegraph apart.Throughout the 1980s, wireless infrastructure with a higher call volume capacity
was developed. By 1990, the cell phone network of North America began
to use IS-54, a "formally adopted digital standard" which "worked with
existing AMPS systems". The first texting device was released by Nokia
in 1996. During the 1990s cell phones became "as small as practically
possible" because "the keypad and display limited any more reduction in
size". By the year 2000, Sharp released the "first integrated camera
phone".
    Farley states in his article that by 2005, the number of
cell phone users would hit 2 billion. I found on the United Nations
website that an estimated 4 billion people were using cell phones by
2008. A technology which took half a century just to gain a few million
users doubled from 2 billion to 4 billion in only 3 years! The first
cell phones I remember were the in-car units that were awkwardly tied
into a car's stereo system. They never seemed to work well and users
went into roam after just an hour or so of driving. My Dad purchased a
"bag phone" like the one shown on page 30 when I was in elementary
school. It had a clumsy magnetic antenna that had to be placed on top
of the car to work--if it even worked at all. Now we consider phones
"clumsy" when they have a half inch antenna protruding from them. It is
amazing to see how much cell phones have changed in the past 10 years.
It is also amazing to see where they are headed in the future.

--Carter Neely

In "Mobile Telephone History," Farley discusses the relatively brief history of mobile phones. Even though 1945 seems like an eon ago, it really is not a long time in the elaborate history of communications technologies. The first time that mobile technologies were being created was right after WWII. It was realized that a new communications system would be needed and, in Europe, during reconstruction would have been a good time to implement that.  In the early history of mobile phones, most devices were attached to vehicles. The main transmitter was in the trunk while a receiver/microphone would have been up in the front of the car. AT&T basically ran the market until the asked the FCC for more frequencies to use. To their surprise, the FCC opened up the frequencies for other, smaller companies in order to introduce some competition into the market. These companies were more specialized and did a better job than AT&T because of the fact that they used automated dialing instead of having to pay operators to place every single made call. Even though it took AT&T many years to catch up to the RCCs, they stuck around as a company thanks to the fact that they were always number one in the landline business. The first time that mobile devices were used for commercial use was in the 70's on the rail systems. Basically, these were like pay phones we see today but were mobile.

The invention of the transistor finally made it possible for cell phones to be something that people could use everyday and even own one for themself. As we saw with computers, transistors made devices much smaller and more dependable than ones using glass vacuum tubes. Eventually, companies began making and marketing the smaller cell phones like we see today in the 90's. I for one cannot imagine what it would be like without my cell phone. I use it all of the time. I feel naked without it. It's gotten to the point where if my mom calls me and I do not answer or call back immediatley, she gets worried. I also thought that the mention of the car phones was cool because I remember my mom having one in her Dodge Intrepid. I dont think that she used it very much, and it probably wasnt even very safe, but we can see how that has progressed with services such as OnStar today.

Wireless communication combines technology and networking to establish the telecommunication system available today.  After WWII ended, the mobile telephone industry was in a good position to transform the US communications.  Consumer demand, research facilities and manufacturing capabilities combined to generate the necessary interest for expansion.  AT&T and Southern Bell offered the first mobile telephone service in 1946.  The first phones used in this system were radio telephones using 150 MHz/ 60 kHz wide.  In 1947 the concept for a cellular system was introduced soon followed by the first automated dialing and the invention of the transistor.  As the years progressed, so did the cellular frequencies, the quality of production thanks to competition such as Japan, and the invention of the IC chip.  By the 1960's companies in the US and in Europe began updating the cellular systems and expanded the coverage.  Later in 1969, the Bell System offered the first commercial cellphone system using frequency reuse technology in pay-phone capacity onboard trains along the east coast.  With the creation of the briefcase phone and the introduction of microprocessor, the phone gradually became more portable.  Motorola offered the first hand-held cell phone by 1973.  Expansion was limited until the FCC added a larger spectrum  for mobile phone usage.  The late seventy's increased the scale of coverage overseas incorporating satellite technology and linking it with other communication systems.  With worldwide connections available, compatibility in frequency use or multi-national cell phones evolved but limitations in regulations held the industry back.  The mid-1980's and 90's competition in the cell phone industry grew world-wide and began to market more and more consumers in the US where popularity was continually booming.  Analog systems held the US from early growth but no for other countries who had few existing telephone companies that could meet the high demands.  By adopting a digital standard, the US was on its way to becoming up to date by world standards and this standard included using analog systems as well as digital.  More channels and carriers allowed for more users that had a growing number of companies to choose from in the 1990's.  Also in the mid 1990's GSM combined computer capabilities into the phone eventually expanding into the internet usage, text messaging, photo sharing, multi-media devices found today.

When historians look at the development of communication, especially telephone communication, the amount of technology produced is overwhelming for such a few decades in time.  If it wasn't for the government holding back the development through regulation and slow response in releasing frequency holdings, the US may have been quite different than it is now.  While some of the limitations ended up being helpful, it makes a person wonder what we may have missed out on.  Perhaps the use of the internet would have had more interest earlier on or radio communication might have been more popular.  Either way, the world definitely has become smaller in its virtual mobility and its use of new media has extended into all facets of communication.  The creation of multi-use communication devices continues to expand and will penetrate more and more into our daily lives at work, home, school, church, and anywhere else we may go.  While integration is the way of the future, we still have to stop and evaluate where the limits of our technology should be.   Cell phones have indeed gone under large scale transformations and they continue to evolve to meet the demands of the consumer.  

In the article "Mobile Telephone History" by Tom Farley he first begins by explaining that a mobile telephone is a wireless device which connects to the public by a common carrier or public utility.  In 1945 the first mobile phones were discussed to the public and that following year AT&T and Southwestern Bell began operating the first mobile telephone service.  The competetion between the different companies competed to make bettre parts and technology for mobile phones.  According to Farley mobile telephones would continue to advance but it would take a longer time to grow outside of the US.  In 1979 Japan, launched the first commercial cellular service in the world.  In the 1980s satellites were used to transmit signals from one phone to another.

The author states that after WWII, the U.S pushed for the development of mobile technology because of consumer demand, the existence of research facilities and manufacturing capability.  The Bahrain telephone company began operating the first commercial cellular telephone system in May 1978.  According to the Author in 1979 INMARSAT was invented by an international group that fostered and coordinated satellite telephony.  The beginning of analog cellular systems in May was the start of mobile telephones.

Motorola created the first prototype phones in 1973 which was also the first handheld cellular phone.  During the late 1970s, mobile phone development and outcomes began to increase.  The first commercial cellular radio service was Bell system and the system was implemented on a train called the metroliner.  For example, the train allowed riders to make calls from pay phones which was managed by a computer system.  Farley discusses how Motorola introduced the first all-transister mobile set which hinted at the need for the vacuum tube.

This artice on mobile telephone history has taught me more on the invention of the telephone.  It started off as just a way to send frequences and now it has developed into a calculater, video carmera, internet, and navagational system including many more everyday uses.  After almost a decade the mobile phone has changed up so much that it can fit just about anywere. Cell phones has help to create new media because it has advanced our lives in so many differnt ways.

Donnell Williams

Like many of our articles before this one, Farley begins detailing the history of the mobile telephone in order to establish an evolutionary context. He discusses it from the early stages of its life cycle, where at the time it had only existed in the newspapers. AT&T and Southwestern Bell were the two premiere phone companies responsible for pushing the technology out the door. The first breakthrough came in 1947 when Bell Laboratories’ “D.H. Ring, with help from W.R Young, articulated a true cellular radio system for mobile telephony in an internal company memorandum” (Farley 23). In the late 1960’s, Farley continues on describing Southwestern Bell’s research & development zeal in designing the first commercial cellular radio system. Motorola joined the fray in the early 70’s to compete with Bell in the hardware market, establishing a rivalry between the two. With the introduction of Intel’s microprocessors, this allowed for even further development of the technology. Farley describes how in 1978 we saw the development of the analog cellular system, which “proved a large cellular system could work” (Farley 27). This would be important later on in the development of different types of cellular networks, like the digital cellular network that came into play in the early 90’s.

For a long time there has always been a distinction between telephone networks and the internet. But now with Web 2.0 esque applications like Skype where you can call people over the internet, you see more of a blend between the two. Apple’s iPhone uses a 3G wireless network in order to access web content, however it still uses a traditional digital cellular network (in this case, AT&T’s). In terms of the future, all signs point towards 3G and its future iterations as the way of the future in terms of mobile communication. The infrastructure and speed is already there, but how does this affect the phone companies that are so invested in the aforementioned cellular networks? A quick browse of the biggest network’s websites (AT&T, Verizon, etc) tells me there’s no need to be worried, because each respective company offers high speed internet. I can only take that as a sign that those running these companies understand the future of mobile telecommunication, and it’s with the internet. I think the barrier to entry at this point is probably cost, but as it always goes with technology – it’ll be cheap one day.

Throughout ‘Mobile telephone history’, Tom Farley gives us the history of mobile telephones and how they have evolved into one of the most important communication tools of our lives. Just as the internet began, the history of mobile phones began in the World War II era where the United States military utilized it as specially created two-way radios. After the war, civilian communication could finally become a fundamental focus. Considering that The United States was still physically intact unlike some countries, there had been great demand, plenty of research facilities and manufacturing capability to expand the mobile phone.  In 1946, AT&T produced the first mobile radio service called MTS (Mobile Telephone Service). A couple more channels such as the Bell System and other Radio Common Carriers emerged three years from the FCC that only began the trials for the new communication systems.  It wasn’t until 1977 that AT&T and Bell Labs immerged with a new cellular system. The competition between the United States, Sweden and Japan was intense to try to create the first cell phone.  The United States government regulation caused the slow progression of cell phones because of the fear of monopolies and high monthly rates. In 1979, Japan launched the first commercial cellular service in the world. Farley elaborates on the development of the cell phone technologies as the time continued the new systems were established and widely used.  In the 1980’s satellites were utilized to transmit signals from one phone to another.  The competition stimulated the market and more products and services were created.

In this day and age, cell phones have become essentially an extension of our hands as we wake up to the alarm and use the calculator to figure out tips at meals and we text continuously throughout the day and simply calling people on cell phones is just a minor feature. Our society has become so reliant on the use of cell phones that we have a panic attack any time we accidently leave it at home. The first ideas of cell phones were established by putting the pay phones on trains, this allowed the public to physically see the possibility of “mobile technology”. These days the possibilities of mobility are becoming endless, now you can send pictures through phones, access the internet or simply call a friend from essentially anywhere around the world.  Cell phones have evolved the way we connect with one another as our society’s needs change as we can see it has already even within its short timeline.

-Julie Whelan

Farley begins this weeks readings by discussing a mobile telephone as a wireless device which connects to the public switched telephone network and is offered to the general public by a common carrier of public utility.  Farley mentions that telephone history began in the 1940s after WW II, but the true advancement of mobile telephone technologies continued to develop after the war.  During this time people saw it important for civilian communication to take place and not just military communication.  Many telephone companies focused on developing landline telephone services, but mobile radio research was still taking place. America took the lead in the telephone development. 

Farley mentions that the first mobile telephones followed a radio format in which people communicated through frequencies restricted to the specific areas during the mid 1940s. There was a centrally located antenna transmitted to mobiles moving across a wide area.  The company used six different channels in the begging of this process, but over time it had to be cut down to three channels because of so much interference between the channels.  The fist cellular telephone system was first discussed in the end of 1947, but better technology was needed for things to continue.  During the year 1948 the first fully automatic radiotelephone service began, but it only reached out to a few users because there was not enough money and resources to build a high capacity mobile telephone system.  Farley continues to discuss the history and development of mobile telephone technologies.  As time progressed nations around the world were beginning to jump on the bandwagon and newer and better systems were being developed.  Eventually satellites started to come into use for transmitting signals from one phone to an operator to the other phone.  This started around the 1980s.  The hardware systems required to communicate on mobile telephones started out to be very large and required a lot of accessories and labor to work.  As time has gone on, the hardware has significantly decreased in size. 

First of all, I had no idea the mobile telephone research as been happening for so many years.  I thought that things really only started in perhaps the 1980s when people were walking around with huge briefcases which held their phones and all the additional accessories.  I had no idea that people were first working with radio frequencies to transmit messages and communicate during the 1940s. Reading this article gave me a very new understanding of the work and research that went into the development of mobile telephones.  Additionally, I find it shocking to see how long it took to develop mobile telephones.  People lived fine before cell phones were popular and widely used, yet today can not live without their cell phones.  Even I feel lost/uncomfortable when I forget my phone.  I can not believe what an impact mobile telephones have had on people and their communication techniques and interactivity.  I find it crazy to think about my parents having to call from a land line and set up meeting times when traveling etc. yet today we say "I'll call you when I am twenty minutes away so we can meet up".  I guess the development of the mobile telephone is no different than the other new media technologies discussed in class previously.  It has changed the way people interact due to the speed, accessibility, variability, and mobility functions of the device. 

In this week's article "Mobile Telephone History," Tom Farley describes the impact that mobile phones have made on society. Before even reading this article, it seems pretty obvious that a mobile telephone is a mobile device that is used among the general public to stay connected to one another no matter where they may be. Farley also describes the mobile phone as a common carrier of public utility. These mobile telephones first originated in the 1940s after World War II had ended. At first, the mobile devices were not for the general public. They were radio telephones that were mostly used for public services like the fire department and tugboats. Even so, the general public continued to present a demand for faster and easier communication. By July 28, 1945, the cellular radio was described in print for the first time. Then by June 17, 1946,  AT&T and Southwestern Bell started the first Mobile Telephone Service. While the mobile telephone continued to advance in the United States, other countries developed them much more slowly. This is because most governments in other countries did not allow public radiotelephones. One of the first examples of public radiotelephones was on the train. The Metroliner train service allowed passenger to make phone calls even when the train was at speeds more than 160 kilometers per hour. It really wasn't until 1969 that more personal mobile telephones were released. Of course, it wasn't as wide spread or popularized at that point.

When looking at the history of mobile telephones, I think the most interesting or rather amusing part, is the actual mobile phone as an interface. I remember the very first mobile phones I saw in the early 1990s were the ones attached to cars. The simply set in the middle of the console. Of course only the really nice cars had them, but I still remember thinking they were so cool. The next phone I remember is one my mom had. It wasn't attached to the car, but it was about the size of a large potato. It was huge! Today, it seems so silly to think of that phone next to the tiny ones that are popular. After that phone, they all seemed to get a lot smaller. The coolest one to have at the time was the razor because it was sleek and thin. Now, even the razor is out of style. Today, touch screens are the craze, while the size is still small, and definitely not the size of a large potato. Besides the physical interface, the virtual one has changed as well. Now we can text, email, and play games on our phones, which was definitely not found on the original mobile phones.

-Jessica Swanner

     Farley begins his article by stating, "a mobile telephone is a wireless device which connects to the public switched telephone network and is offered to the general public by a common carrier or public utility," and establishes that the history of the wireless system, or the 'cloud', we are connected to is just as important as the handset itself.  In 1945, the article "Phone Me by Air" described the potential for a system that would allow two-way radio service within a small area, and a year later, AT&T and Southwestern Bell began offering mobile-radio telephone service in 25 cities.  In 1947, Bell laboratories conceived in good faith that "the means for administering and connecting to many small cells would evolve by the time they were needed.”  After Bell's request, the FCC allocated more frequencies for mobile phone use, but however, these frequencies were released to other companies called Radio Common Carriers in order to establish competition.  The RCCs were more efficient in advancing mobile telephones and were the first to remove the need for operators, a.k.a. automatic dialing.  It took AT&T almost twenty years to catch up.  Meanwhile, mobile phone development and research was slowly picking up in other countries, but once Japan gained independence in 1952, the country set itself apart by creating quality manufacturing conditions, allowing it to catch up quickly to the technological innovations made in the international space.

     Throughout the rest of the 1960s, incremental buildings blocks to the future of mobile communications were falling into place.  There was Jack Kilby's invention of the integrated circuit in 1958.  Improved mobile features such as automatic dialing and direct mobile to mobile communcations were provided by some carriers.  Before 1964, communication was handled by users needing to press a button to speak, much like the walkie-talkie; however, with Bell System's Improved Mobile Telephone System, users could now communicate without this need, and once again, AT&T took about twenty years to catch up.  It was also during this time that the famous Nokia was formed. 

      During the 1970s, mobile phone development and outcomes began to pick up.  Bell System introduced the first commercial cellular radio service by using frequency reuse in a small zone system.  The system was implemented on a train called the Metroliner, allowed riders to make calls from payphones, and was managed by a computer system.  In the same year, Motorola introduced the first all-transister mobile set which hinted at the dwindling need for the vacuum tube.  Only a few years later, after an almost mobile phone cold war amongst competitors, Motorola pushed out the first handheld portable phone.  With Intel's efforts on processors and microprocessors, carriers anticipated the arrival of cellular.  Considering the demand was there and waiting lists were long, it was only a matter of time before the FCC opened up the frequency spectrum to accomodate for the demand of mobile phones and communications.

     Cellular development in the US slowed as it started to pick up internationally such as in Japan because of the FCCs intent on controlling wireless developments in the US.  It was around this time that Japan's high quality manufacturing conditions became an apparent threat and consideration.  Companies such as Motorola forced themselves to restructure they're quality standards.  In 1978, an Advanced Mobile Phone System went through testing, first with employees, and second with paying customers all using computer based switching systems.  The test showed that a large scale cellular system could work.  Throughout the late 70s and early 80s cellular networks began to pop up around the world.  The manufacturing space also continued to develop with changes as many started to turn to Japan because of its extremely low failure rates.  In 1982, American Telephone and Telegraph was broken up which in turn caused the Bell System which was serving 80% of Americans.  The fresh sense of competition invigorated the market with new products and services and caused the world over to rediscover the benefits of competition.

For me this was the most interesting part of the article.  Despite my crummy, yet-oh-so-loved-10-dolla' gophone, I secretly(okay not so secret anymore) enjoy reading about the latest developments in the mobile space.  When Apple released the iPhone, it changed the way a lot of us see our phones.  We expect more.  We want to interact with them in specific ways.  We want to be productive and be connected.  Before, screens were output devices.  Now, they are considered both output and input devices.  Had Apple not been successful with its touch-based systems, software companies such as Microsoft and hardware developers such as HTC would not have quickly adjusted their road maps.  Before, a smart-phone was primarily targeted towards businessmen and women, packed with the stylus, crummy operating system, productive software, email systems.  Now, a smart phone is probably touched based, packed with a sleek-looking operating system, productive software, email systems but also applications that connect to popular social networking sites such as facebook, myspace, or twitter, entertainment software, and probably even a market place to buy more apps that fulfill a variety of consumer needs.  So now, smart phones are being marketed towards the core-consumer as a all-in-one package. 

Tom Farley begins his article on
“Mobile Telephone History” by dating when mobile telephones were first
introduced which was in the 1940s after World War II. At this time, these
mobility technologies were only 2 way radios used generally for government or military
purposes. However, he explains that this article will be focusing on the
service and carriers of mobile telephones and the wireless system it is
correlated to. Because of the mass destruction after World War II, many cities
were in need for merely landline telephones although mobile research continued
while cities began to be rebuilt. On July 28, 1945 a cellular radio was first
published in print. The United State’s Federal Communications Commission, the
FCC, discussed the 460MHz to the Saturday Evening Post. However, the FCC did
not actually accept this proposal and a year after that on June 17, 1946 in
Saint Louis, Missouri, AT&T and south-western Bell began operating Mobile
Telephone Service, MTS. Motorola built the radios as the Bell System was installing
them. The mobiles attached to the devices were car based radio—telephones which
transmitted to several receivers around the specified area. MTS started with
six channels and resulted with three because of interference between the
signals. In December, 1947, Bell Laboratories’ D.H. Ring, and W.R. Young spoke
of an actual mobile telephone that could have universal characteristics. “Young
said later that all the cellular radio elements were known: a network of small
geographical areas called cells, a base station transmitter in each, cell
traffic controlled by a central switched, frequencies reused by different cells
and so on” (Farley, pp. 23). In 1949 the FCC also gave the Bell System a few
more channels, but they also gave half of the frequency allocations to other
companies called Radio Common Carriers (RCC). The RCCs serviced over 80,000
mobile units by 1978 which was twice as many as AT&T.

            In
January of 1969 the Bell System offered commercial cellular radio for the first
time by monitoring it in a small zone area, also known as public payphones.
Passengers used these on the Metroliner train service which ran from New York
City to Washington DC. “Six channels in the 450MHz hand were used again and
again in nine zones along the 225 mile route” (Farley, pp. 25). The system was
managed by a main control center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, therefore the
first mobile telephones were pay-phones. Over the next couple years, many
manufacturers started releasing big bulky portable radiotelephones in the
United States. In 1973 Motorola filed for it’s own cellular radio system. Since
Motorola had previously been doing business with AT&T, their separation
with the goal to produce their own cell phones created a major rivalry between
AT&T and Motorola.

            This
article made me remember when I was about 3 or 4 years old and riding in the
car with my mom. This was around 1993, although cell phones were still being
produced big and bulky and most were only available in cars. Hers was connected
to the console of her car and could not be disconnected. This article also
makes me appreciate the communication accessibility we have today. Not only do
we have portable, detachable, sleek and small cellular telephones, but most now
offer the same capabilities that computers have. We are very fortunate in the
technology that is available to us. Seeing as how my mom’s large bulky
car-cellular phone was produced less than two decades ago, its amazing to
imagine the technological advances in cell phones in the next two decades. 

Looking back on the history of one of the most widely used form of communication of today shows the progression of technology and how mobile phones have evolved over the last century. Mobile telephones did not emerge into American culture until after WWII, not due to lack of resources or consumer demand, but rather because after the war the US was physically intact, large telephone labs had many of the radio engineers and scientists, and the Motorola corporation had quickly grown during the war. It was not until 1945 when the first mobile phones were discussed to the public, and in 1946 AT&T alongside Southwestern Bell began operating the first mobile telephone service. Mobile phones were located in cars and would connect to a centrally located antenna in the area. An operator would connect calls between people, and worked along six channels. Quickly following this event, many major cities were waiting to be the next for a mobile telephone service. Other providers entered the MTS industry and technology was being refined to reach more people faster. In 1948, the operator was eliminated and the mobile phone connected to others alone.  From the late 1940's through the next few decades, companies competed to create better parts and technology for mobile phones to conform to, making them more widely accessible and better produced, and by the beginning of the 70's every telecommunications company was accustomed to the idea of cellular radio. 

Though all this had been occurring over many years the first commercial cellular radio system was not introduced to the American public until 1969 by the Bell System. It still took many more years and battles with the government and between companies to introduce hand held mobile phones to the general public. The cellular movement in Europe began a few years before the US adopting the analog system, in 1981, and in 1983 Motorola introduced the Dyna-TAC to the US. This phone was the size of a house hold phone, with a large antenna attached. In 1990, the North American cellular network switched to a digital standard system IS-54, allowing more capacity and was able to link with the former AMPS systems. In 1996, Nokia introduced a phone which allowed users to connect to the internet, check e mail, and send and receive faxes, though this phone changed the use of the phone, it was limited in its abilities lacking voice capabilities. 2000, the first camera phone came out, and companies turned to looking at the placement of internet on phones. Presently we have a wide choice of phones, most standard with internet connection and camera phones, all in color too none the less. In 2005 researchers predicted that cell phone use would top 2 billion, by the end of the year, I'm sure that those numbers have expanded far beyond the expectations of reasearchers.

Cell phones have become an essential part of Americans daily lives. Leaving home without it for a day sends people into a panic feeling disconnected and out of sorts not knowing what is going on. Our culture has transformed the mobile phone from the sole use to talk to people to connecting to the internet, sending text messages, gps, and many other uses. The major companies took many years to create a system to allow so many users to connect at high speeds and refine the custom house phone to a small portable device most keep in their back pockets. Just in the last decade the mobile phone has evolved past peoples wildest dreams. I am certain that many more improvements will continue to be made to cell phones in the next ten years, making us all laugh at the phone we currently use and asking ourselves the question of how did we think they were so high tech. Mobile phones have allowed society to stay more interconnected, and changed the way people interact with one another. Next to the internet, the are one of the greatest communication technologies of the 20th century and will continue to change our communication through the next. 

Lauren Lopez-Ibanez 

A mobile telephone is a wireless device which connects to the public switched telephone network and is offered to the general public by a common carrier or public utility (Farley, 2005). This definition sets the tone for this weeks focus of the history of mobile technologies, specifically cell phones. During the time of World War II, there was a need for greater communication amongst civilians and America began to speculate a wireless connection through phone for the public. In 1946, the first mobile radio-telephone service began courtesy of AT&T and Southwestern Bell, simply called Mobile Telephone Service (MTS). MTS used a central antenna to transmit signals to different mobiles across a wide area, which were all car based radio-telephones. Initially MTS used six channels but unexpected interference between the channels eventually cut it down to three channels. The MTS gained popularity and began to request more frequencies, and though they were awarded the additional frequencies, the FCC also granted frequencies to other companies, creating competition among sprouting mobile companies.

Outside of the US, develpoments came at a little slower of a pace because at the time most countries did not allow tghe public radiotelephones. The few exceptions were the Dutch (who created the first public radiotelephonbe network) and Sweden (who designed an automaticmobile telephone system known as the MTA). Japan also emerged as a powerhouse because they emphasized quality in their creations. Back in the US, in 1964, to relpace the now aging, MTS, the Bell System introduced the Imporved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS). This new system introduced direct dialing to America and also influenced other countries to axe their previous systems for much needed improvements (during which we see the rise of Nokia). It was not until 1969, that the first all transitor mobile phones were introduced from a large manufactuer (Motorola). Farley briefly takes the focus off of mobile phones to note that in 1971, the first commercial microprocessor was introduced. This was a basically a small computer on a silicon chip that began slowly being implemented into phones and are what we currently see today in phones. A rivalry sparked between Motorola and AT&T, subsequently leading to Motorola develpoing the first handheld mobile phone. Additional mobile phone deployment soon began all acroos the world. By 1981, we see the beginning of North American and Nordic telephone networks. In 1983, the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) was developed in Chicago. The AMPS was the first commercial cellular service in America and also brought the Motorola Dyna-TAC (one of the earliest handheld phones) to the public. Korea soon entered the market with their creation of the KMT and also proved to be a worthy competitior in the cellular phone market. Farley notes that Europe was responsible for providing the first all digital system, GSM (currently the most popular system with over 1 billion users). America eventually followed the fully digital trend in the 90's with its IS-54. Other important events in the 90's include Nokia introducing, the Communicator ( a phone equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard, word processor, and calendar programs), and the commercialization of the Internet (which uses IP packet switching like many cell phones began to do as well). The 2000's brought even more innovations to the mobile phone such as the integration of cameras and various data services like we see in today's Blackberry and other smart phones.

I found this article very informative. I had no idea that the development of the cell phone started so early and took so long to master. I remember seeing older people with the giant cell phones in the 90's that I envied so much, and now merely 10 years later I see the sleek new designs of cell phones everyday and what they could potentially be. I also found it interesting that the development of the cell phone was much like that of the Internet in the way that it took many different systems to finally get one that could work efficiently for everyone. The idea of mobility is also very obvious in this text. Another thing that puts mobile phones in the category of new media is the fact that it is clearly adapted from a form of old media, the stationary home phone. The constant need for humans to be able to interact with others by not having to physically be there, raises questions what is next for cell phones and what possible innovations could still be made to this significant communcation tool.

This week’s reading by Farley discusses the history of mobile telephones (cell phones) with their roots grounded in two way radios that were popular in the 1930’s. In 1946, The mobile radio-telephone service was introduced by AT&T and Southwestern Bell. By the 1960’s, the cellular radio was well known among telecommunication companies and manufacturers. In the 1970’s as well as the 1980’s, portable telephones were flooding across America. Phones were used in cars and able to be carried in briefcases. In the mid 80’s, the Dyna-TAC was invented. It was a relatively smaller cell phone that was able to be carried around in a purse, but was too large to be carried in a pocket, much like phones are now. In the 90’s, America started to use a digital standard. During the same century, the number of wireless channels and carries increased and increased in technology: the internet was now available on phones. And finally in the new millennium, the first camera phone was made.  

It is interesting to me to think of a time before cell phones. In today’s society we rely heavily on cell phones for communication and entertainment. We see more and more applications available for phones. I remember the first cell phone I had, had 3 games that I could play; Tetris, Snake, and Brick Breaker. Now cell phones have an infinite number of games available through use of the World Wide Web. Internet is used on many phones, and many individuals use devices such as Blackberry’s to manage their busy lives. I use my cell phone so much that if you were to ask me what technology I would be least willing to give up, without hesitation I would answer my cell phone. Now my phone is not the fanciest of phones out there. I do not have a Blackberry, nor do I have an iPhone. I simply have a small LG slider phone with limited capabilities. It does not have internet or any other new revolutionary technologies, but still it comes a long way from the large, cumbersome cell phones that were first invented.

-Tara Wakeley

This week’s reading “Mobile Telephone History” begins with Farley giving the audience his definition of a mobile phone for the purposes of this reading. With a common definition established, Farley is able to go on to explain the origins and current state of mobile phones. He explains that America led the mobile phone movement, and that this was for three reasons: 1) The U.S. was the one super power country that was left physically intact after WWII, 2) Bell Telephone laboratories had enough radio engineers and scientists to make the research possible, and 3) Motorola grew a lot during the war. J.K. Jett, the FCC commissioner of the time, was the first to suggest his idea to reuse frequency; that is, millions of users would be able to use the same channels. Then, in St. Louis, Missouri on June 17, 1946, AT&T and Southwestern Bell were able to create the first mobile radio-telephone service, using radios built by Motorola. Eventually, however, interference between the channels ensued, forcing Mobile Telephone Service (MTS) to reduce its network to three channels. But with the growing popularity of the mobile phone, waiting lists immediately developed in all 25 cities with MTS. In December 1947, D.H. Ring and W.R. Young were able to create the first true cellular radio system for mobile telephony. While phones were being manufactured at a speed to keep up with technological developments and meet popular demand, there weren’t enough channels to accommodate all of the users. Because of this, the Bell System asked the FCC for more channels in 1947. While the FCC did grant Bell System a few more channels that could be designated for cell phone usage, they also granted channels to other companies in 1949. Known as Radio Common Carriers (RCC), these companies now held the possibility to emerge as major competitors for Bell System. A major development occurred on March 1, 1948, when the first operator-less service was developed in Richmond, Indiana. Although many RCCs continued to employ manual service until the 1960s, this was a major and necessary development for the emergence and increasing popularity of mobile phones. Four months later, on July 1, Bell Systems unveiled their transistor, which would allow for phones to become more compact and affordable. While the telephone industry was going through a revolution in the States, much of the rest of the world was very slow to adopt public radiotelephones. Upon gaining their independence again after the war, however, Japan became a major contender in the ever-changing phone industry. While other countries were concerned about quantity, Japan insisted on providing a quality product in the same numbers as other manufacturers. Japan’s quality and quantity mindset would practically lead many companies out of business and would force other manufacturers to reconsider their own production plans. Again, RCCs requested more MHz frequencies for the mobile phone system, but it took the FCC a decade to react. Because of this, research met a standstill for a few of the upcoming years. In 1964, Bell System created the Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS), but the main issue was still not resolved. Networks all over the world were reaching their user capacities. But finally, in 1970, the FCC granted the necessary airwaves for the mobile phone industry to perform to its full potential. In 1969, passengers on the Metroliner were able to try out the first mobile phones, going 160km/h. During that year, Motorola manufactured the first commercial mobile phone, and many companies began creating attaché phones—those that were connected with briefcases. The first North American commercial system began in August 1981 in Mexico City. Nordic Mobile Telephone Network was the first multi-national cellular system and offered roaming. But it still took America years to be able to compete with the quality of Japanese manufacturers. The first United States commercial cellular service was developed on October 12, 1983 in Chicago by Ameritech. But while America was focusing on analog service, which seemed to be working just fine, Europe was preparing for a digital future. America did not want to embrace a system in which their analog users would be unable to participate, but they ultimately realized that they, too, needed to embrace this upcoming digital error. America thus created their dual system, on which analog and digital users would be able to function. In Europe, GSM was created, a single network that united all of Europe. GSM appeared in the U.S. in 1995. Today, the CDMA networks have emerged into existence, which has enhanced the mobile experience in terms of data transfer, clarity, and message sending. This reading was very interesting to me because I had no idea the idea of mobile phones has been around for such a long time. I still remember my mom’s first cell phone back in the mid-90’s, which was practically the size of a brick and had a five inch long antenna. The thought of how much cell phones have developed from then to now makes it hard for me to even imagine what could happen in the next fifteen years. At the end of this reading, Farley poses an interesting question: what will future phones look like? It’s hard to fully imagine, but I am sure we will continue to watch them get smaller and more functional.