DynaTAC 8000X: First call by cell phone turns 50 today

Fifty! Today, fifty years ago, the first phone call was made using the DynaTAC 8000X mobile phone developed by the Motorola manufacturer. That day, on a Tuesday, engineer Martin Cooper used the device: a real brick weighing 1.1 kilograms lasted up to 20 minutes on a charge, something unthinkable at the time.

In a tough race with Bell Labs, Cooper wasted no time. He decided to use this first call to make fun of Joel Engel, the engineer who ran the competitor’s project. The conversation only lasted a few minutes, as the battery did not allow long conversations. “But it was long enough because you can’t hold the device any longer than that.”The Motorola engineer used to joke.

Although there is no record of this historic call from New York’s Sixth Avenue prior to a press conference, Cooper claimed he said something like this in his next few interviews: “I’m calling from my cell phone but one day everyone will get one of these”.

cut the wire

Cooper, now 94, is the honorary president of ArrayComm, which he founded with a group of researchers in San Jose, California in 1992 and develops smart antenna solutions to improve digital signal in wireless networks. Name of his autobiography published in 2020 Cutting the CordSomething like “Cut the Thread”.

Although the subtitle of the book states that, along with ownership, “the mobile phone has changed HUMANITY”, the inventor reports several challenges in the development of the Motorola DynaTAC. And as incredible as it seems today, The biggest was to convince people of the usefulness of cell phones.

When I feel like I’m busy promoting #Cut the Cord, I decided to test it. Turns out I was! There’s a lot of fun stuff here and it’s all fun. Will keep adding! https://t.co/iRdirQo2Q2

— Martin Cooper (@MartyMobile) April 30, 2021

Making your cell phone real

Although the first cell phone call was recorded as a turning point in people starting to communicate, the idea of ​​a portable phone still seemed absurd to many, and It took another decade for the DinaTAC 8000X to be ready and commercially available.

Exactly 40 years ago, the sales price announced on the launch day was scary to say the least: US$4,000, equivalent to US$10,000 today, or R$50,700 at current exchange rates. In addition, some limitations still drove consumers away: the battery (reaching an autonomy of 30 minutes) was one of them, and there was still little space for storing contacts on an analog network.

Despite the difficulties, however, the “Martin Cooper portable phone”, as it became known, soon fell into the hands of Gordon Gekko, the character played by Michael Douglas in the movie. Wall Street 1987. Since then the story has been known: that big brick A direct impact on the lives of each of the 5.44 billion users according to this Global Digital Summary Report 2023uses technology.