The beginnings of Mobile Telephony

Thanks to the Smithsonian Museum for celebrating 75 years: **LINK**

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/first-mobile-phone-call-was-made-75-years-ago-180978003/

MichaelG.

My first mobile was about seventy years ago, - trouble was, the string used to get tangled.

Regards Ian.

The first mobile phone l had was a company one for me to use at the Farnborough Air Show in the mid 1980s, can't remember the exact year. It comprised of a battery pack the size of a briefcase, the handset not too dissimilar to conventional phones of the day with the keypad on the back of the handset. Weighed a ton and l was threatened on pain of of death not to use it because of the high charges, it was effectively just to look good in front of prospective customers. How times have changed! Phil

The first person I knew that had a cellular phone was a car dealer that I knew and used to be in a small crowed of drinkers at a loco pub back in the 80's, it was about the size of a house brick with an aerial nearly as long as the phone, very similar to the one shown here Motorola DynaTAC

Regards Nick.

This website has some interesting info on the history of mobile phones:

**LINK**

from Salford University

Stuart

Edited By Stuart Smith 5 on 21/07/2021 14:09:30

**LINK**

**LINK**

Here's a point for the pedants among us: in the early 2000's I was employed at the Southampton Goods Vehicle Testing Station and in the test hall were several notices informing the customers that the use of portable telephones was forbidden in the hall. Quite right really, as the instrument cannot move a millimetre by itself. Perhaps we should start using the American term "cellphone".

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For the sake of utterly gratuitous pedantry; please note that I used the expression “Mobile Telephony” in the title of this thread … and I believe that avoids the objectionable misnomer.

MichaelG.

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The first mobile phone I encountered was being used by a rep who called on us regularly, he was a nice guy and an exchange of good natured banter was always enjoyed. He was quite chuffed with his Mercedes repmobile but of course I reminded him it was just a German Taxi.

Mike

My employer had a security notice on its reception desk and that too, called the instruments correctly, portable telephones.

The wrong word probably comes from some big-name advertising company, and relied on enough people having not been taught to understand ordinary words in their own language!

I use "portable" and once puzzled someone enough for him to ask, "Don't you mean 'mobile' " ?

"No. Mine isn't mobile" , I replied. "It has neither motor nor wheels."

Interesting - thanks for the link to the Smithsonian article Michael. Of course Punch saw what was coming as early as 1906:

I'm a bit confused by the 'mobile' pedantry - every dictionary I've looked at gives "able to move or be transported easily from one place to another" as the first definition. That fits the bill surely? No need for a motor or wheels. But usages and meanings shift - they are mobile perhaps!

Robin.

Edited By Robin Graham on 22/07/2021 23:44:51

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Thank you, Robin … The Punch cartoon is superb, and I’m pleased to see some response to the Smithsonian link.

[ this thread seemed to take a life of its own, but I suppose that’s not unusual ]

MichaelG.

I used to have a splendid photo purporting to show Mr & Mrs L M Ericsson in their open horse-drawn carriage, stopped to make a phone call. The driver is atop a ladder propped against a telegraph pole, and Mrs Ericsson is using a field telephone connected by wires clipped to the overhead lines.

By the way, everyone I know these days just calls them "phones". Still a bit of a misnomer when making calls is quite rare compared with browsing, watching video and looking at social media.

The French for mobile phone is "téléphone portable" or "portable " for short.

I'm surprised that the Americanism has not caught on here in the UK.

Pedant's paradise!

• Cell Phone not cellphone
• Cell is an abbreviation of cellular network and phone is an abbreviation of telephone, so it should be a Cellular Network Telephone, which has an unfortunate TLA.
• A Cellular Network is a type of mobile network, and this sort of mobile network isn't mobile
• Not all cellphones are cellular
• My nephew who's in the biz calls them 2G, 3G or 4G phones.
• Lots of Americans call them mobiles too, possibly a Britishism. Or not - CB radio fans may remember the expression 'I am mobilated on the pike' followed by a 'Roger Bleep'
• A Wireless Set is full of wires
• The Fi in WiFi is meaningless, a carry over from HiFi (High Fidelity), also of dubious meaning!

Or the very apt German name - "Handy"

Rob

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Quaint old thing that I am … I always feel obliged to use the apostrophe

telephone becomes ‘phone

and omnibus becomes ‘bus

MichaelG.