The+History+of+Cell+Phones

By Ella, Grade 5

Cell phones have become very popular these days. Over a billion have been sold since 2007. They have changed a lot and greatly improved into thin, touch screen devices that can be carried around easily. Cell Phones aren't just used for all the interesting features, but also to help people communicate with others around the world without even having to move. You'll be surprised to find out what it began as.

It all started in 1921, when police in Detroit put radios in their cars to speak to each other between cars. Yet, the connection was very poor and sounded worse than a walkie talkies’ speaker. Later, the government, and soon, rich people tried using the later called "mobile radios," which were still scratchy. An organization called the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) helped fix channels for mobile radios, since those things people mostly used on the go were becoming very popular. In 1945, the first mobile phone service opened in St. Louis, but it didn't work out well and didn't last. In 1947, the first car phone service was attempted, but that didn't work, either. However, in 1956, there was a second attempt which was a success, except for the fact that it was large and heavy. Luckily for them, there were new phones on the way.

In 1971, "cell" became a very important term. AT&T spread phone service all around the U.S. with poles called cells. In 1973, Dr. Martin Cooper became the first person to make a call on a portable, handheld phone that after a decade, Motorola released to the public. Motorola is an electronics company that made the first car radios and walkie talkies, and they were still bubbling with ideas. After many years, Motorola designed the first flip phone. Soon, people got ideas to make phones even better.

In 1993, developers in Europe came up with texting, which was easy to use on touchscreen phones made the year before, but hard with flip phones. Later in 2002, the first smartphone came out, which could send and receive texts and emails. Now, these phones weren't very smart because they didn't have a microphone or speakers, so a headset was needed. Yet, this wasn't the only idea in 2002 because a company called Sanyo created the camera phone. In 2005, a law was passed that cell phone companies must allow phones to be returned to be recycled because the material could be harmful in landfills. Two years later, in 2007, the first Apple IPhone was released which featured a touch screen, microphone, speakers, and camera all in one.

Now, when people say "phone" or "cell phone", they're not usually speaking of the giant boxes
that send scratchy messages through a wire. They mean a skinny, easy to hold device that can do things that people in the early 1900's never knew could be done. If anything, cell phones have changed people's lives so they could basically communicate with the world in many different ways.