World of Innovation
When the first component technologies of the cell phone were being developed by Bell Labs and Motorola in the 1960s and 1970s, neither company knew what kind of a technological bombshell they were holding in their hands. From the initial offerings of bag phones and other in-car systems to the small pocket-sized cellular phones we enjoy today, the world of communications lept into the digital age and beyond.
No one knew what the marriage between the telephone and the microprocessor computer chip would birth. Beginning in the 1980s, almost everyone now has a cell phone on his belt or in her purse. Communications between family members and corporate giants is all just a keypad away with expectations of efficient and reliable contact.
Millions of cell phones are sold in the U.S. alone every year and the numbers worldwide total a billion or more. At this point in time, cell phones have stolen the market from land-based phone systems and the sky’s the limit.
Cell phone coverage is made possible by radio frequency transmissions that are conveyed by towers. The towers are technological marvels in their own right as they sort and send messages. We take for granted the ability to talk, on a wireless phone, with someone across the country who is likewise unconnected to a phone line. Cell phone coverage via these towers is limited so satellites that perform the same functions are increasingly filling the gaps where cell phone coverage is limited.
Cell phone technology has only begun.