The father of the very first telephone thinks that the mobiles of the future will be integrated into our bodies.
As the main players in the mobile industry gather at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the man who is considered the father of the cell phone gave an interview to the Associated Press. During the interview, he talked about the bad sides of technology, his optimism, but also how he imagines the phones of the future.
Now 94 years old, Martin Cooper was working at Motorola when he designed the very first cell phone in 1973. Then, for 10 years, he worked on the commercialization of the technology. While acknowledging problems such as lack of privacy, access to inappropriate content by minors, and concerns about smartphone addiction, Cooper is still optimistic. “This will be solved, but not easily,” he said.
Otherwise, he also explained, in this interview, how he imagines future phones. According to Martin Cooper, the phones could evolve towards a “distributed” form on the user's body. He also imagines sensors that will measure the health permanently. And for the battery, the father of the cell phone thinks that it could one day be replaced by human body.
“The human body is the charging station, right? You ingest food, you create energy. Why not have this receiver for your ear embedded under your skin, powered by your body?” he also said, according to the Associated Press publication.
Martin Cooper, "father of the hand-held cell-phone" on the 50th anniversary of its introduction in 1973. #GTWN #MWC2023 pic.twitter.com/DieeVwmhEq
— Rebecca Enonchong, FREng (@africatechie) February 27, 2023
What will replace smartphones?
When Martin Cooper made the very first call with a cell phone, he was using a brick that weighed more than a pound. Compared to the very old cell phones, today's smartphones are extremely compact. And they are becoming more and more innovative every year. But at the same time, some companies are already looking to the future, imagining what smartphones will be replaced by.
What an honor & pleasure to joke around with Martin Cooper the inventor of the cell phone when he was at Motorola. His 1st prototype weighed 2.4 lbs measured 23×13" & had 30 mins of talk time & took 10 hours to re-charge #xMed #5G #mobile #wireless #tech #innovation #MWC #MWC20 pic.twitter.com/GwDWNgrSbr
— Jim Harris #MWC23 (@JimHarris) November 7, 2019
For example, Mark Zuckerberg's company, Meta, believes that augmented reality glasses will replace smartphones within a few years. But more ambitious companies, like Neuralink, are imagining even more futuristic technologies.
Founded by Elon Musk, Neuralink is developing a chip to be implanted in the brain that will allow technology to be controlled by thought. Meta has also developed a system for controlling machines by thought. However, it is not a chip integrated on the brain, but rather a sensor that is put on the wrist.
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