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Updated July 3rd, 2022 at 15:29 IST

Mobile phone inventor Martin Cooper says people need to 'get a life'

The man who created the first-ever cellphone, Martin Cooper has urged smartphone users to "get a life" and reduce dependency on their devices

Reported by: Anwesha Majumdar
Mobile phone
Image: AP | Image:self
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The inventor of the first-ever cellphone in history expressed his astonishment at the amount of time people currently spend on their gadgets. The man who created the first cellphone has now urged smartphone users to "get a life" and reduce dependency on their devices, New York Post reported. Nearly 50 years after developing the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, the first wireless cellular handset, the 93-year-old engineer, Martin Cooper believes people should spend less time on their phones. 

During an interview with BBC Breakfast on Thursday, Cooper made this statement in response to a co-host who claimed that she spent more than five hours each day on her phone. In the interview, host Jayne McCubbin asked him, “What would you say to anyone, like myself, who uses it for upwards of five hours?” Replying to it, he said, “Do you really? You really spend five hours a day? Get a life!” and then he started laughing, according to a Daily Mail report.  

Furthermore, the Chicago-born engineer and inventor recently admitted to using his mobile phone less than '5%' of his time in the interview.  

Before he started working for Motorola in 1954, Martin Cooper had his first employment at Teletype Corporation. He contributed to the invention of various items during his early years with the firm, including one of the first portable police radio systems.  

According to a Daily Mail report, car phones, which were connected to the batteries of the automobiles and made outgoing calls via radio channels, that rarely worked, became increasingly common in the 1970s. In spite of that, Martin became the first person to provide a portable phone to the market. 

Cooper visualised the cellphone's design before concentrating on its internal workings

Cooper has visualised the cellphone's design before concentrating on its internal workings, stating that he wanted it to be "small enough to put in your pocket, but big enough so that it could go between your ears and your mouth," New York Post reported. Cooper considered this to be his "greatest accomplishment" since he wanted everyone to have their own phone number. Prior to then, phone numbers were connected to specific locations, such as a house, automobile, or desk. 

Given that they had previously utilised similar technology to construct police radios, Cooper and his team just needed three months to construct the mobile phone after Motorola invested millions of dollars in their project. When it was finished, the gadget was given the name Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. It was 10 inches long and 2½ pounds in weight. It only had a battery life of 25 minutes and needed a massive 10 hours to recharge. Mobile phone inventor Cooper invented the first call ever on April 3, 1973. 

(Image: AP)

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Published July 3rd, 2022 at 15:29 IST

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