Father of the Cell Phone

What do you know about Marty Cooper. I did not know much other than he invented to the cell phone, which is pretty important to those of us in the industry. A recent article in The Economist dedicated an entire 2 page spread to Marty Cooper now 80. "From idea to prototype took 90 days in 1972 as Mr. Cooper sponsored a design contest among Motorola engineers - many from divisions he did not run....We ended up picking the least glamorous phone. It was the simplest."

The first public call made on the phone was to an engineer at AT&T Bell Labs. Mr. Cooper recalls that while talking on the phone he wondered into the street and almost got hit by a car. Distracting from the very beginning.

The first handset was released in 1983 for $4000, had 35 minutes of talk time and weighed 2.2 pounds.

Mr. Cooper is truly a leader is wireless services having not only preached that phones would eventually be a key business tool and shrink to the size of the palm of your hand all at a low cost.

What does Mr. Cooper think about the future of mobile communications? He says it is going to get really interesting. He believes strongly in the power of the mobile internet and continues to champion that it is all about improving consumer lives.