Electronics

Chanara Smith-Rookes

Ms. Roundtree

17 October 2017

5. Electronics

The cellphone has gone through rapid evolution from its first conception as a telephone in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. The telephone was first adapted to allow communication from home to home, the connection was then passed through an operator who would direct calls between people as they were adapted into cellphones. In the ’60’s, before cellphones were created, Radio Common Carrier (RCC), that worked as a radio that transmitted voice communication through a push-to-talk system. The device was used for about 20  years before Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) made them obsolete. AMPS is the first generation (1G) wireless network inn the United States that was created in the ’70’s and launched in the ’80’s. 

From there, in the 2000’s the cell phone industry boomed up until now where most of the phones that our parents remember growing up with were things such as the Brick Phone. Dubbed from its name, the phone was the size of a brick and quite heavy too, it allowed the user 30 minutes of talk but took up to 8-10 hours to charge. The technology grew with the phones as they evolved, Clam phones were next in line and they included a red LED display and a standard 12-button keypad, plus a menu options of a calculator, hands-free operation, keypad tones and more. The demand for data grew as the customer base grew and more people were using cell phones in their every day lives. 

With more people getting them, it was less than ideal for the phone to remain so clunky and heavy and so engineers and designers needed to find a way to add more software into the phone while compacting it. The phones got smaller and smarter as the times went by, going from the Candybars to the Elites. When the Satellite phone came, you had to sacrifice size for the ability to make calls anywhere in the world. Satellite phones allowed the caller to connect to satellites in the atmosphere instead of the earth’s cellular towers and call someone from a different countries. 

Cell phones continued to grow over the years and became one of the most used/needed products in the world. It is now unheard of to be in your teens and older and to not have a cell phone. Smartphones have become the new future of technology. Nowadays, the modern phone is like having a mini computer in your pocket. You basically have all the apps and programs from a computer on your phone and they are linked together through some brands to allow you to access documents from anywhere at any time. 

The modern smartphone could influence new technologies we have not heard of by adapting to the point were most of the hardware could be linked to your actually body. The calling mechanism could be attached to your ears and you have to pull your ear lobe to accept a call. Or you can preview a screen on wrist and are able to press and interact through your skin. This could allow better readings of your body as it can take your temperature or find ailments.