Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview

Subject: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 12:58 PM

Inventor of the Cell Phone Says No to AT&T-Mobile, Yes to Apps, and More

*** loves phones and competition, and thinks spectrum auctioning is wrong.

An Interview by Lance Ulanoff (PC Magazine - BMFWIC of something) with the man generally credited with inventing the cell phone and making the first call on one.

I'll leave it to those interested to read the article. There's no particularly "techy" content, but the guy appears to be still quite rational (i.e. I have to agree with most of his comments - reluctantly with some).

Before you read the artcle, you might like to guess: "Were you alive when the first call was made?"

John

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 01:13 PM

As it appears to be "History Day" in my newsletters, some might also be interested a very brief article, and video clip of an interview between Bill Gates and the purported creator of the Control-Alt-Delete Reboot Shortcut.

IBM PC inventor explains how Control + Alt + Delete was born

Participation in the short video by Gates is limited to one brief giggle, and the "inventor" doesn't actually say all that much; but the brief article explains why it didn't remain Ctl-Alt-Esc as originally implemented. You don't have to run the video to read the short article.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 07:29 PM

Okay, John, so who came up with "The Vulcan Nerve Pinch" term ... :-)

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 09:56 PM

No idea Fooles, but I'd guess it originated in the first Star Trek TV series. Since Spock (the Vulcan) was strongly opposed to "violence" (except when amok) it was necessary for him to participate in occasional "combat" as part of the landing teams. The pinch provided a way for him to be unbeatable without actually hurting anyone.

Speculatively, it may have fit with the overblown notion of "vulnerable spots" assaulted using ritualized "movements" as taught in the Judo, Kung Fu, et.al, that were popular before and during the early Trek period, giving "credibility" when first written into a script. (While I don't argue with the superiority of a well trained combatant, there's little "magic" to it. The guy with the biggest crowbar - or the one who shoots first - usually wins.)

"She" of the house says she believes she read somewhere that Nimoy is the one who came up with the idea; but I guess I didn't read the same fantasy. (It's inconceivable that I'd have forgotten if I'd ever read it, of course, with my steel-trap¹ mind.)

¹ old and rusty(?).

John

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 11:04 PM

I knew THAT John.

I referred of course to the '3 finger reboot' for PCs... :-)

"The guy with the biggest crowbar - or the one who shoots first - usually wins"

There was a Martial Artist called "The Cat" who specialized in demonstrating that anticipation could beat a gun. One of his standard demos was to get two trained Police to do the standard legs apart frisk on him, while they both held (unloaded) guns. All they could seem to do was shoot each other ...

And I remember the old (DEC) days of Ctl Z & Ctl D & Ctl C etc .... :-)

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 19 Apr 11 - 12:42 AM

But Fooles - they're easier to frisk if you shoot 'em first.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 19 Apr 11 - 12:47 AM

Easier to ask forgiveness than permission, John.

For Gawd's sake, don't tell the TSA ...

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: Greg F.
Date: 19 Apr 11 - 09:14 AM

"Inventor"? I don't think so- a cell phone is a full duplex 2-way radio with a phone patch- such radios have been around since the late 1950's if not earlier.

Now, he may have miniturized these radios and expanded the capabilities of the phone patch system- but that's it.

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: harmonic miner
Date: 19 Apr 11 - 09:30 AM

I also really doubt that it "...might be one of the most important technological innovations ever". True, it has launched and multi-gazillion-euro industry but I'm not sure it has added much to our lives really. Not like the bicycle, for example.

There are more mobile phone accounts that there are people in Ireland (yes, more than one for every man, woman and child). I think they're genuinely useful for emergency personnel, otherwise very few of us need them.

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: Amos
Date: 19 Apr 11 - 12:10 PM

Well they certainly make life easier for coordination, complex operations, and communicating with far-flung friends, colleagues and family. That aids the general quality of life to a marked degree, especially for those who gauge their quality of life by their degree of communication with others. Not everyone uses that index, though.


A

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 19 Apr 11 - 02:22 PM

Digression to another inventor,
I caught the tail-end of an interview on the BBC with Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee, physicist-inventor and thinker, credited with inventing the World Wide Web.
I had to look him up in Wikipedia, since I didn't know much about him, let alone how to spell his name.

Seems to me he changed how the world communicates.

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: Mysha
Date: 20 Apr 11 - 01:40 PM

Hi,

I just came in to see who had invented the Cell Phone Interview, but I appear to have taken a wrong turn somewhere.

Bye
                                                                  Mysha

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: EBarnacle
Date: 20 Apr 11 - 03:14 PM

Yah, a little punctuation would have helped.

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: Greg F.
Date: 20 Apr 11 - 03:56 PM

I'm not sure it has added much to our lives really.

Cell phones have added a great deal to out lives!

- inappropriate noise & interruptions in theaters, concerts and lectures etc.

- Bothersome idiots prattling on at the top of their lungs in public places about their infants excretory habits , their stock portfolios, their hemorrhoidectomies etc. etc.

- a nation (world?) of attention defecit disordered and techno-addicted toddlers who need to be in contact about nothing of significance 24 hours a day

- Idiot parents who spend a fortune on their children's absolutely unnecessary cell phones & bills and then bitch about taxes etc

On balance they've added a substantial quantity of unnecessary bullshit, annoyance and aggravation to our lives.

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: EBarnacle
Date: 20 Apr 11 - 05:49 PM

A cell phone, like a computer or a hammer, is just a tool. It can be used well or poorly. It all depends on the user.

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 20 Apr 11 - 06:04 PM

... and whether the user is just a tool too ...

Subject: RE: Tech: The Inventor of the Cell Phone Interview
From: Greg F.
Date: 20 Apr 11 - 06:37 PM

The tools - human and/or electronic - are the vast majority.