"-rick-" wrote in message
...

" *JimH*" wrote ...

How about this *handy* device from 1973........the original cell phone:

Name: Motorola Dyna-Tac
Size: 9 x 5 x 1.75 inches
Weight: 2.5 pounds
Display: None
Number of Circuit Boards: 30
Talk time: 35 minutes
Recharge Time: 10 hours
Features: Talk, listen, dial

http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/April2003/Brick.jpg

That's a picture of Marty Cooper with an early mock-up of the first
*portable* cell phone. We didn't get it into production until the early
eighties and what a PITA that was. I still have some prototypes of the
various ceramic hybrid modules (~20) that plugged into the main
motherboard. As I recall it cost ~$400 just to produce a functional logic
module in the early days. The first units sold for about $4500.

Funny story: One of the major difficulties was getting it to pass a 4'
drop test without breaking internal modules. To celebrate initial
production the group had a big get together at a local bar and presented
Marty with a gold plated unit. As it was passed around and admired one of
my rather bold and compulsive co-workers held it at shoulder height,
proclaimed that "If it's a production unit it should pass the drop test"
and dropped it on the floor. There was stunned silence for a few seconds
followed by nervous laughter as it was picked up and determined to still
work. The look on Marty's face was priceless. I think Gerry might have
suffered consequences had he not been so brilliant. He was a very early
proponent of digital voice encoding.

-rick-



Nice story and how wonderful to have been part of history.