1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: a show that answers the call of history every day 4 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: of the week. I'm Gay, Bluesier, and today we're talking 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: about the day when cell phones finally went mainstream, marking 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:37,320 Speaker 1: the start of the trillion dollar industry we know today. 7 00:00:38,120 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: The day was October three. The first commercial cell phone 8 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: call was made from Soldier Field Stadium in Chicago, Illinois. 9 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 1: The historic call marked the launch of the first cellular 10 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: network in the United States, the Advanced Mobile Phone System, 11 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: or a MPs. The network was established by a company 12 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: called Ameritech Mobile Communications, the predecessor a Verizon Wireless. The 13 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: launch of AMPS was a breakthrough and telecommunications, allowing thousands 14 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:17,120 Speaker 1: of residents in the Chicago area to place and receive 15 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: mobile phone calls for the very first time. The system 16 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: also laid the foundation for the ubiquitous role that mobile 17 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: phones now play and modern culture. Chicago's one G network 18 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: crawled so that the five G networks of today could run. 19 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,760 Speaker 1: To understand what a game changer the a MPs was, 20 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,640 Speaker 1: we first need to talk about the distinction between mobile phones, 21 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:47,400 Speaker 1: landline phones, and cellular phones. Strictly speaking, a mobile phone 22 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: is any device that allows users to make and receive 23 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: calls without a physical connection to a network. So while 24 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: a landline phone transmits audio signals through physical media like 25 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: a copper wire or a fiber optic cable, a mobile 26 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,640 Speaker 1: phone is wireless and instead uses radio waves to send 27 00:02:06,680 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: audio transmissions. Cell phones are a type of mobile phone, 28 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: but we'll talk about what sets them apart a little later. 29 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 1: The first mobile telephone call was made on June seventeenth, 30 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: ninety six by a driver in St. Louis, Missouri. The 31 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 1: call was placed on an early version of a car phone, 32 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: an eighty pound piece of radio equipment that took up 33 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:32,760 Speaker 1: most of a car's trunk and drew so much power 34 00:02:32,919 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: that had dimmed the headlights when in use. That system 35 00:02:36,840 --> 00:02:40,000 Speaker 1: was introduced by Southwestern Bell, one of a T and 36 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: T s local branches. Once the mobile phone was installed 37 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: in a car, subscribers paid a monthly fee of fifteen 38 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: dollars for the service, plus thirty to forty cents for 39 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: each local call. There were no rotary dials or push 40 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 1: buttons on the phones. Instead, users placed calls by pulling 41 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: out a handset for beneath the cars dashboard and speaking 42 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: directly to a switchboard operator. During the call, the user 43 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: held down a button on the handset to talk, and 44 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: then released it to listen, just like with a walkie talkie. 45 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: The technology behind the service was ingenious for its time, 46 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:20,000 Speaker 1: but it still had quite a few practical limitations. Most 47 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: of them stemmed from the system's reliance on a single 48 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: radio transmitter to relay all the calls within a city. 49 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: Single transmitters can only provide a handful of channels, meaning 50 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: that no more than three subscribers could make calls at 51 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: the same time and the same city. This effectively made 52 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: the system a party line. Users had to pick up 53 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: their handsets and listen first to make sure the line 54 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 1: was free. Then if they didn't hear anyone else speaking, 55 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: they could signal the operator to place their call. The 56 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: other major downside to a single transmitter is that it 57 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,240 Speaker 1: has a very limited range, so even if a caller 58 00:03:57,360 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: managed to get a free line, if they traveled to 59 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: you far from the radio antenna, the call would fade 60 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: and eventually drop out completely. As a result of those limitations, 61 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: the first mobile phone service was only made available in 62 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: major cities and was marketed primarily to companies rather than 63 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:19,279 Speaker 1: to the general public. Mobile phones were made smaller over time, 64 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 1: but even though the new designs were more portable, they 65 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:26,320 Speaker 1: still weren't much used to the average person. Single transmitters 66 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,239 Speaker 1: remained the only commercial game in town for the better 67 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: part of forty years, and while they had gotten more 68 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,880 Speaker 1: powerful over that time, they could still handle only a 69 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: small volume of calls and only within short distances. For example, 70 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: Chicago's system could only handle a thousand mobile callers at 71 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,400 Speaker 1: a time in the early nineteen eighties, a fraction of 72 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: the roughly three million people who lived there. The convenience 73 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: of a mobile phone didn't matter much when so few 74 00:04:54,680 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: people could use them simultaneously. Cellular technology was developed as 75 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: solution to that decades old problem. Instead of using a single, 76 00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: high powered transmitter to service an entire city, it divided 77 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 1: the city into cells and assigned a low power transmitter 78 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: to each one. That way, as a caller drove through 79 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: the grid of the city, their signal would be handed 80 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:21,680 Speaker 1: off from one radio antenna to the next, continuing the 81 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,160 Speaker 1: call without interruption as they passed between the different cells. 82 00:05:25,839 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: A network of cell towers not only extended the range 83 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: of mobile phones, it also allowed more people to place 84 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:35,760 Speaker 1: calls at the same time, since the signals could now 85 00:05:35,800 --> 00:05:40,960 Speaker 1: be distributed between the different transmitters. The first handheld cell 86 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 1: phone was invented in nineteen seventy three by Martin Cooper, 87 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 1: the director of research at Motorola. On April third of 88 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,320 Speaker 1: that year, he stood on a street corner in Manhattan 89 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 1: and used the phone to call his rival at Bell 90 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: Lab's headquarters in New Jersey. That was the first cell 91 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 1: phone call ever made, but it took place on a 92 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:04,559 Speaker 1: private prototype network. It would be another ten years before 93 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: the FCC would approve a commercial version of cellular technology. 94 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: Researchers at Ameritech used that time to troubleshoot the many hardware, software, 95 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:18,920 Speaker 1: and radio frequency issues associated with the new system. Then, 96 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:24,359 Speaker 1: on October thirteenth, three, the first commercial cell phone network 97 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: was finally open to the public. The inaugural call was 98 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: made by Ameritech president Bob Barnett from the parking lot 99 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:36,280 Speaker 1: of Soldier Field Stadium in Chicago. Rather than calling a 100 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 1: company rival, as Martin Cooper had done, Barnett rang up 101 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,760 Speaker 1: the great grandson of Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of 102 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,719 Speaker 1: the telephone. There's no written account of their conversation, but 103 00:06:47,800 --> 00:06:50,039 Speaker 1: we do know that Barnett placed the call on a 104 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: Motoroladyn Attack mobile phone, the first commercial cell phone ever 105 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: released in the United States. That cordless handset measured ten 106 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: inches tall fourteen if you include the antenna, and weighed 107 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:06,560 Speaker 1: almost two pounds, which is roughly five times as much 108 00:07:06,600 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: as an iPhone fourteen. The phone's hefty size and chunky 109 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: design earned it the nickname the Brick, and the cost 110 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: to own one was similarly heavy. When the phone launched 111 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,560 Speaker 1: at retail in nineteen eighty four, it was priced at 112 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: four thousand dollars, the equivalent of more than eleven thousand 113 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,119 Speaker 1: dollars today. On top of that high cost of entry, 114 00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: Ameritech charged fifty dollars a month for its cell phone service, 115 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,840 Speaker 1: plus twenty four to forty cents per minute of call time, 116 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: depending on demand. The service was undoubtedly expensive, but many 117 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: Chicago residents thought it was worth the price. Within a 118 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: year of launching its cellular network, ameritach had signed up 119 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: roughly twelve thousand subscribers. Fast forward to twenty two, and 120 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: the company now known as Verizon Wireless has roughly a 121 00:07:55,960 --> 00:08:00,320 Speaker 1: hundred and forty three million subscribers. What became n as 122 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: a niche product for the tech curious and super rich 123 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:07,520 Speaker 1: has now become a nearly indispensable tool for modern living. 124 00:08:08,160 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: As of one the vast majority of Americans nine percent 125 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: own a cell phone of some kind. Smartphone users make 126 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 1: up eight fent of that share, while the remaining twelve 127 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: percent still use traditional cell phones. Advances and wireless network 128 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: technology have allowed users to do more with those phones 129 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,200 Speaker 1: than ever before. Today users can text, send pictures, and 130 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:36,080 Speaker 1: scroll the Internet on the go from just about anywhere 131 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,959 Speaker 1: in the world. Some of them even still use their 132 00:08:38,960 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 1: phones to make calls or Oh I've heard I'm gay, bluesier. 133 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:48,640 Speaker 1: And hopefully you now know a little more about history 134 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:52,439 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can learn even more 135 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram 136 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: at t d i HC Show, and if you have 137 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,640 Speaker 1: any comments or suggestions, feel free to send them my 138 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:06,679 Speaker 1: way at this Day at I heart media dot com. 139 00:09:06,679 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thanks 140 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,640 Speaker 1: to you for listening. I'll see you back here again 141 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: tomorrow for another Day in History class