The problem with cell phones is that people spend too much time glued to them. And it is the one who invented them, fifty years ago, who says so.
For Martin Cooper, an American engineer nicknamed the “father of mobile“, the little gadget has almost infinite potential and might even one day help eradicate diseases. But there, right away, he judges that we are perhaps a little too addicted to it.
“I am devastated to see people crossing the street looking at their cell phones. They’ve lost their minds“, confides the 94-year-old inventor from his office in Del Mar, California.
“But when a few people get hit by cars, they’ll understand“, he jokes. Apple connected watch on his wrist, state-of-the-art iPhone in hand, he intuitively switches from his emails to his photos and from YouTube to the application for adjusting his hearing aid. He gets every new model and extensively tests their capabilities.
But, he confesses, the millions of applications available make you dizzy. “I will never, ever be able to figure out how to use a cell phone the way my grandchildren and great-grandchildren do.“, he says.
Martin Cooper’s cell phone, which he uses primarily for making calls, bears little resemblance to the heavy block of wires and electronic circuits he used to make the first mobile call in history, the 3 April 1973.
“We knew that one day everyone would have a telephone. We are almost there.“As for people hypnotized by their phones, he thinks that will change.
“Each generation will be smarter. They will learn to use smartphones more efficiently“, he predicts.
