Cutting the Cord: The Cell Phone Has Transformed Humanity

Summary

The cell phone as we know it today almost didn’t happen—and the story of its creation has never been told. Martin Cooper, credited as the “father of the cell phone,” tells the story of how the first cell phone was created. He also outlines the continued positive impact of the cell phone in education, healthcare, and poverty reduction.

The cell phone changed the world. It revolutionized how people communicate, freed them to get in touch with one another at any time, in any place without the constraints of the wired network. The cell phone led to the creation and growth of new industries. Yet the true story of its creation has not been told.

This book tells that story. It centers on a battle for control of how people communicate, involving government regulators, lobbyists, police, technology breakthroughs, failures, quartz, and a horse. At the center of that story was Martin Cooper, an engineer, entrepreneur, and futurist. The chapters in his life influenced the creation of the cell phone.

Industry skirmishes became a political war in Washington, a struggle to prevent a monopolistic company from dominating telecommunications. The drama culminated in the first-ever public call made on a handheld, portable telephone—a cell phone. Despite that, the cell phone we know today almost didn’t happen.

Without the vision of a small group at Motorola, the last forty years would be different. Their story is inspiring and instructive. After a twenty-nine-year career at Motorola, Cooper became an entrepreneur, helping launch companies dedicated to accelerating cell phone adoption.

The story of the cell phone has much to teach about innovation, strategy, and management. This book also relates Cooper’s vision of the future of personal communications. That story is far from finished. We have only achieved a small fraction of the cell phone’s potential impact.