The Evolution of Mobile Technology

Written and Edited by Doruk Biyikli

oday, a huge part of our lives rely on one simple tool, the smartphone. In the palm of our hands, we have access to limitless information, the ability to connect, and access to the Internet in general. Our phones play a huge role in our lives: and people are well aware of that. Like everything, the huge impact of smartphones had a beginning. They were not always these advanced tools and didn’t always give us the viability they give us now. The phones we think of now came in the 1980s, in the form of large mobile phones you could carry most places. However these mobile phones were very big; they almost looked like bricks. In the late 1900s, technology started to quickly advance and mobile phones came into existence in the 80s. The first real mobile phone available to the public was the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. This phone weighed a whole kilogram (2.5 pounds). In comparison, phones today weigh on average around 180 grams (~.40 pounds). The 80s didn’t see many advancements, but some notable mobile phones were the first Samsung, the SH-100 and the Mobira Cityman 900. Early cell phones such as this were used only for talking and calls.

Around the 90s, mobile phones were beginning to grow and become more popular. The year 1989 saw the invention of the Motorola MicroTAC, the first flip phone. Sanjay Kalyansundaram, the current head of product on Amazon, recalls having the MicroTAC as his first phone. “It was a foldable, super lightweight phone,” he said.”You can open it up, you can speak, and then you’d have a little tiny antenna going up and then when you was a huge step forward in the versatility of mobile phones. Compared to early ones, the MicroTAC was tiny, and could do whatever older phones did but better and in a more fashionable way. close it, you can actually close it. You don’t have to end the call, you can just close it” This

Some major brands emerged in this time period, such as Nokia, Blackberry, and Ericsson. Most, if not all, of these brands were European, Europe was the pioneer continent to contribute to the beginning of mobile phones. The reason for this is that GSM, or Global System for Mobile Communications, was not allowed in the United States. Arda Kertmelioglu, former expert in telecommunications, explains how Motorola as a U.S company came late into the game and had a “huge handicap, which was GSM was not allowed in the US for at least, six, seven years. So that kind of holds the U.S back,” he explained. He explained that this was mostly due to regulations, relating to how today regulators are still worried, how “even today we’re talking about TikTok, should it be banned? Should it be allowed? Where’s our data going? These are valid concerns…”. Nokia’s legacy and phones still remain to this day, and even though Nokia’s phones aren’t as popular anymore, they are still considered pioneers of the phone industry.. In 2012, Sony claimed the brand of Ericsson, turning it into Sony Ericsson, and moving the headquarters from Sweden to Japan. Blackberry survived for a little longer with them hitting their peak in 2009 and 2010, owning 20% of the global smartphone market, but declined after the rise of Apple and Samsung.

Apple and Samsung swept all competition in the smartphone industry in the 2010s, becoming basically the two sole competitors. “Currently in the US market two thirds of the devices are Apple devices,” said Mehmet Mengenli, a former telecoms expert. “In the previous years Blackberry was especially popular back in 2008 to 2011-2012 before iPhone penetrated that much in the markets. Blackberry was quite popular and especially used by the business people.” Huge advancements were made in the early 2010s. It became easier to use phones, and the advanced smartphones we know now came into existence. “These were the years that it started, and people started to be much more familiar with the digital touch screen, and also familiar with using a variety of applications that will make their life easier,” said Mehmet. Almost instantly, telephones jumped into a new era. From the large bricklike phones used only for calling, they became small digital tools that gave you the ability to do almost anything.

Now, in the year 2023, we cannot imagine a world without our phones. Even losing it for a second instills fear into us. It’s hard to imagine how fast phones evolved, going from box-like machines for calling to lightweight screens with so many tools. Yet the future is unclearis it possible that phones will evolve much more from today? Will we look at today’s phones in the future as we look at phones from the 80s today? “I think this is just the end of the beginning as opposed to the beginning of the end,” stated Sanjay Kalyansundaram. “What is yet to happen on the phone is AI becoming useful combined with sort of personalized context on the phone, where you are, what you can do, what you are willing to do, who’s nearby, and how can

AI use this sort of phone as an entry point and a data collection mechanism to serve you better.”

AI’s popularity is quickly taking over the world, and soon it may take over the smartphone industry. It is unclear what the future holds; the discussion of AI is an interesting consideration, but it is impossible to know yet. Whatever may happen, it helps to look to the past and how far we have come in technology. Another huge wave of technological advancement may appear, and take us by surprise.

I think the quote above by Mr.

Kalyansundaram is a great way of putting it. This is just the beginning, and we are not even remotely close to the end of what phones can do. We saw the potential of the invention of mobile technology and the impact and that large of an influence is over. However, we have not seen the huge influence of technology in total. AI, as well as other advancements are quickly approaching. The phone industry’s influence has waned to let the influence of technology in general take form. We think phones are extremely versatile right now, but maybe in the future we won’t even have to worry about losing them. What was once only useful for calling evolved into a device useful for almost anything you can think of, I think this form of change is possible again in the future. The jump from something like the Motorola MicroTAC to something like the Samsung Galaxy S23 is a huge jump; if a jump like this is possible in the span of around 50 years, I think we have the potential to do it once again. Though for the past few years, we haven’t seen many advancements or changes to smartphones. Many people have been complaining that all Apple and Samsung add on to their new phones is just yet another camera. If Apple and

Samsung lead the phone industry for years to come, the future is uncertain. But if they don’t, then the future is also uncertain. We haven’t seen new big brands in a while, but many good phones are being produced by smaller underground companies. These companies may rise to popularity and bring a new feature to the market.

Recently, we have seen the resurgence of older models such as flip phones. Due to this, it is unclear if more advancements are really wanted by these large companies. As new models rise,prices rise and maybe the interest in mobile technology will dwindle. We are already starting to see some of the side effects of higher prices, with a lot of people sticking with their old phones and thinking upgrading is worthless. The future of mobile technology is very unclear for the moment. If companies want to continue their dedication, change is possible. However, this is all up to the big giants of the phone industry. The fate of phones lie in the hands of those who make them.