One of the most iconic gadgets from the television series “Star Trek” is the communicator. The device is used as a cell phone to talk to other crew members, but it appeared on the show long before the cell phone was even invented. This actually led to the creation of the first cell phone with a popular name in the industry.
Martin Cooper was an engineer at the Motorola telephone company. In 1973, surrounded by a group of journalists, he picked up his cell phone and made the first phone call to Joel Engel. The first words spoken during this call were “I’m calling from a cell phone.” Cooper actually said that the original “Star Trek” series was an inspiration for his cell phone design. Seeing Captain Kirk use a communicator to stay in touch with his crew, no matter where they were, was one of the aspects that motivated Cooper to make the cell phone.
Even fans online were shocked to learn that “Star Trek” communicators were an inspiration for real-world technology. It’s just one of “Star Trek’s” most iconic sci-fi gimmicks, and it shows how the series was not just a fun TV show, but a cultural phenomenon way ahead of its time.
The invention of the cell phone
Martin Cooper’s vision for the first mobile phone came about after a rival phone maker said it would focus on phones inside cars rather than cell phones. Cooper decided that instead of leaving people tied to their vehicles, he and Motorola would make a phone that could be used anywhere. Wanting to beat AT&T in creating a mobile phone, Motorola built a prototype.
It took three months to build the mobile phone. The prototype was called DynaTAC. It was pretty heavy, weighing 2.5 pounds. It also looked nothing like modern smartphones. Instead of a sleek design, it featured a bulky body that made it look more like a brick than a mobile device. Still, it was a brick that allowed you to make calls, and it was the future of mobile technology.
Bell Labs, where Engel worked, was at the same time experimenting with a cellular telephone network. The company built a network of hexagonal cells, each with its own base station, allowing mobile phones to connect via radio frequencies. To take it a step further, the stations created a telecommunications network that would switch radio frequencies to allow two phones to interact with each other. By the late 1970s, Bell Labs’ Advanced Mobile Telephone System (AMPS) was operating. This network was an idea that became reality, just like “Star Trek” gadgets became reality.
Today’s mobile phone
Just as “Star Trek” paved the way for cell phones, early cell phones led to the invention of modern smartphones. Motorola released its first mobile phone, the DynaTAC, in 1984. In today’s currency, it would have cost more than $13,300 to the general public. Compared to around $1,099 for the Apple iPhone 17 Pro, that’s some expensive technology for making a phone call.
Today, smartphones are part of everyday life. Everyone seems to have one, regardless of age, even in the face of studies that show the harmful effects of smartphones on children. They are used for more than just making phone calls. Smartphones can call, text, browse the internet and much more.
“Star Trek” may have inspired the creation of the mobile device, but the technology has evolved into a computer that we carry around with us. It was cool to see Kirk and Spock talking to each other using a communicator in the 70s. From a phone the size of a brick to a phone that almost everyone carries in their pocket, mobile phones have evolved and continue to do so, just as “Star Trek” explored the final frontier and beyond.
