The First Cell Phone Call Was an Epic Troll

April 24 -- In the 1960s and early '70s, if you wanted to make a phone call, you did so from a device wired to the telephone grid. When AT&T launched their cellular system for car phones, Dr. Martin "Marty" Cooper and his team at Motorola decided to build a truly wireless mobile phone, a handheld device that would truly free consumers to communicate on the go. (Video by Jim Fabio, additional footage AT&T Archives & History Center)

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[HerecomestheCalavera]

Long gone are the days when you could call someone and say "Guess where I'm calling from!"  I'm calling from the backseat of a car! NO WAY DUDE!

[xelefonte]

It's 2017, but I tried to troll my friend with "Hey, guess where I'm calling you from? I'm calling you from a cellphone but a real cellphone." He hung up on me...

[chadparker]

I left the house without my phone a couple of days ago. I felt like I was on the lam. It was thrilling! Eating a big mac thinking... no one knows where I am!

[SpecialHandlingUnit]

yes... nothing is more freeing to be obligated to answer your boss's call on your free days.

[kjell]

Using your phone will driving...
quite different times eh.

[eddebrock]

"Hey, we should make a revolutionary new technology!"
"Sure thing, just give us three months!"

[maistooo]

Time when your cell phone was bigger than your shoes

[ErnestJay]

I remember when calling from my "Mobile Phone" (i mean, a phone in my car) is a great idea back then, nowadays "Cellphone + driving = traffic accident"

[runedrejer]

" mobile phone, that will never catch on " 😂😂

[rickster]

Funny, cell phones are headed back to being that size again.

[TurboAidan]

Never going to take off. Who would want to carry their phone with them. What a horrible idea.

[monkfan]

He could probably fend off a mugger with that thing, as well!

[iamvengeance]

From company rivalry came the biggest invention in communication.
Hats off to Martin Cooper.

[xrgpen]

A real inventor! Notice that on his workbench, he still has WD-40 and a hammer!

[evo]

it never occurred to me that people waiting for a phone call would have had to cancel plans if they were expecting a phone call during the day

[_clauscarstensen]

My favorite first-cellphone moment is when me and my hobby soccer teammates where at our favorite pub, and it was jam-packed. As we sat in the back of the pub, and the barmaid didn't come by to get fresh orders as often, I had the fantastic idea to call the phone at the bar and order by telephone.
The phone rang, she pickled it up, I said it was me, and began to order, she said, "Claus, I am going to kill you!" and hung up. When she came by, I was glad I sat at the far end of the table. Guess I was ahead of time :)

[taggs]

Without cellphone towers, I’m just wondering how it worked. And it’s amazing how long it took for cellphones to evolve. Zack Morris pretty much had the same phone and that was about 15-17 years later.

[Julia-cgjj]

i love how happy and passionate he was even after all those years

[Theegoaat]

Pulled the ultimate chad move and called the competition lol!

[blakemcnamara]

I think having the phone tied to wires gives you more freedom than having you tied to a phone.