“The next generation will use phones built directly under the skin of the ear” is the prediction of Marty Cooper, the engineer who developed the Motorola DynaTac, the first mobile phone in history. Cooper, who is 94 today, was in Barcelona during the 2023 edition of the Mobile World Congress (here all the news) to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. The occasion was the 50th anniversary of the first wireless phone call, which took place in 1973 in New York.
Barcelona 2023
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Form problems
In Barcelona, the father of the mobile phone revealed a certain dissatisfaction with the evolution of his invention. In particular, he explained, smartphones have become overly complex devices. And the screen, one of the fundamental components, does not adapt ergonomically to the curvature of the human face: “Every time I make a phone call and I’m not wearing an earphone – said Cooper – I have to bring a piece of flat material closer to my round head , and keep your hand raised in an awkward position.” This is why according to him the next evolution of the mobile technology it can only turn towards greater integration with the human body.
“The shape of phones today is not optimal,” he explained, adding that in his vision the smartphones of the future will be a series of chips distributed throughout the body, perhaps equipped with sensors to always keep vital parameters under control: “We won’t have the hassle of having to recharge them, because our body is a perfect charger. When we eat we create energy, right? So why not have a receiver in your ear, recharged directly from our body?”.
The question of privacy
The idea of a communication device implanted directly into the head or body via a chip was explored many times by science fiction. It is often associated with dystopian visions of a future where everyone is traceable at all times, and where privacy practically no longer exists. Cooper’s prediction is particularly interesting in light of the concern that the engineer has expressed on this aspect: “Privacy is a very serious issue. We will be able to solve it but it will not be easy – he said – To date there are still people who can justify the interest in always recording where we are, the place from which we call, who we call, what we access on the Internet”.
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Optimism for the future
However, Cooper remains fundamentally an optimist, and believes that technology still has a lot to offer, in particular in the field of health and disease prevention: “I have an unshakable faith in humanity. I look at history and at all the progress that technology has made possible – he added – Men in one way or another have always managed to find the right balance. Today we are better than ever, we live longer and we are richer and healthier than we’ve ever been. We have ups and downs, but in general humanity is progressing”.