For Martin Cooper, an American engineer nicknamed the "father of mobile", the little gadget has almost infinite potential and could even one day help eradicate diseases.
But now, right away, he thinks that we are perhaps a little too addicted to it.
"I am devastated to see people crossing the street looking at their mobile phones. They lost their minds," the 94-year-old inventor told AFP from his office in Del Mar, California.
"But when a few people have been hit by cars, they will understand," he jokes.
Apple smartwatch on his wrist, state-of-the-art iPhone in hand, he intuitively switches from emails to photos and from YouTube to the app to adjust his hearing aid.
Bystanders in Seoul, South Korea, August 25, 2017 © Ed JONES / AFP
He procures each new model and thoroughly tests their capabilities.
But, he confesses, the millions of applications available are a little dizzying.
"I will never, ever be able to figure out how to use a cell phone the way my grandchildren and great-grandchildren do," he says.
Real mobility
Martin Cooper's mobile phone, which he uses primarily for making telephone calls, has little to do with the heavy block of wires and electronic circuits he used to make the first mobile call in history, on April 3, 1973.
A copy of the first cell phone in Del Mar, California, March 20, 2023 © VALERIE MACON / AFP
He led a team of designers and engineers at Motorola, which had invested millions of dollars in trying to get ahead of Bell System, an American telecom giant, in the design of the first mobile phone system.
Bell System had been talking about this idea at the end of the Second World War, but had only managed to install, from the end of the 1960s, telephones in cars, especially because of their huge battery.
For Martin Cooper, this did not allow for real mobility.
So, after three months of non-stop work, his team finally managed to develop the DynaTAC mobile.
"This phone weighed more than a kilo (...) and its battery allowed you to have a conversation for about 25 minutes," he recalls.
But "it wasn't a problem" because the device "was so heavy you couldn't lift it for 25 minutes," he said.
A woman takes a video with her mobile phone in Tokyo, Japan, March 22, 2019 © CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP
For his first call, Martin Cooper had the genius idea to call his rival at Bell System, Dr. Joel Engel.
"I told him: +Joel, it's Martin Cooper (...) I'm talking to you from a mobile phone. But a real mobile, personal, portable, handheld.+"
"There was silence on the other end of the line. I think he was gritting his teeth."
"Defeating the disease"
These first mobile phones were not cheap: about 5,000 dollars each.
A group of people look at a mobile phone in Manaus, Brazil, May 5, 2020 © RICARDO OLIVEIRA / AFP
The first to adopt them, according to the inventor, were real estate agents. Thanks to mobile, they could both show homes and respond to new customers. "It doubled their productivity," he said.
"Today, mobile has become an extension of the person, it can do many more things," says Martin Cooper. "And that's just the beginning, we're just beginning to understand what he's capable of."
"In the future, we can expect mobile to revolutionize education, health," he said. "I know I sound like I'm exaggerating, but know that in a generation or two, we're going to beat the disease."
In the same way that his watch monitors his pulse when he swims, he says phones will one day be connected to body sensors that will perceive diseases before they occur.
Engineer Martin Cooper, 94, in Del Mar, California, March 20, 2023 © VALERIE MACON / AFP
The former engineer knew that mobiles would eventually change the world, even if he hadn't imagined everything they would be capable of.
"We knew that one day everyone would have a phone. We're almost there."
As for people hypnotized by their phones, he thinks that will change.
"Every generation will be smarter. They will learn to use smartphones more efficiently," he predicts.
"Sooner or later, humans always end up moving forward."
© 2023 AFP