Saira's blog: Dec 7, 2009

The Cell Phone

The cell phone definately enhaced livability. Of course it's built after one of the best inventions of all time, the telephone but the cell phone in the modern day is far more used than the home phone and will continue to evolve as the technological world advances.

I use my cell phone for so many reasons and I can’t imagine being without it. Juggling a busy life with two kids is difficult and I rely on my cell phone on a day to day basis. There are so many gadgets and electronic available in the market today but for me nothing is more important than my cell phone. I use my cell phone to make quick calls home from a grocery store to ask if milk is finished. I use my phone to order takeout on my way to the restaurant. I use my phone to send someone a quick text message that just can’t wait till later. I often use my cell phone to call my husband for directions when I am lost and too busy to pull over to ask for directions!! But most of all I like to have a cell phone just in case of an emergency. I feel safer with a cell phone knowing I can make a call anytime to anyone.

I own a very cheap, no frills Nokia phone with no bells and whistles. It cost me $50 to buy, although you can get it for free now, and I pay $20/months. I've had it for over 2 years and I haven't had any problems with it. I know in a few years cell phones will probably be obsolete as devices such as the iPhone and the Blackberry saturate the market and come down in price but until then I am satisfied with my Nokia phone as it is!

My simple, no frills cell phone that's lasted with me for the past 2 years and still going!

History of the Cell Phone

AT&T's and Bell Laboratories introduced the idea of cellular communications in 1947. But Motorola and Bell Labs in the sixties and early seventies were in a race to incorporate the technology into portable devices.

Dr Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola, is considered the inventor of the first portable handset and the first person to make a call on a portable cell phone in April 1973. The first call he made was to his rival, Joel Engel, Bell Labs head of research.

On April 3, 1973, Cooper made the first public demonstration in New York, using a "brick"-like 30-ounce phone. "People want to talk to other people - not a house, or an office, or a car. Given a choice, people will demand the freedom to communicate wherever they are, unfettered by the infamous copper wire. It is that freedom we sought to vividly demonstrate in 1973," said Martin Cooper.

Martin Cooper added, "As I walked down the street while talking on the phone, sophisticated New Yorkers gaped at the sight of someone actually moving around while making a phone call. Remember that in 1973, there weren't cordless telephones, let alone cellular phones. I made numerous calls, including one where I crossed the street while talking to a New York radio reporter - probably one of the more dangerous things I have ever done in my life."

It took Cooper 10 years to bring the portable cell phone to market. Motorola introduced the 16-ounce "DynaTAC" phone into commercial service in 1983, with each phone costing the consumer $3,500. It took additional seven years before there were a million subscribers in the United States. Today, there are more cellular subscribers than wire line phone subscribers in the world, with mobile phones weighing as little as 3 ounces.

The first cell was named “Motorola Dyna-Tac” and had only talk, listen, and dial features. It weighed 2.5 pounds and had size dimensions 9 x 5 x 1.75 inches. The phone had a talk time of 35 minutes and required 10 hours to recharge.

(Reference: http://inventors.about.com/cs/inventorsalphabet/a/martin_cooper.htm)

The Zipper

The zipper is one of the simplest machines of modern times and maybe according to some, one of the least essential, but it is an immensely useful device in our everyday lives.

Ask any parent who has struggled each morning trying to get their young ones dressed for school while battling which clothes to wear and pick clothes they can wear on their own. Having zippers in clothing promotes self-help clothing in young children. Clothes with zippers are great for two-three year old children that are learning to dress themselves and for preschool children who find it so much easier to “zip” up their jacket rather than button up a winter coat in a hurry.

Zippers are also great in shoes. They are easy to put on and off, no hassle tying shoe laces or doing up buckles, and in general they are comfortable. If you have ever worn buttoned fly trousers, you know it’s much easier and comfortable to wear pants with zippered flyer than buttons.

I can’t imagine travelling with a suitcase without zipper or feeling warm and snug in a sleeping bag that didn’t have a zipper but instead had buttons. The zipper is so effective and reliable that in less than a hundred years, it has become the de facto fastener for thousands of different products.

Ever wonder why most zippers say "YKK" on the pull-tab? Here is the reason:
YKK on Zippers?

Here are some parts of a zipper:

History of the Zipper

Elias Howe inventor of the sewing machine received the patented in 1851 for the 'Automatic, Continuous Clothing Closure.' Even though he did not pursue marketing his clothing closure he was still considered the “Father of the Zip”.

About 40 years later, Mr. Whitcomb Judson marketed a ‘Clasp Locker’ which was similar to Howe’s 1851 patent. Whitcomb got the credit of being the 'Inventor of the Zipper', but his 1893 patent did not use the word zipper.

Gideon Sundback, Swedish-born improved the far from perfect 'Judson C-curity Fastener.' And by December of 1913, he had designed the modern zipper.

Gideon Sundback increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider.

Sundback patented the 'Separable Fastener' in 1917 and also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper. Within the first year of operation, Sundback's zipper-making machinery was producing a few hundred feet of fastener per day.

During its early years, boots and tobacco pouches with a zippered closure were the two chief uses of the zipper. It took twenty more years to convince the fashion industry to seriously promote the novel closure on garments.

(Reference: http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm)

Inventions that Enhanced Livability

When asked which inventions changed the world, the few that instantly pop in my head are: the telescope, computer and internet, printing press, penicillin, automobile, etc. However when I really sit down and start thinking about what things in my life really made a difference, my list is a bit different. I was born in a third world country, Karachi, Pakistan in 1975 and lived there till I was about 7 years old. Our life there was simple, my dad didn't and was unequipped with the modern gadgets and electronics.

Yet life was good, it was happy. We didn't have everyday "stuff" like a color tv, or vcr or even a car, my dad owned a motorcycle, but somehow we managed to get through peacefully and satisfactorily. I don't ever remember feeling a lack of these things, although I often wished there was more television to watch than one kid's show, a few times a day under a 1/2 hour slot! Less tv was good, it made us go outside and play more, spend more time with our grandparents and playing hide and seek with the neighborhood's kids. Like I said, life was simple but wholesome. It seems that the more "inventions" we have, the less time we have to enjoy the basic things in life. But I digress!

This blog is about inventions that enhanced livability. So based on my life experiences and really thinking about what we really take for granted (since I lived a childhood without some of these things), I came up with this short list: