What do you think?
Rate this book
Cutting the Cord: The Cell Phone Has Transformed Humanity
One of Time Magazine's Top 100 Inventors in History shares an insider's story of the cellphone, how it changed the world--and a view of where it's headed.
While at Motorola in the 1970s, wireless communications pioneer Martin Cooper invented the first handheld mobile phone. But the cellphone as we know it today almost didn't happen. Now, in Cutting the Cord, Cooper takes readers inside the stunning breakthroughs, devastating failures, and political battles in the quest to revolutionize--and control--how people communicate. It's a dramatic tale involving brilliant engineers, government regulators, lobbyists, police, quartz crystals, and a horse.
Industry skirmishes sparked a political war in Washington to prevent a monopolistic company from dominating telecommunications. The drama culminated in the first-ever public call made on a handheld, portable telephone--by Cooper himself.
The story of the cell phone has much to teach about innovation, strategy, and management. But the story of wireless communications is far from finished. This book also relates Cooper's vision of the future. From the way we work and the way children learn to the ways we approach medicine and healthcare, advances in the cellphone will continue to reshape our world for the better.
While at Motorola in the 1970s, wireless communications pioneer Martin Cooper invented the first handheld mobile phone. But the cellphone as we know it today almost didn't happen. Now, in Cutting the Cord, Cooper takes readers inside the stunning breakthroughs, devastating failures, and political battles in the quest to revolutionize--and control--how people communicate. It's a dramatic tale involving brilliant engineers, government regulators, lobbyists, police, quartz crystals, and a horse.
Industry skirmishes sparked a political war in Washington to prevent a monopolistic company from dominating telecommunications. The drama culminated in the first-ever public call made on a handheld, portable telephone--by Cooper himself.
The story of the cell phone has much to teach about innovation, strategy, and management. But the story of wireless communications is far from finished. This book also relates Cooper's vision of the future. From the way we work and the way children learn to the ways we approach medicine and healthcare, advances in the cellphone will continue to reshape our world for the better.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
200 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 5, 2021
46 people are currently reading
493 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 21, 2021
Cutting the Cord was an interesting read from a historical perspective, but I couldn’t stop thinking that it was written for personal aggrandizing. The author, Martin Cooper, is an engineer by training and a salesman by upbringing. His greatest admiration is for the salesmanship his mother exhibited when providing for her family when he was young. Joining her on some of her rounds, Cooper picked up many of her sales skills and use those skills to get support for his product ideas at Motorola where he worked for several decades. In the ’60s and ’70s, Motorola was at the leading edge of two-way radio development. Cooper redirected some of that research development to produce the world’s first cell phone.
I’m old enough to remember Motorola’s first cell phone, the DynaTAC. It was more commonly known as “The Brick” at the time. Having heard of it, the first and only one I saw in use was at a Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting. We all turned around to gawk at an individual talking loudly on his “Brick”. He had a gleeful look on his face; a look that indicated he was enjoying the attention and, what he perceived our looks to be envy. What I felt at the time wasn’t envy, it was annoyance! The “Brick” was a novelty at that time and none of us could justify its expense, nor could we justify the expensing or the related cell phone call costs. Costing next to nothing to make today, cell phone calls back then seemingly cost dollars per minute based on the cell phone bills I saw.
Parts of the book I found to be unbelievable; specifically, quoted statements made by Cooper’s teammates and bosses. I certainly can’t remember any full sentence someone said 40 years ago and I doubt anyone else can. Were these quotes used to further enhance Cooper’s legacy or to make the book more interesting? Even if we interviewed the speakers, most of whom are dead, I would bet that they couldn’t remember whether or not they said those things.
With the intricate knowledge Cooper has, I accept his claim of having been the champion of cell phone development. But a cell phone could never have been made without the numerous component developments made at Motorola and the cell tower trunking technology theorized at Bell Labs. Cooper acknowledged that the first cell phone was built on the discoveries and teamwork of others. But while saying the right things, the underlying tone of the book is about him and his actions. As the book’s author, maybe that’s how it should be!
In summary, I found the book historically informative but not an easy read.
I’m old enough to remember Motorola’s first cell phone, the DynaTAC. It was more commonly known as “The Brick” at the time. Having heard of it, the first and only one I saw in use was at a Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce luncheon meeting. We all turned around to gawk at an individual talking loudly on his “Brick”. He had a gleeful look on his face; a look that indicated he was enjoying the attention and, what he perceived our looks to be envy. What I felt at the time wasn’t envy, it was annoyance! The “Brick” was a novelty at that time and none of us could justify its expense, nor could we justify the expensing or the related cell phone call costs. Costing next to nothing to make today, cell phone calls back then seemingly cost dollars per minute based on the cell phone bills I saw.
Parts of the book I found to be unbelievable; specifically, quoted statements made by Cooper’s teammates and bosses. I certainly can’t remember any full sentence someone said 40 years ago and I doubt anyone else can. Were these quotes used to further enhance Cooper’s legacy or to make the book more interesting? Even if we interviewed the speakers, most of whom are dead, I would bet that they couldn’t remember whether or not they said those things.
With the intricate knowledge Cooper has, I accept his claim of having been the champion of cell phone development. But a cell phone could never have been made without the numerous component developments made at Motorola and the cell tower trunking technology theorized at Bell Labs. Cooper acknowledged that the first cell phone was built on the discoveries and teamwork of others. But while saying the right things, the underlying tone of the book is about him and his actions. As the book’s author, maybe that’s how it should be!
In summary, I found the book historically informative but not an easy read.
December 26, 2020
This is a great read for anyone who’s interested in the past, present or future of cell phone communications. It delves into the interesting history of how the cell phone was conceived, and has many interesting anecdotes about the battle between AT&T, Bell and Motorola. Some really interesting insights about where the future of communications are going too.
March 28, 2021
I wanted to give the book 5 stars, but he ended the story after the Spectrum award and the prototype of the first portable. The bigger story came afterwards, with the design, testing and manufacturing of the phones and technology, from the base stations to the mobile car phone, which was the first using 900mhz, and the ramp up of the manufacturing processes, before the first portable consumer ready “brick” was even announced in the 80’s. He did get it right with the internal culture wars and the work culture at Motorola, which was team work, respect, getting results by doing whatever it takes to get the job done and done right, by inspiring others to join in the vision. I was privileged to be hired as an engineer in 1974 as part of the $100 million push in Motorola’s all in commitment to get the cellular phones into the consumers hand, working on the base station design, the mobile transceivers and handsets and then for the GSM portable, and by 2000, it was mostly gone, but it was nice to go back in time and remember names long forgotten. Part 2, which to me wasn’t as relatable focused on the future of wireless technology and communications, especially in terms of health care and early diagnosis. However, he failed to consider the downsides of cellular technology, that is the 1984 syndrome peeking its head now, with revisions of history, censorship, control of the “news”, proliferation of what to think versus original thinking, espionage with 5G and hackers, theft, loss of privacy and loss of humanity through too much dependence on technology and less upon yourself.
September 10, 2021
I was disappointed in the overall tone of the book..
I guess had higher expectations for Mr Cooper as a human being in society.
This seemed to be more of a self gratifying written experience..
My husband's uncle was an inventor and holds two patents..but he also did things for his community, church, schools and family...he was a fine man and inventor.
I enjoyed Milton Hershey and the Emporers of chocolate book, so thought this inventers book might be good? Not!!
Mr. Cooper doesn't mention much about his children, wife, outside interests, it's all about work.
He even mentions several paragraphs about how much he loved his horse, but no.mention of his children?
I found it very odd and boring...
Someone who is almost 93 years old should have more of a legacy than: " Oh I worked 24/7 and helped to develop a cell phone."
At the end, he might have mentioned some of the negatives of cell phone use....
Going to a doctor in person is miles apart from a virtual cell phone visit.
Spend your money on something else and pass this one by.
I guess had higher expectations for Mr Cooper as a human being in society.
This seemed to be more of a self gratifying written experience..
My husband's uncle was an inventor and holds two patents..but he also did things for his community, church, schools and family...he was a fine man and inventor.
I enjoyed Milton Hershey and the Emporers of chocolate book, so thought this inventers book might be good? Not!!
Mr. Cooper doesn't mention much about his children, wife, outside interests, it's all about work.
He even mentions several paragraphs about how much he loved his horse, but no.mention of his children?
I found it very odd and boring...
Someone who is almost 93 years old should have more of a legacy than: " Oh I worked 24/7 and helped to develop a cell phone."
At the end, he might have mentioned some of the negatives of cell phone use....
Going to a doctor in person is miles apart from a virtual cell phone visit.
Spend your money on something else and pass this one by.
March 21, 2021
(Won a Kindle copy in a Goodreads Giveaway)
Part Wired Article. Part Economist white paper. It was interesting, in Part 1, to meet the person who arguably made the world's first official cell phone call and to learn how he did it. The history of the cell phone's invention inside Motorola's enviable corporate culture as it battled juggernauts such as Ma Bell (AT&T) and the FCC, was fascinating. Part 2, however, felt like a completely different book. While it had some worthy ideas, I felt like the book overstepped in its later chapters, delivering not much more than a handful of long-term predictions, some rather specific. I also expected that the book might address possible negative side effects that cell phones have had on human psychology, behavior, and relationships, alongside the positives. In the end, the book did not quite deliver on the promise of the title.
Part Wired Article. Part Economist white paper. It was interesting, in Part 1, to meet the person who arguably made the world's first official cell phone call and to learn how he did it. The history of the cell phone's invention inside Motorola's enviable corporate culture as it battled juggernauts such as Ma Bell (AT&T) and the FCC, was fascinating. Part 2, however, felt like a completely different book. While it had some worthy ideas, I felt like the book overstepped in its later chapters, delivering not much more than a handful of long-term predictions, some rather specific. I also expected that the book might address possible negative side effects that cell phones have had on human psychology, behavior, and relationships, alongside the positives. In the end, the book did not quite deliver on the promise of the title.
December 31, 2020
Learn about the making of the device you use on a daily basis, how I came to be, the impacts it has made and will continue to make in the future. An enlightening read that takes you back in time to a period where our ability to communicate was extremely limited, to our current and future capabilities thanks to the invention of the mobile phone.
Want to read
January 7, 2021Great I won the giveaway, can't wait to start reading
February 17, 2021
I get many information about the first handphone from this book. Thank you
December 30, 2020
Fascinating story about how the cell phone almost didn't happen, how it's changing the lives of people all over the world and what a cell phone will look like in the future.
February 23, 2023
I thought this was a great historical book, all be it one-sided, but fascinating nonetheless.
Key lessons I pulled:
1. Monopoly/Technology/Government - I'm glad it worked out the way it did, but also scary to think that a committee member or two and we could have been set back decades or even still focused on landlines as the primary source of making calls.
2. Amazing technology leadership to historical footnote story - this should be a case study for all those studying organizational leadership, MBA, Innovation, etc.
Key lessons I pulled:
1. Monopoly/Technology/Government - I'm glad it worked out the way it did, but also scary to think that a committee member or two and we could have been set back decades or even still focused on landlines as the primary source of making calls.
2. Amazing technology leadership to historical footnote story - this should be a case study for all those studying organizational leadership, MBA, Innovation, etc.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews