DEL MAR, Calif. — Dick Tracy got an atom-powered two-way wrist radio in 1946. Marty Cooper never forgot it.
ճ boy became a star engineer who ran Motorola’s research and development arm when the hometown telecommunications titan was locked in a 1970s corporate battle to invent the . Cooper rejected AT&T’s wager on the car phone, betting that America wanted to feel like Dick Tracy, armed with “a device that was an extension of you, that made you reachable everywhere.”
Martin Cooper, who led the team that built the first mobile cellphone, holds a prototype of that phone April 4 at his home in San Diego.
Fifty-two years ago, Cooper declared victory in a call from a Manhattan sidewalk to the head of AT&T’s rival program. His four-pound DynaTAC 8000X evolved into a global population of billions of weighing mere ounces apiece.
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About 4.6 billion people — nearly 60% of the world — have mobile internet, according to a global association of mobile network operators.
The tiny computers that we carry by the billions are becoming massive, interlinked networks of processors that perform trillions of calculations per second — the computing power that artificial intelligence needs.
The simple landlines once used to call friends or family evolved into omnipresent glossy screens that never leave our sight and flood our brain with hours of data daily, deluging us with endless messages, emails, videos and a soundtrack that many play constantly to block the outside world.
From his home in Del Mar, California, the inventor of the mobile phone, now 96, watches all of this. Of one thing Cooper is certain: The revolution has really just begun.
Nolan Young, 3, front, looks at a smartphone Jan. 27, 2014, while his brother Jameson, right, 4, looks at a tablet in their home in Boston.
The phone is about to become a thinking computer
Now, the winner of the 2024 National Medal of Technology and Innovation — the United States’ highest honor for technological achievement — is focused on the cellphone’s imminent transition to a thinking mobile computer fueled by human calories to avoid dependence on batteries. Our new parts will run constant tests on our bodies and feed our doctors real-time results, Cooper predicts.
Human behavior already is adapting to smartphones, some observers say, using them as tools that allow overwhelmed minds to focus on quality communication.
The phone conversation has become the way to communicate the most intimate of social ties, says Claude Fischer, a sociology professor at the University of California, Berkeley and author of “America Calling: A Social History of the Telephone to 1940.”
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For almost everyone, the straight up phone call has become an intrusion. Now everything needs to be pre-advised with a message.
“There seems to be a sense that the phone call is for heart-to-heart,” Fischer said.
A 20-year-old corroborated that: “The only person I call on a day-to-day basis is my cousin,” says Ayesha Iqbal, a psychology student at Suffolk County Community College. “I primarily text everyone else.”
When she was a girl, Karen Wilson’s family shared a party line with other phone customers outside Buffalo, New York, and had to wait to use the phone if someone else was on it. Wilson, 79, told her granddaughter about the party line when the girl got a cellphone as a teenager.
“What did you do if you didn’t wait?’” the girl asked. Her grandmother responded: “You went down to their house and you yelled, ‘Hey, Mary, can you come out?’”
A youth checks his mobile phone June 7, 2023, on the bank of the River Ganges in Prayagraj, India.
The brave new world has a price
Many worry about the changes exerted by our newly interconnected, highly stimulated world.
We increasingly buy online and get products delivered without the possibility of serendipity. There are fewer opportunities to greet a neighbor or store employee and find out something unexpected, to make a friend, to fall in love. People are working more efficiently as they drown.
“There’s no barrier to the number of people who can be reaching out to you at the same time and it’s just overwhelming,” says Kristen Burks, an associate circuit judge in Macon, Missouri.
Most importantly, sociologists, psychologists and teachers say, near-constant phone-driven screen time is cutting into kids’ ability to learn and socialize. A growing movement pushes back against cellphones’ intrusion into children’s daily lives.
Seven states signed — and 20 states introduced — statewide bell-to-bell phone bans in schools. Additional states moved to prohibit the devices during teaching time.
Sarasvati Devi talks to her mother in Myanmar via video call Sept. 26, 2017, as Ranjan, her brother, holds the phone outside a camp for Hindu refugees near Kutupalong, Bangladesh.
Global inequality is an issue
The mobile advantage is coming to rich countries faster than poor ones.
Adjusting to life in Russia when Nnaemeka Agbo moved there from Nigeria in 2023 was tough, he says, but one thing kept him going: WhatsApp calls with family.
In a country that has one of the world’s highest poverty and hunger levels despite being Africa’s top oil producer, Agbo’s experience mirrored that of many young people in forced to choose between remaining at home with family and taking a chance at a better life elsewhere.
For many, phone calls blur distance with comfort.
“No matter how busy my schedule is, I must call my people every weekend, even if that’s the only call I have to make,” Agbo says.
A woman talks on her mobile phone Sept. 13 in downtown Nairobi, Kenya.
In Africa, where only 37% of the population had internet access in 2023, according to the International Telecommunication Union, regular mobile calls are the only option many have.
Tabane Cissé, who moved from Senegal to Spain in 2023, makes phone calls about investing Spanish earnings at home. Otherwise, it’s all texts, or voice notes, with one exception.
His mother doesn’t read or write, but when he calls “it’s as if I was standing next to her,” Cissé says.
He couldn’t do it without the cellphone. Half a world away, that suits Cooper just fine.
“There are more cellphones in the world today than there are people,” he said. “Your life can be made infinitely more efficient just by virtue of being connected with everybody else in the world. But I have to tell you that this is only the beginning.”
Your smartphone is ruining your sleep. Here's what you can do about it.
Your smartphone is ruining your sleep—and what you can do about it
A new year, a new beginning. A fresh start on the calendar inspires many to improve. Apart from resolutions to achieve more and change for the better, many also aspire to find better ways to improve their well-being, including enhancing their sleep quality.
In today's fast-paced, technology-driven world, sleep has never been more critical. Obesity, cognitive decline, weakened immune function, and an increased risk of anxiety and depression are all health problems linked to chronic sleep deprivation. Moreover, poor sleep negatively impacts mood and can cause irritability and emotional instability, so adequate rest is essential for maintaining focus, productivity, and overall well-being.
However, despite growing awareness of the importance of sleep, the science behind the factors that disrupt it—particularly the role of smartphones—remains unclear to many. explored the negative impacts of smartphone usage on sleep and what people can do to get more restful downtime.
Smartphones—and society's apparent reliance on them—are considered one of the primary reasons for the declining quality of rest in the modern technological age. Globally, at least 3 in 10 young adults are too attached to their smartphones, according to a study conducted by King's College London medical student Sei Yon Sohn and her coauthors. Their research on 1,043 students aged 18 to 30 revealed nearly 4 in 10 qualified , a concerning trend given sleep's vital role in cognitive function and mental and physical health.
One of the primary ways smartphones are thought to interfere with sleep is through the blue light they emit. This type of light to suppress melatonin, a hormone responsible for regulating our sleep-wake cycles. As melatonin production decreases, our circadian rhythm is disrupted, making it harder to fall asleep and awaken feeling refreshed.
While some have doubted this blue-light causation, the mental stimulation from activities like playing games or scrolling through social media is another reason it is difficult to unwind. Stuart Peirson, a professor of circadian neuroscience, . More than the blue light emitted by phones, Pierson noted, "Reading work emails relating to impending deadlines is clearly going to cause anxiety, and anxiety is strongly related to insomnia." Even if we aren't actively engaging with our devices, the constant stream of notifications and alerts can interrupt our sleep and prevent us from fully disconnecting.
As January rolls along, here are some ways to disconnect from our supposedly essential smartphones and perhaps get a few more hours of restful, rejuvenating sleep.
Use blue light filters
Enabling blue light filters, or "night mode" settings, on smartphones and other devices can help reduce blue light exposure in the evening. This feature shifts the display colors to warmer tones, minimizing the suppression of melatonin production. Most smartphone manufacturers have made it easy to automatically enable night mode during certain hours of the day.
Consider using blue light filtering glasses for evening screen use, particularly if you spend extended periods in front of screens. It's worth noting, though, that while suggested these glasses may help with sleep, the findings are not yet conclusive.
Establish presleep routines
A consistent presleep routine helps teach your body and brain that it's time to wind down. Relaxing activities—a warm bath, reading a book, listening to calming music—can promote better sleep. Setting a regular sleep schedule, going to bed, and waking up at approximately the same time each day—even on weekends—may help regulate your circadian rhythm.
Avoid consuming caffeine or alcohol before bed, as these substances can interfere with sleep. According to University of Michigan behavioral sleep expert Dr. Deirdre Conroy, people have different tolerances for these beverages. Their effects, be it a little or a lot, vary from person to person. As Conroy , a general guideline is for people to stop drinking caffeine eight hours before bed and alcohol three hours before turning in for the night.
Calming activities like meditation or gentle stretching before bedtime can also ease your mind and body.
Create tech-free zones
Tech-free zones in bedrooms can help minimize distractions and promote a more conducive sleep environment. Bans on smartphones and other electronic devices in the bedroom remove the temptation to check notifications or engage with content before sleep.
Keep your phone in a separate room while charging, and enable its "do not disturb" settings. Physically moving the technological temptation farther away can make it easier to decouple from stimulating social media messages and activities on the phone. If your phone is also your alarm, swap it with an analog or digital version.
If you can't designate a separate space, try changing an element of decor to signal a shift in the environment.
Limit interactive screen time before bed
Interactive screen-based activities, such as playing video games and engaging on social media, can be more stimulating than passive activities like watching videos. of 475 young adults published in 2023 in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that sleep was delayed for every hour of gaming or speaking with friends online.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends . Setting a time limit for engaging with social media or playing video games and gradually reducing your usage as bedtime approaches can be helpful. Replace interactive screen time with more relaxing activities, like reading or listening to calming music.
Try wearable tech for sleep tracking
Wearable technology, such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, can help track sleep patterns and identify potential areas for improvement for those who have some additional room in their budget. Devices can cost between $30 to $600 and may even entail subscription fees. These devices can monitor sleep duration, sleep stages, and wakefulness. They often also provide more visual graphs and other reports where you can spot valuable insights into your sleep quality to help you make adjustments as needed.
Do you perform the best when you've hit the hay at 9 p.m. the night before? Are you still feeling sluggish despite turning in at 10 p.m.? Little adjustments in your patterns can help you prepare for the day ahead. Despite their tech capabilities, these devices don't replace professionals, so if you do notice sleep disturbances or have concerns about your sleep quality, consult a health professional.
Story editing by Carren Jao. Copy editing by Paris Close. Photo selection by Ania Antecka.
originally appeared on and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.
