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The Mobile Phone

An Artifact Doomed to Disappear

Today, the mobile phone is an essential element of our society that everyone possesses, but this has not always been the case and will not be in the future.


History of the Mobile Phone

In 1946, the mobile phone did not exist, but the first mobile call was made in the United States using car radio technology. In 1973, the first call from a portable device was made possible thanks to a prototype of the Motorola DynaTac. The Motorola DynaTac 8000X was then available to the public as the first mobile phone in 1993, but it weighed nearly a kilogram and cost around $4000, making it very inaccessible to the population.

Motorola Dynatac 8000X from 1993

In 1991, the first 2G network emerged, allowing long-distance communication by sending SMS. In 1996, the release of the first flip phone represented an important step in the miniaturization of devices. In 1999, it became possible to take photos and send them thanks to an integrated camera. In 2000, 3G mobile networks finally allowed mobile internet access. In 2007, Apple launched its first iPhone, revolutionizing the market with its touchscreen and ease of use. In 2019, the first 5G networks increased connection speeds and enabled new innovations such as connected objects. Finally, in 2020, the first foldable phones, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, redefined design limits.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold from 2020

Subsequently, the phone will become an obsolete object due to the democratization of Neuralink, whose human testing by Elon Musk was successful in 2024. However, it is only in many years, in 2882, that the Earth's population will have forgotten the phone after being fully equipped with its evolution, the Neuromni-Link.

Mobile Phone Timeline

Evolutionary timeline of the mobile phone over the years

Discovery of the Lost Artifact

Ewen, 19 years old, is an explorer who likes to venture outside the city in this future where omniscience has become commonplace. He finds himself in a dump and comes across an old mobile phone. He cannot understand its use and eventually realizes that it is a technological artifact, seemingly the ancestor of his neurolink. He then questions the dependence on neurolink in the current society he lives in and wonders if this old form of technology might represent a lost form of freedom, where curiosity and the unknown played an important role in human life.

Illustrative image created with AI Copilot

Read: Accelerando and the Technological Singularity