National Geographic is airing a mini-series about the 80s and one of its segments is a must-see for mobile phone fans. The short clip focuses on the early commercialization of the mobile phone and includes a first hand account from Bob Barnett, who was the president of regional telecom Ameritech and the person who made the first commercial cellular phone call.
According to Barnett, one of the earliest questions about cellular technology was whether customers would really walk down the street talking to themselves on a phone. After testing it out for a while, Barnett and the folks at Ameritech decided that people would likely adopt the then awkward practice.
The National Geographic clip also chronicles the first commercial cell phone call, which took place in October 1983 from Chicago’s Soldier Field. Barnett placed the call from his car using a DynaTAC cellular phone. He called the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell, who was in Germany at the time.
[Via The Next Web and YouTube]