The cordless phone has become an essential part of modern-day communication. It allows people to communicate wirelessly without being tethered to a landline or a desk, increasing mobility and flexibility. The invention of the cordless phone was a significant leap towards wireless communication technology that revolutionized the way we communicate in our daily lives. But when was the cordless phone actually invented?
Before we dive into its history, let us first understand what a cordless phone is and how it works.
A cordless telephone (or portable telephone) is a type of digital telephone that uses radio waves to transmit voice signals instead of using physical wires. A typical home cordless telephone consists of three components: base station, handset, and charger with battery cells.
The base station is typically connected to your landline or VoIP internet connection via wires and sends out radio waves on specific frequencies that can be picked up by handsets within range. The handset has an internal antenna that receives these radio waves from the base unit and transmits them back during calls.
When you’re making or receiving calls through your cordless phone, digital signals are transmitted between both devices seamlessly through their respective frequencies on which they operate- mostly at around 900MHz-2.4GHz – allowing for crispy-clear audio quality as if you were both right next to each other talking over wired phones.
Nowadays, there’s no reason why a household would not have at least one set of such devices; however considering these technologies were once unheard-of luxuries costing many times more than traditional cabled phones incurred high call costs due to poor network coverage outside metropolitan areas.
But who invented this revolutionary gadget?
In 1965 Radio Shack came out with their “Chilean Sea Monster” Walkie Talkies which weren’t too popular due to their weight over half kilogram along with additional factors like having only limited battery life plus problems surrounding signal clarity caused by interference conditions present outside urban areas.
However, engineer George Sweidak was not discouraged by this failure and went on to develop the first cordless phone in 1969 with co-worker James Mikulski; By cooking up a base station capable of sending radio waves via inside-antenna equipped handsets installed with rechargeable batteries suitable for indoor usage within reasonable range.
Their prototype, named “First Phone”, weighed around 2 kilograms, sported a handset long as an aluminum tennis racket and required several hours of recharging time depending on frequency use. Frequency channels were set manually via rotary dials located both at the base unit as well as the cordless handset itself.
Evolution didn’t stop there. In 1975 Motorola invented one of the very first commercially available portable phones that used cellular technology instead- meaning it connected wirelessly over great distances through wireless towers checking automatically which could provide them better coverage regarding signal strength according to location while maintaining secure unique signaling protocols per call.
Surprisingly enough, early incarnations of portable phones dealt pretty much with military personnel mostly due to their cost (over $3k each) and complex operation requirements along with obvious differences in functionality indicating they weren’t yet quite ready for commercial use from budget/flexibility standpoints compared against high-priced desktop phone systems found – making communication less reliable than simply using wired networks presenting fundamental obstacles as seen today.
The invention steadily evolved after that milestone in its own way though being sold mostly where landline coverage wasn’t practical years followed suited more toward professional settings rather than casual socializing or personal residential use cases before reaching countries eastwards e.g India and China usually regarded for their mass manufacturing capabilities around late seventies/continuing throughout eighties seeing various options made available from different brands all aimed towards convenience purpose including longer battery life-longer range or even multiple handsets operating together on single base stations dependently/connecting independently across pre-set frequency ranges/category bands checked always though FCC or government regulations from country to country.
In conclusion, George Sweidak and James Mikulski are credited with the invention of the first-ever cordless phone in 1969. Their invention was bulky, expensive and had limited distance range but was truly ingenious for its time. Its commercial availability came several years later leading to further innovations such as cellular technology which eventually resulted in mobile phones that we use today; Much thinner- smaller device capable maintaining contact anywhere on earth where telecommunication standards are put in place- enabling voice/video/data transfers alike after initial settling regarding signal protocol security advancements were addressed/revised through meticulous testing processes. Overall, cordless phones have certainly come a long way since their humble beginnings almost half a century ago yet keeping up throughout during important periods technological advancements until reaching present-day peak ubiquitousness.