Cutting the Cord, Martin Cooper
Cutting the Cord, Martin Cooper
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Cutting the Cord
The Cell Phone Has Transformed Humanity

Author: Martin Cooper

Narrator: Traber Burns

Unabridged: 8 hr 47 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/06/2021

Synopsis

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 listeners 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.

About Martin Cooper

Martin Cooper is an engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur. He is known as the “father of the cell phone,” after creating the world’s first cell phone at Motorola—and making the first public call on it. Over nearly three decades at Motorola, Cooper contributed to the development of pagers, two-way radio dispatch systems, quartz crystal manufacture, and more. A serial entrepreneur, he and his wife, Arlene Harris, have cofounded numerous wireless technology companies.

About Traber Burns

Traber Burns worked for thirty-five years in regional theater, including the New York, Oregon, and Alabama Shakespeare festivals. He also spent five years in Los Angeles appearing in many television productions and commercials, including Lost, Close to Home, Without a Trace, Boston Legal, Grey’s Anatomy, Cold Case, Gilmore Girls, and others.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Ronald on 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......more

Goodreads review by Phil mcnamara on December 25, 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 insig......more

Goodreads review by Al on 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 u......more

Goodreads review by Elizabeth on September 09, 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, sc......more

Goodreads review by M.H. on 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 c......more

Quotes

“Lessons on how to be innovative, managing innovation, failing at innovation, and inspiring others to be innovative; this book has it all because Marty Cooper has done it all!” Marshall Goldsmith, New York Times bestselling author

“Cutting the Cord recognizes that innovation has always been about both standing on others’ shoulders and collaboration. Throughout tech, we all stand on Marty’s shoulders just as he stood on Marconi’s.” Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft

“Marty Cooper is the father of the cell phone, and our lives have been changed and saved because of this unshackling from our cords. How Marty got us there is an important and compelling story.” Gary Shapiro, chairman, Consumer Technology Association & CES

“For three decades, Marty Cooper was at the center of innovation in portable, wireless technology at Motorola, where I had the distinct pleasure of working with him. Then he spent another thirty years commercializing wireless technology through a number of entrepreneurial ventures. Marty knows how wireless innovations have developed—and where they’re going.” George M. C. Fisher, former CEO of Motorola and Eastman Kodak

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List