In 1926, telephone communications across the world were new, and the landline telephone was cutting edge technology. However, Nikola Tesla was thinking ahead, and predicted the mobile phone. His is quoted as saying that “through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket” (Brown, 2015).
Photo via Wikipedia/Nikola Tesla
This was a daring prediction, as the first mobile phone would not be invented until 1973 by Motorola. The first prototype was developed by Martin Cooper and weighed 2.5 pounds. It only had 35 minutes of talk time and required 10 hours to recharge (Gibson, 2018).
Photo via Bettmann/Getty Images
Tesla was known for being a futurist and made many futurist comments during his lifetime. His imagination seemed to be limitless. A few of Tesla’s other famous predictions include x-ray technology, robotics, and the death ray. (5 crazy inventions from the mind of Nikola Tesla, 2015).
Not all of Tesla’s predictions were based on technology. Some were based on the formations of organizations. For example, he predicted that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would be formed 35 years before it was created (Novak, 2013).
Tesla was truly a futurist and a visionary. Some books that focus on his life and predictions are Famous Scientific Illusions by Nikola Tesla, Prodigal Genius: The Life of Nikola Tesla by John J. O’Neill, and Wizard, the Life and Times of Nikola Tesla by Marc J. Seifer.
References
Brown, M. (2015, July 6). Nikola Tesla predicted smartphones in 1926 like a boss. GeekWire. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.geekwire.com/2015/nikola-tesla-predicted-smartphones-in-1926-like-a-boss/.
Gibson, W. E. (2018, April 3). The first cell phone call was made 45 years ago. AARP. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/history/info-2018/first-cell-phone-call.html.
Novak, M. (2013, April 19). Nikola Tesla's amazing predictions for the 21st Century. Smithsonian.com. Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nikola-teslas-amazing-predictions-for-the-21st-century-26353702/.
5 crazy inventions from the mind of Nikola Tesla. The Week. (2015, January 8). Retrieved October 23, 2021, from https://theweek.com/articles/472881/5-crazy-inventions-from-mind-nikola-tesla.
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