Just like with any technology, many are not aware that the concept of the cell (or mobile) phones can be traced back to the mid-1800s even though they did not become publicly accessible until 1988.

A. HISTORY:
If we think pass the actual devices, the framework for them started with a chemist named Michael Faraday, who "researched if space could conduct electricity" back in 1843 (see Article #1 below).

Thirty-one years later, a Virginia dentist named Dr. Mahlon Loomis, is believed to have been the first person to send messages wirelessly using the earth's atmosphere.

Dr. Martin Cooper

Then a little over a century after that, Dr. Martin Cooper, an engineer who once worked for Motorola, is coined as being the actual inventor of the cell phone. He not only made the first handheld device but also made the first cell phone call too.

By late-1970, Dr. Cooper's concept was being tested in major cities like Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.

Today, according to C.T.I.A., which is the international organization that sets standards for cell phone technology, as of December 2010, in the United States, there were:

• Over 300 million wireless subscribers
• Over 2 trillion cell phone minutes used
• Over 187 billion text messages sent
• Over 26% of  households are without landline phones due to owning a cell phone

B. FEATURES:
Nowadays, cell phones can do more than just make a call. Since 1988, cell phone features have advanced to the point that some types are now referred as "smartphones" due to the addition of features, such as, text messaging, Internet browsing, downloading and listening music, movies, games, and downloading and watching full-length feature films just to name a few.

In the late-1960s, the Dynabook was the first fully-functioning tablet computer conceived by computer scientist, Alan Kay. Originally targeted to children and was to be considered a "child's computer," anyone could have utilized the Dynabook.

Below is a Youtube video shows its features, as you can see, it was considered thin, lightweight, utilized a stylus for drawing, had WiFi access (really!?!), along with a built-in keyboard and was powered via  rechargeable batteries.

Just like today's iPad2, the Dynabook also retailed for around $500.
Here are a number of other links of interest, each with its own unique way of outlining the history of the tablet computer:

• A Brief History of the Tablet Computer by John Pope - read now
• Pictorial Timeline of Tablet PCs by Huffington Post - view now
• Timeline of Tablet PC History via Wikipedia - read now
• The History of the Tablet PC by IGN Gear - read now

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