Science Fiction Dictionary
A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"Everything starts as somebody's daydream. And, when you're daydreaming, it is science fiction. It's when you start work out how you put it together, true science fiction becomes real science."
- Larry Niven

Pocket Phone (or pocketphone)  
  A telephone that is not hard wired to the network; a mobile or cell phone.  

In this brief quote, Robert Heinlein presents the science fiction reader with the modern day cell phone, he also foresees the main problem with them. The quote is taken from Lost Legacy, one of the four novellas in this story collection.

"How come," he asked as he came abreast, "they had to search for you?"

"Left my pocketphone in my other suit," Coburn returned briefly. "Did it on purpose - I wanted a little peace and quiet. No luck."

Technovelgy from Assignment in Eternity, by Robert Heinlein.
Published by Signet in 1953
Additional resources -

This is an early mention of a portable phone usable by ordinary civilians. Also, it specifies that the phone is small enough to actually put in your pocket. Here's another mention of a phone that fits in your pocket from Podkayne of Mars, also by Robert Heinlein.:

He patted my hand. "Cheer up, Flicka. Always remember that, when things seem darkest, they usually get considerably worse. He took his phone out of his pocket and made a call.

"This is Senator Fries. I want the Director... I just called to tell you that I'm coming by to stuff you into one of your own helium tanks. Oh, say about fourteen or a few minutes after. That should give you time to get out of town. Clearing."

He pocketed his phone.

As far as I know, the first reference to a pocket-sized telephone occurs in John Jones's Dollar by Harry Stephen Keeler, published in The Black Cat magazine in 1915; see the pocket wireless phone.

The British cartoonist W. K. Haselden described a "Pocket Telephone" and the cartoon was first published in The Mirror on March 5, 1919:


(The Pocket Telephone - When Will It Ring?)

See also these references; the telephonoscope from The Coming Race (1929) by JD Bernal and Heinlein's 1948 novel Space Cadet - the portable telephone.

Famously, Nikola Tesla was quoted in an interview in 1926 in Collier's Magazine:

"When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but 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."

Just to put some historical perspective on this one, in 1964 the closest thing to a portable telelphone was a radiotelephone, which was typically the size of a couple of shoeboxes.

Bell System engineers made the first transatlantic radiotelephone call in 1915; it used huge towers and lots of power. The original VHF Squad Radios from WWII were originally designed to be used while riding a horse! The first cellular phones were demonstrated in 1973.

Present day radiotelephones may operate at any frequency where they are licensed to do so, though typically they are used in the various bands between 60 MHz and 900 MHz.

For the WWII generation, a telephone was a fixed object affixed to a wall, or wired into one. It took real effort of the imagination to see a phone you could just put in your pocket.
(Thanks to Victor Ramirez for this item.)

Comment/Join this discussion ( 9 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Assignment in Eternity
  More Ideas and Technology by Robert Heinlein
  Tech news articles related to Assignment in Eternity
  Tech news articles related to works by Robert Heinlein

Pocket Phone (or pocketphone)-related news articles:
  - Nokia Morph Cell Phone Concept

Articles related to Communication
Holobox? Who Doesn't Want A Home Hologram?
EBS-260 Handjet Free Hand Dot Matrix Printer
CD, DVD Bit Rot And PKD's Civic Notification Distorter
Zoom Education Idea Is 100 Years Old

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Science Fiction Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

Science Fiction Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's   1950's
1960's   1970's
1980's   1990's
2000's   2010's

Science Fiction in the News

Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'

Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'

Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'

Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'

Bespoke Environment Music From AIs
'Call 'em Winter Mute," said the other, making it two words.'

Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'

SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'

Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'

NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Science Fiction Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.