Word of the Day

 If you are reading on a smartphone, use landscape / hold phone sideways. 

I love the Word of the Day. No matter what I am doing, no matter where I am in the world, this little "boop" into my inbox makes me pause, and stop and read. What It Means... did you ever stop to think how clean and crisp and clear such a short sentence could be?

What it means... did you already know? Was this a word that you were already familiar with - or did you just - LEARN something new?

I write this Sunday Blog in November, 2023. I've been in business since 1983, but always in and around telecom or technology. Before there was the Internet, before there was smartphones, before there was anything like Ecommerce or "the cloud" or anything remote, there was wireless. The closest thing to "remote" back then was someone carrying a beeper - there were no cellular phones until NYNEX went LIVE in the New York CGSA. Chicago was "the first" in 1983, with AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) but the New York Metro region was the first release of commercial cellular service. And I was there, selling Car Phones in 1983.

Yes, in 1978 and 1979, AT&T tested the first major public cellular network coined AMPS. But Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first call. 

The first handheld cellular phone call was made on April 3, 1973, by Motorola engineer Martin Cooper from Sixth Avenue in New York while walking between 53rd and 54th streets. Cooper hoisted the 2 1/2-pound prototype to his ear and called a rival, Joel Engel of Bell Laboratories at AT&T, to declare that his Motorola team had devised a functional portable phone. “There was silence at the other end of the line,” Cooper recalled. “To this day, Joel doesn’t remember that call, and I’m not sure I blame him.”

***

In 1983 I found myself walking the streets of New York City, SELLING cellular phones and service. And now in 2023 I find myself walking the streets of New York City, selling Distance Learning. Well actually selling DIGITAL Learning. Ah, let's make that DIGITAL LIVING. 

In the 80s that clunky “shoe” phone (almost as big as a shoebox) allowed a user to talk for 35 minutes and required 10 hours to recharge. Motorola spent 10 years overcoming technical and regulatory hurdles, and began commercial service in 1983 using a slimmer 16-ounce model that cost between $3,500 and $4,000. Yes, the early phones were too big and expensive to suit most consumers, but they set a precedent for today’s sleek and lightweight models that have become standard equipment for just about everybody.

The ability to deliver Broadband - High Speed WIRELESS Internet to anywhere in the world has changed the world. FROM ANY TIME ZONE, from any latitude and longitude you can learn, work, play, teach, train, coach, mentor as if you are LIVING in New York City. Technically, Distance Learning has been around since the phonograph. But now, today, 5G (high speed wireless Internet) has changed the world. 

Many (many) years ago, the New York Metro Distance Learning Association (NYDLA.org) serviced the 5 boroughs of New York City. It expanded to cover the 55M+ people living in the "New York Megalopolis" (Maine to Virginia) as Broadband Internet in the Northeast region of the USA became affordable. During COVID, it once again expanded to cover all of North America, the home of 579M+ people.  Ah, but now 5G is available anywhere in the world. 

And it is AFFORDABLE. 

There are 1.4B+ people living in Africa, and around 4.5B+ people are living in Asia. And only 742M+ living in Europe (according to Google).  Ha, only 742M+ 

Distance Learning indeed became DIGITAL Learning, but it is truly now just DIGITAL LIVING. Home, work (and school) is now "where the Wi-Fi is". And thanks to 5G (and I'm sure 6G is coming soon...) anyone from anywhere can "be" in The Big Apple - just like Martin Cooper. Check out NYDLA.org/Harvard - from Africa. 

Ah yes, High Speed Wireless Internet is indeed a requisite for all of us - and I mean ALL OF US on planet earth. 

Oh, and don't even get me started on AI... 

The first handheld cellular phone call was made on April 3, 1973, by Motorola engineer Martin Cooper from Sixth Avenue in New York while walking between 53rd and 54th streets.