GM, pre 02 October. It Ain’t My Grand Daddy’s Mobile Telephone Anymore.

If modern society may be said to foster an individual who is rational, autonomous, centered and stable…then perhaps a postmodern society is emerging which nurtures forms of identity different from, even opposite to those of modernity. And electronic communications technologies significantly enhance these postmodern possibilities. Poster 534

Somehow, reading Poster’s quote, I’m reminded of when I was a child in the mid to late 60’s, my grand daddy always drove a new Cadillac and he always had installed in his Cadillac’s a mobile telephone. It was an actual telephone, with a cord and rotary dial. If I recall, in order for him to place a call he had to first connect with a “ship to shore’ operator who would take the number, place his call, then ring him back when connected. But what sticks mostly in my mind was the part in the trunk.
In the Cadillac trunk was this contraption, which, in looking back most have been the telephone battery system. It took up half the available space in the trunk of my grand father’s car. The engine had to be running when he talked on the telephone, and, as he spoke, the engine would surge and race. What would my, old grand daddy; or, my father for that matter, think about today’s basic, everyday cell phone?
Recently, I traveled by plane down to Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles with a lay-over in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The travel time from Orlando to San Juan was approximately 2.5 hours during which time you were prohibited from operating most electronic devices on the plane, including cell phones and computers. It was funny, if not pitiful; to see half the passengers deplaning in San Juan, myself included, immediately rush to turn their cell phones back on as soon as the plane landed. Then, once inside the airport terminal, the reception became weak if almost non-existent, forcing hordes to pace up and down the hallways and people movers, looking for just that little, extra antenna bar. Kind of reminded me of my grand father’s Cadillac engine reviving up when spoke over his “ship to shore.”