6/23/2023 0 Comments Eccentric Orbits by John Bloom![]() The 10 years before the 1997 launch, writes the author, were “full of treachery, deception, and espionage worthy of the Roman Senate at its worst, penetrating across borders, arousing the ire of nations, and often resulting in outright violations of the law.” Nine months after beginning operation on Nov. ![]() ![]() Rival systems were already in the works, and national phone monopolies hated competition. In 1987, during the stone age of cellular phones, Motorola engineers proposed to make reception easy and universal through satellites. A tireless researcher, investigative journalist Bloom (co-author: Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs, 1985, etc.) delivers a superlative history in which politics and cutthroat business tactics often overshadow the technical feats. It is expensive, and the handsets are nonsmart, but if you’re climbing Mount Everest, crossing the ocean, or wintering in Antarctica, you can phone home. ![]() Most readers will be surprised to learn that another service, Iridium, covers the entire Earth through a dazzling system of a few dozen satellites launched in 1997 and still operating today. ![]() A spellbinding history of a massively impressive work of technology.Ĭellphones barely cover 14 percent of the world. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |