Random conversation in Matt McGrath’s office a couple years ago after reading Nick Chrisman’s book we all knew

Steve Wozniak built his "blue box" a tone generator to make free phone calls

• Steve Wozniak built his "blue box" a tone generator to make free phone calls

• An early phreaking tool, the blue box simulates a telephone operator's dialing console – replicating the tones used to switch long-distance calls and using them to route the user's own call, bypassing the normal switching mechanism in order to place free telephone calls
• Sold the boxes in dormitories at the Berkeley where he studied as an undergraduate

First call on a mobile cell phone made by its inventor Martin Cooper at Motorola

• First call on a mobile cell phone made by its inventor Martin Cooper at Motorola

• Call placed to his rival Joel Engell, Bell Labs' head of research
• Resulted in a fundamental technology and communications market shift toward the person and away from the place
• Cooper stated that his research was inspired by watching Capt. James T. Kirk using his communicator on Star Trek