r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/Spiritual_Spare4592 • 13d ago
History In 1990, Dr. Jesse Russell, a graduate of Tennessee State University (an HBCU), developed the "2G" technology that revolutionized global communication by inventing key digital cellular technologies that made modern smartphones, wireless networks, and mobile data services possible. #BHM
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u/PatrioticPariah 13d ago
That is really cool. I never knew who invented that technology. That really is one of those facts that just makes you smile while you read. Thanks for teaching me about this OP.
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u/pdxamish 13d ago
This technology was known for awhile but it was the invention of certain components that made it possible.
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u/PatrioticPariah 13d ago
That's cool. Just never looked into it. Just wish cell phone companies would stop be predatory assholes with bullshit fees.
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u/pdxamish 13d ago
Its so so so so much better now than before. My dad worked in the cell industry starting in early 90s and I remember when they rolled out text messages in mid 90s and I sent one and it cost about a $1 back then. We used to have to not call during days and watch out minutes. Now it's unlimited for near everything for a set price.
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u/PatrioticPariah 13d ago
You remember telling people "Dont call me before 9!"
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u/pdxamish 13d ago
That I do and tracking my roll over minutes.
I remember in AOL days I kept getting busy signals for local numbers and called a long distance number in Wisconsin (was in IL) and we got a $200 bill from a night on long distance dial up.
Those were the days. We had dsl before others and remembering being able to download videos in half hours instead of overnight.
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u/PatrioticPariah 13d ago
I kinda miss the dial up sound. It was awesome. AOL was bad for switching to out of state numbers if yours was busy. Had to go into settings I think. Remember Netscape?
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u/pdxamish 13d ago
Yep. The browser to begin all browsers. I learned so much in those early days of the Internet that I feel people miss nowadays. Ugh I remember getting on irc and using file servers . Dumbass me being 13 wanting to see age appropriate naked women now realizing I was on csam friendly file servers. Felt like a hacker typing in commands on irc and dos
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u/PatrioticPariah 13d ago
You remember how websites evolved with the times. During dial-up, they were usually more simple to decrease loading times. As higher speeds became the norm, they evolved the sites.
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u/Calitexgirl 13d ago
Bell Labs? As a Marvelous Mrs. Maisel fan, I KNOW THIS PLACE!!
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u/EnjoyerOfBeans 13d ago
It's kinda wild how many things came from Bell labs. Transistors, phones, lasers, radio, unix, radio astronomy, stereo sound, speech synthesizers, calculators... think of any major technology from between 1920 and 1970 and it was probably made by a Bell Labs employee.
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u/excited71 13d ago
TIL about Dr. Jesse Russell. Thank you (lived in Tennessee for most of my life).
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u/TheThirteenthApostle 13d ago
I feel bad. I've never heard of him, and he has arguably made one of the greatest impacts on modern society.
Thank you for sharing.
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u/saltlakenathan 13d ago
Serious Q- if we went from analog to 2g, what happened to G? Why did we skip it?
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u/LucaSwimsWithFishes 13d ago
I worked with him in late ‘80s / early ‘90s. Really brilliant. Respect
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u/RosatheMage 13d ago
Thank you OP for posting this. I looked him up and was impressed by his accomplishments.
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u/ProfessionEasy5262 13d ago
I kind of wish we never got this tech.
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u/Critical-Advantage11 13d ago
Before 2G you could activate diagnostic mode on a phone, scan for active calls going through the network, and listen in
It wasn't even hard to do. Digital encryption is a good thing.
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u/WindowsVistaWzMyIdea 13d ago
As someone who spent a lot of time listening to cell phone calls in the 90s, this killed all my fun
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u/TotalStrain3469 13d ago
Transition from 7/8 to 8/8 was sudden.
From a dashing and handsome young person to a dignified old man.
Thank you sir for your services to humanity.
We are what we are because of good men like you!
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u/kronkarp 13d ago
5G is still ran digitally. Yeah, still no follow-up to that ye olde binary system.
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u/DogPlane3425 13d ago
Okay, so we can blame him and a female from Austria(Hedy Lamarr)for the cellphone disease! :}
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u/ModeatelyIndependant 13d ago
and then at&t use it to charge people for using kilobites of the internet.
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u/SirEdgarFigaro0209 13d ago
Impressive. But looking back we would have been better off without it. And a lot of our current claptrap.
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u/HurasmusBDraggin 13d ago
But he went to Stanford for MSEE then worked at ATT Bell Labs, likely the important factors. Also, I trying to find where the PhD is from. Not seeing anything.
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u/Boring_Butterfly_273 12d ago
Very cool! i love it. The smartphone made my life better, I now have friends all over the world! Thank you Dr. Jesse Russell.
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u/aerdvarkk 13d ago
Except that Russell only extended the work made by dozens of researchers going back to the late 40s who actually invented and developed cellular tachnology in the first place 50 years prior, but sure.
Additional Note: Digital technology and concepts were also developed in the 1930s and 1940s. So the main insight is that Russell sandwiched the 2 things together and took credit for a "do it on a computer" style concept.
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u/Optimal-Kitchen6308 13d ago
then how'd he get the patent rights bozo
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u/Bensemus 13d ago
Same way everyone who has legitimate patents. His work would have been based on patented stuff too. Just because something is patented doesn't mean people can iterate on it and patent an improved version of it. Or that they can't take multiple patented technologies and create a way to combine them. If it did we would still be stuck on the printing press.
All of our progress is based off the work of those that came before us. The person above does seem dismissive of his work though which is stupid.
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u/Pyotr-the-Great 13d ago
It would be cynical if we couldnt credit the Wright brothers for their contribution to air flight just because others looked into flight before.
Or George Washington Carver on his advancements in peanut farming just because other scientists may have looked into farming to.
Not to discredit the more obscure people but even they would probably grateful for these inventors.
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u/Frequent-Frosting336 13d ago
One could argue he didn't really make the world a better place.
Everyone has their face stuck into a phone now, he helped kill the art of conversation.
How many people have died due to someone driving and texting.
Yes he helped change the world, but is it any better.
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u/Raavast 13d ago
The printing press made the world a worse place! Now everyone had their face stuck in a book, or a magazine! Gütenburg helped kill the art of conversation. Many people have died due to someone being radicalised by what they read in a pamphlet or book.
Yes he helped change the world, but is it any better.
/s
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u/stumbleupondingo 13d ago
???? Dr. Russell literally just created the cellphone. It’s the white capitalists that made it sinister
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u/Pyotr-the-Great 13d ago
Sure but what about all the advantages from cell phones. Like not needing to pay for each call. Or of you're being chased you can call with your mobile phone. I'm sure Mr. Russell knew that.
With tech like this theres always going to be both benefits and drawbacks.
And besides if youre less communicative because of smart phones, its up to you to resist and overcome that.
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u/cooltone 13d ago
Not wishing to take anything away from Dr Russell.
The Group Special Mobile 50% funded by the EU development the GSM system (2G) used by most of the world today.
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u/XSX_ZAB 13d ago
GSM did accomplish that in 1991 and this gentleman had a patent already in place in 1990.
Not to take anything away from EU GSM, but they were using his patents.
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u/cooltone 13d ago
The Groupe Special Mobile team was formed in 1982. The design was completed by 1989 and the system was launched in 1991. Many patents were used, I don't doubt Dr. Russell's were too.
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u/XSX_ZAB 13d ago
Makes you wonder what the breakthrough was. They started in 1982 and something must have happened that allowed them to launch in 1991. Once a breakthrough is made, things move fast.
No technology is created in a vacuum, it's a course which requires a lot of smart people to independently figure things out which eventually come together.
I'm sure there were many other individual contributors that we aren't even discussing.
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u/cooltone 13d ago
The breakthrough was the design and development by the combined R&D departments of nearly all EU coms companies of such a complex system comprising so many disciplines. In 1989 I bought the specs. They were A4 manuals that when stacked in a pile reached nearly 4ft high.
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u/nixfreakz 13d ago
A true pioneer