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Next Meeting: 9th December 2024:
‘'The call what he made - 40 years of Mobiles' with Nigel Linge.
Comedian Ernie Wise was part of the beloved UK comedy duo, Morecambe and Wise, and was well-known for the catchphrase, “plays what he wrote!” However, on January 1, 1985, Ernie Wise made a significant mark by launching the UK’s first mobile telephone network. This was “the call what he made” that heralded the beginning of our mobile communications era, which has now led to a situation where there are more mobile phones than people in the nation. Those early mobile phones were enormous, quite heavy, very costly, had a short battery life, and could only be used for voice calls. Nigel's presentation narrates the journey of how that technology progressed in a relatively brief span of time to produce the modern smartphone, which serves as our portal to the internet, guarantees we always have a camera on hand, can accurately determine our location within a few meters on the surface of the Earth, and has revolutionized our lives and the way we interact with one another.
(right: Vodafone transportable mobile phone with accessories, 1985 - click photo Ernie Wise call)
Programme for our 2024 - 2025 Season.
Browse a record of the 2023 - 2024 Season to get a feel for what to expect.
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November 2024: Made in Manchester
Brian Groom
After giving us a talk in September 2023 on Northerners, Brian Groom came back for an encore. This time his subject was “Made in Manchester”, which was really something of a misnomer as it was a comprehensive history of Manchester, not just what was made here. Or perhaps I’m wrong. Yes, I am wrong. He was using the word ‘made’ in its widest sense. Not just what items were made in Manchester such as Ford motor cars and Kelloggs Cornflakes but the people who made Manchester and, in turn, were made by Manchester.
