Vision. Brains. Stubbornness. Courage. Discouragement, Spunk. Talent. Persistence.
The four people inducted into RCR Wireless News’ Wireless Hall of Fame this year display most, if not all of these attributes (and let’s be honest, stubbornness is not always looked upon as an asset.) Yet it is that tenacity, that “stick-to-it-ive-ness” that has earned these men their rightful place of honor in the history of wireless telecommunications.
As a youth, Edwin Armstrong built a 125-foot cellular tower in his front yard so he could better understand how wireless signals work. (Where were the NIMBY folks?) He is considered the father of FM technology. Part of his life was tragic, however. He committed suicide.
Morgan O’Brien stitched together a new industry by buying companies that loathed what he was trying to do. Today, he says he can call a number of those naysayers friends. Now that’s more than mere determination.
Thomas Carter simply wanted to help oil-field personnel communicate back with the home office. His belief in the U.S. justice system also helped to force AT&T to open up its system to other companies that wanted to attach something to the AT&T network.
Likewise, Jim Dwyer believed competition was the American way and helped to build both the paging and cellular industries from the ground up. And he’s still busy building today.
These four new inductees join seven equally impressive inductees inaugurated last year: Marty Cooper, Bob Galvin, Irwin Jacobs, Fred Link, Craig McCaw, Bill McGowan and Andrew Viterbi.
Along with the impressive names of the inductees, I think the 14 judges choosing these Hall of Famers are pretty visionary. This year’s judges were Mark Crosby, Fred Day, John DeFeo, Joe Gallelli, Tom Gutierrez, Len Kolsky, Elizabeth Maxfield, Don Nelson, Elizabeth Sachs, Richard Siber, John Sudmeier, Mike Sullivan, Tom Wheeler and Robert White.
Early on in this process, some said this industry was incapable of honoring its own; it would become too political; you couldn’t find five honest people working in wireless. Nonsense. Just look at the inductees. Read their stories.
And wonder where the wireless industry would be today without Edwin Armstrong, Thomas Carter, Marty Cooper, Jim Dwyer, Bob Galvin, Irwin Jacobs, Fred Link, Craig McCaw, Bill McGowan, Morgan O’Brien and Andrew Viterbi.
