What effects would time travel have on wireless devices?

The new cell phones probably would not work due to the changes in the technology (inner circuit boards, signals, towers, etc.).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone

No. No cell towers. GPS no, no reference satellites. Satellite radio, no. Computers would work with whatever software is loaded on them--no internet, obviously, no hot spots, no WiFi, no cloud computing because no cloud. They had some sort of big clunky expensive car phone then, but it was probably a different frequency band, and some sort of analog transmission, and I think the unit had some sort of builtin transmitter on it (look at old Cannon TV shows).

They're about as useful as they'll be 30 years in the future, I'd wager.

You could call someone on a regular phone via a cell phone, why wouldn't cell phones work?

Youre a little , I say a little slow boy. Watch me when n Im talkin to you. Im pitchin but you aint catchin.

There was a story about a guy from MArylands "Johnson Gang" who broke out of prison after having spent 20 years in jail. He couldnt handle the technology that came on line since he went to prison. He didnt have a credit card and he didnt understand swiping the card. He also couldnt steal gas because of therequiement to key in "credit" or "debit" at the pump.

He hid in bushes near a subdivision and the cops got him with an IR scanner

As farmer says, you're a little slow, JG. A cellphone is essentially a very low power radio, which broadcasts a signal to a cell phone tower with a high antenna which rebroadcasts it, from tower to tower, until it gets to the person you're calling. It broadcasts a digital signal unique to your phone. International calls are relayed by satellite. They're called "cell" phones because the country is split up into small cells, each with its own antenna/tower. 20 years ago, no towers, no communications satellites with the requisite technology, no digital vs. analog technology, none of the current switching digital technology. About all you could use your cell phone for would be as a not-too-good flashlight. Maybe some of the apps and games would work, as long as they're downloaded (not all are, some require the phone to call something to work).

But that will only work until the battery goes dead. We all know electricity was different 20 years ago.

re Parados.a friend of mine who worked there told me that parts of downtown Boston were still wired for DC only into the late 60s.

In the future it seems time AND electricity will be different.

http://www.businessinsider.com/power-grid-update-make-clocks-run-fast-affect-traffic-lights-2011-6

The 80s was THREE DECADES AGO.

Back in the 80's I only used a wireless device.

Now, I can no longer pass the pencil test, and a good underwire support system is needed.

As far as time travel, if I were to bring my 80's wireless device into todays world, it wouldn't even fit.

JGoldman says:


and your point is? cell phones wouldn't work. gps wouldn't work. the internet didn't exist. as previously stated. no wifi, no internet cafes. no smartphones.

huh..

You are assuming we haven't already traveled back in time to 2000. Don't you look foolish for making that assumption.

2000? You piker. I'm actually living right now in 1968 and sending these posts forward to 2011 by time machine--how'm'I doing on getting the future right? Betcha you're living in something like utopia then, right? And it was hell, believe me, to rig my electric typewriter so I could post something on this a2k, whatever that is. Looks like the Age of Aquarius came true. Can't wait to live the next forty years so I can see it in person. I think this internet stuff is gonna be great. Keep on tokin', bro.

MontereyJack
I am posting from the year 2049.

To give you an idea of what it's like, Justin Bieber is POTUS.

OMG.

ha, the divine ms. m did a great routine about the pencil test, basically she'd read about the pencil test in cosmo, she gave it a try, the pencil stayed, she did a few jumping jacks, the pencil still stayed in place, then she decided to see what else she could tuck, pretty funny stuff

Here in 2049, we no longer have pencils.

Women here use the refractive beam of a cold laser to not only measure the ravages of gravity, but to transmit the information to our underwire device.