The year was 1931 and Chester Gould, the creator of the Dick Tracy comic script, had not yet envisioned his character's use of mobile technology. Car phones were non-existent. And the payphone plotlines used by James Gardner and the Rockford Files were still 42 years in the future.

In January 1946, Gould introduced the now famous Tracy 2-Way Wrist Radio. It opened doors of wonder and perhaps even a few realistic thoughts on how to bring such technology to pass. In 1974, the hero of Rockford Files was still solving mysteries wherein the police were always late due to a lack of decent communication technology. Roadside payphones don't lend well to the emergency needs of troubled detectives.