We’re going back in time – a time when your cell phone would not stand a chance squeezing itself into your back pocket (ouch!). Do you remember those clunky phones whose shape resembled one of those Tetris pieces?
Let’s go back to the rockin’ year of 1973, when Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first phone call on the DynaTAC 8000x to cellular rival, Joel Engel of AT&T’s Bell Labs, during a stroll through the streets of New York City. This was considered an innovation, as the phone was small enough to actually be carried! Yes, you heard me, carried. Weighing in it at 28 ounces, it screamed portable, lightweight and sexy. It “featured” nine additional special keys: Rcl (Recall), Sto (Store), Pwr (Power) Clr (Clear), Fcn (Function), Lock, Snd (Send), End, and Vol (Volume). It also flaunted its stuff with a red LED screen that would show the number you were dialing. It was 10 inches tall not including that massive antenna and had a battery life for approximately 60 minutes of talk time. And don’t think for a moment that technology like this isn’t going to cost you, the DynaTAC 8000x would cost you about $4,000 in its heyday.
Swedish-born company, Ericsson was also a player in the cell phone world. It opened with “Curt” in 1987 and then in 1989, “Olivia” came along as Ericsson’s first GSM all-digital mobile phone.
In 1989, the DynaTAC was superseded by the Motorola MicroTAC…the first flip phone! This phone was known around the world for being the smallest and lightest phone on the market. The price tag would run you anywhere from $2500 to $3500 for this particular model. It was substantially lighter at 12.3 ounces and only 9 inches long when open. The funny thing about this phone was the antenna, as it was purely aesthetic and served no actual purpose!
The 90s rolled around and cell phones became a staple item; while still somewhat of a luxury, with the technology boom, you HAD to have a cell phone.
In 1993 Bell South/IBM introduced the first ever PDA, the Simon Personal Communicator. It was a phone, calculator, contact book, pager (what is that??), fax machine and email device – all in one. For a mere $900 this phone was yours! Motorola also came out with the StarTAC in 1996. It was the lightest and smallest phone on the market.
Then in 1998, Nokia came out with the 6160. You know the phone I’m talking about. EVERYONE had one of these. I think I would pay to see one in person again. It was by far the most popular phone of its time and best-selling by Nokia’s records. I had one – loved that phone!
Let’s segue to the year 2000! Cell phone moguls were on a rampage trying to come up with the latest and greatest PDA’s and cell phones. People were carrying around multiple devices to stay “in the loop.”
One of the more popular PDA’s was Kyocera’s QCP-6035. It was a HUGE upgrade to the Simon Personal Communicator and an answer to the many problems that plagued cell phone users. The QCP-6035 combined the communication features of a regular cell phone with convenient access to information that you would find in your PDA. Cost for this beauty was around $600.
2001 and 2002 were big years too. The Handspring Treo 180 surfaced as the first phone to have a QWERTY keyboard and in 2002 the Blackberry 5810 came out and included voice capability.
But, I think it was Sprint with the Sanyo SCP-5300 that really changed what people wanted in a cell phone, as this model featured a built-in camera. The camera phone had arrived!! Then, Motorola wowed everyone with the slim design and modern appeal when they introduced the Razr v3. That was definitely a cool looking phone. Blackberry, Motorola, Sony Ericcson, Nokia and others continued to evolve with different models and adding more and more features. But it wasn’t until 2007 when everything went berserk.
Drum roll…
The iPhone! That’s right, Apple did the unthinkable. They combined a cell phone, camera, PDA, iPod and oh so much more into one slim and sexy cellular device. We waited in line for hours to get one. We paid waaaay too much for one. But it was worth it. Because you were now part of the elite, the Apple-ites (did I just make that up? I think so!). Despite it’s initial flaws people looked past that. Almost as if their breath was taken away each time they gazed upon their iPhone. Ahhhh…iPhone, I love you more than my wife and kids.
So, we’ve come a long way from a 2-pounder, clunky mobile phone to a 4.8 ounce know-it-all iPhone. Which begs the question…what will they think of next???
Ha, Great article! Took me back in time Loved the Nokia 6160, I believe I only got rid of it 3 years ago!! Best phone I ever had if you measure stricly by phoning standards.
What a great walk down cell phone history lane!!! The article was entertaining and edu-me-cational. Keep um coming. D
Am I the only person alive who doesn’t think the Iphone is god incarnate? Its a mediocre audio player, a piss poor pda, and not an impressive phone. If anyone but apple had released such a piece of hardware, it would have never made had any attention.
Apple did not “do the unthinkable”. They just took what everyone else had been doing for years, wrapped it in shinier skin, and stuck their logo on it
I could not agree more with you thoughtcriminal. While I will gladly admit that the iphone is quite a user friendly device, it should not be put on the pedestal which it has been placed. For some reason most people take a very impressive marketing plan which polishes up already seen technologies, dumb them down, and suddenly people feel that it is the end all be all. Apple has successfully implemented this on all their products and I suppose they should be commended on it. A good article non the less and it was great to see the Zach Morris phone once again and how I miss the days of snake on the 6160.
Ahh the 6160 that reminds me of the good old days.
As for the iphone, well the myth busters proved that if you are persistant enouth you can polish shit untill its shiny and no one would recognise what it is :-p
thoughtcriminal- You are really a thought criminal beacause you can’t think.
For year and for year down the line people will still be fascinated with the idea of a magic want. one stick that does it all and that is what iPhone makers had in mind. I always wondered why people were carrying a PDA and a Mobile at the same time.
Steve Jobs was pragmatist who realized that people need a magic wand that that can communicate like a phone, has a display like a TV, has processing power like a computer and is at the same time a music player which allows you to define your own album.
Is there anything else a non-elitist man could think of !
A majic wand are you for real?! thats so funny!.
The I phone has done nothing more than every other pda smart phone befor it apart from turn a usefull device in to a toy for over grown children. Seriously mate the I phone is piss poor at what it dose when you compare it to other phone on the market.