Cell Phones: Then and Now
Fun April 12th, 2009
Yep, that’s my first cell phone from circa 1995. I actually used it in a grocery store to make the emergency call to my husband that cell phones were built for: regular or Double Stuff Oreos?
I’m pretty sure that’s when the whole Wanting to Punch People Who Use Cell Phones for Unnecessary and Stupid Calls thing started.
Sorry. You can blame me.
Stumble it!
April 14th, 2009 at 5:08 am
I remember the first mobile phone I ever saw. Belonged to a friend’s dad. It was bigger than my landphone at the time. It was so heavy he couldn’t really keep it in his pocket and carry it around. The battery itself was larger than a complete mobile phone of today. And it needed to be charged everytime he used it.
I never really saw the point of having that… thing. It wasn’t really a phone, and it definitely wasn’t ‘mobile’.
One primary factor for a mobile phone, I think… should be portability. It’s kind of a prerequisite.
April 14th, 2009 at 5:18 am
Momo Fali — I don’t know why, either. I found it on a shelf all by itself in the basement. So I’m guessing it was in a box and I took it out to admire it. Set it down and there it sat for 10 years. Weird.
jafer — And I’m sure he was the coolest guy on the field. So futuristic!
Will — This will be a lesson for all of us. Must take pictures of boring objects. Never know when they’ll come in handy.
Amber — An iPhone may be overwhelming at first, but it’s the kind of thing you grow into and then you’re really glad you bought all the bells and whistles.
Wiggy — A friend of mine watches video on his iPod. I remember thinking how ridiculous that was. Until I tried it and loved it. It’s amazing how good the quality of audio and video is. I never thought I’d take to it.
hammy — You bring up an interesting point. Mobile should also be light. If you have to lug a suitcase around with a phone in it, you might as well leave it at home and look for a phone booth. Remember those?
April 14th, 2009 at 8:40 am
This morning I woke up and thought of that phone again. If it could speak, I think it would say “Take Me To Your Leader.” That is so “retro!” Now robots from outer space say “Take me to Tom Cruise’s House”
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April 14th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Ow! That think must have broke your back to carry it in your purse! It looks like my cordless at home.
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April 14th, 2009 at 9:51 am
I remember being embarrassed while making that same phone call, but I’ve gotten used to it.
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April 14th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Kathy;
So it was you. I always wondered who was the first person ever to use a cell phone. Man. I was just a kid way back in 1995.
Happy trails.
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April 14th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I was the last hold out for a cell phone. I hated them. I still kind of hate them. I only use them for texting and really needed calls with clients and family.
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April 14th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Ah yes … the cell phone. Love it. Hate it.
My one piece of advice is DO NOT give your teen-ager an unlimited cell phone. Why? My teen-age girl fell in love and spent 50 some hours/month talking to her boyfriend. It took me a couple months to notice this because we initially had tons or “roll over” minutes.
Getting her a call phone for her safety was one of the worst decisions I ever made regarding her safety.
Indoor, under-the-cover use is bad physically, especially on children and young adults. There are studies out on this. The cell phone also brings in way too much emotion for a group that tends to be a tad … compulsive?!
Keep the phones connected to the wall in the hallway of your home where everyone can listen in – like the good ‘ol days! And, get them something that needs to be recharged and will dial 911 which is what all of us really wanted in the first place.
– Viveca
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April 14th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Classic!! I thought that was a brick next to that cell phone. 😉
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April 14th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Heck you should have seen them back in my day, they were even bigger. Oh that is so sad to remind myself how old I am getting.
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April 14th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
I’m out of Humor-Blogs votes today!
-I owe you one … that was hilarious!!
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April 14th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Oh, heavens – and I thought my first one was clunky! ROFL!
Come to think of it, I’m still only on my second …
Talking of irritation conversations, my darling husband always makes a point of calling me when he knows I’m on a train. He then asks me to tell him where I am, just so I will say out loud to the whole carriage ‘I’M ON THE TRAIN!’
I fall for it every time. LOL!
April 14th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
At least it’s not as big as the cell phone the A-team used to hall around. I think back then they were called bag phones because you had to literally take it and the rest of the phone contraption around in a bag.
My first cell phone was an Audiovox from AAA back in 1998. It was pretty big, too.
April 14th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Like you said… now we’ve gone to the other extreme with those micro Bluetooth ear thingys. I’ve heard rumors that they’ve made chips that will fit in your actual tooth like a filling, so you can just walk around talking with nothing hanging off your head and REALLY look crazy. I can’t wait.
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April 14th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
I lament the good old days when cellphone could actually do damage to someone if you threw it at them…..the ones today don’t even leave a bruise.
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April 14th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
Oh, my! Hubby had one of these when we were dating. Around 1998 (it was a castoff from his parents). He had to use it once to call them, and they yelled at him: “do you know how much this is costing?” I think it was $10 a minute, or something like that.
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April 14th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
LOL … I love when I see old tv shows like Magnum and they’re using a 10 inch cell phone, LOL! I kinda miss the size I find the ones now so hard to see!!!
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April 15th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Lol! How big cellphones were and now…just so hard to hold these phones because of their sizes:)
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April 15th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
My first cell phone was hard wired into my car. It was a corded monster that did have a hands free option. thank goodness for that, I couldn’t have possibly driven and tried to hold that thing up to my ear. I refuse to use a bluetooth. I have a blackberry now and when the weekend rolls around I forget to take it with me. I can certainly turn the job off, when I want too.
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April 15th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Now the cell phones are soooo small they get lost in my purse. It takes me what seems like hours to find it. I’ve even reported my phone stolen once, and it was in my purse all along. HA!
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April 15th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Wow, does that bring back memories, mostly my soar shoulder from lugging that monster around in my purse (must have weighed 2lbs).
April 15th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
I never know what to do with old cell phones. Somehow it seems wrong to just throw them out. I think I still have every one I’ve ever owned. lol
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April 16th, 2009 at 8:09 am
I’ve had my current cell phone for close to 3 years, so it’s definitely obsolete. My nieces and nephews love to look at it and reminisce about the “good old days.”
It’s fun to see old phones pop up in movies. I was watching “Pretty Woman” the other night (it’s on constantly anymore), and Richard Gere is talking on a ginormous cordless phone. Made me laugh.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:58 am
I didn’t get a cell phone until 2005. I resisted them as long as I could. My first phone was a prepaid, “candy bar” style phone that kept pressing numbers by itself in my pocket. After I got cut off in the middle of a call, I finally gave in to a contract plan and got my first flip phone. I couldn’t help but think of Captain Kirk’s communicator from the 1960s Star Trek when I got that one.
I was watching the movie “Reservoir Dogs” and one guy in that movie was talking on a car phone the size of a brick in both length and width.
My current phone has a whole bunch of features on it I never use, as most of them pad your bill and eat up battery time. I just use it to talk and to sometimes take pictures. And I use the calculator some as well. That’s it.
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April 23rd, 2009 at 9:24 am
I actually remember when cell phones were even bigger than the one you show in the photo. In a few more years they will probably be lighter and smaller.
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April 30th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Wow i have the EnV2 and i thought that was big… I think that phone is bigger than my house phone….. how did you carry that thing places it would have been smarter if you just got a bird to do it
May 4th, 2009 at 5:29 am
That looks really vintage. Its functions are still used though.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:49 am
I got cut off in the middle of a call, I finally gave in to a contract plan and got my first flip phone. I couldn’t help but think of Captain Kirk’s communicator from the 1960s Star Trek when I got that one.
January 17th, 2010 at 9:15 am
the joys of the bricks lol back in the day lol
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February 17th, 2010 at 10:31 am
My 1st cellular phone is nokia 3310..today my phone is sony ericsson W 880i..can imagine if today, all cellular phone is so slim..
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February 22nd, 2010 at 10:00 am
The best ones were the big chunky phones that required either Hercules or a shopping trolley to carry around the charges. Man you could do some serious damage to someone with one of those phones, totally cool and retro nowadays of course
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