20 years ago I bought my first mobile phone

[dwig]

I miss those small flip and slide phones

I prefer flip phones. I use them since I want a real phone in my pocket and not a small tablet computer. For tablet computer work I prefer a "real" computer OS so I use an 8" Windows 10 tablet.

My current phone is the LG Exalt VN220, which is an LTE phone running a gelded Android. I've had it a little over 6 months and it has been a good fit for me. My wife recently got a Convoy 4 (ruggedized, waterproof, ...) but I don't think they are available any longer.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Mobile phones were all getting smaller and smaller until when they began being used for more than just messaging and cals. I remember seeing a match box sized flip phone and thinking how small the phones would be by the year 2020 and man was I wrong! LOL

So maybe the smartwatch will take the place of the call and text only mobile phone in the future, leaving the big screen smartphones in the backpacks and purses for when you really need a big screen or want to make a photo.

You can still get very small phones. Very popular in prisons apparently.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

You can still get very small phones. Very popular in prisons apparently.

Jimmy/Saul/Gene can get you one.

 

[martin2345uk]

My first ever mobile was a Vodafone MN1, which I believe was made by Maxon... I was SO excited by it..! I was 17/18 at the time

 

[Michael Scrip]

Mobile phones were all getting smaller and smaller until when they began being used for more than just messaging and cals. I remember seeing a match box sized flip phone and thinking how small the phones would be by the year 2020 and man was I wrong! LOL

Exactly. When a cell phone's major functional components were just a speaker and a microphone... you could shrink them into tiny packages. Those component didn't require a lot of space.

But now the "phone" has evolved into a pocket-sized computer where the vibrant screen is the primary focus. It's more than just voice. And in some parts of the world it can be your only device.

So maybe the smartwatch will take the place of the call and text only mobile phone in the future, leaving the big screen smartphones in the backpacks and purses for when you really need a big screen or want to make a photo.

Good point.

I was thinking... pretend the smartphone didn't exist. We could track the size of mobile phones from giant Moto-bricks to flip-phones to phones so small they fit on your wrist (smartwatch). That seems like a logical progression from big to small.

However... the smartphone does exist and it threw a wrench into that entire plan.

It's not all bad though. I certainly wouldn't want to go back to having just a flip-phone.

I like your idea of a small smartwatch for calls/texts and a bigger smartphone for everything else. That seems like a good solution.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Exactly. When a cell phone's major functional components were just a speaker and a microphone... you could shrink them into tiny packages. Those component didn't require a lot of space.

But now the "phone" has evolved into a pocket-sized computer where the vibrant screen is the primary focus. It's more than just voice. And in some parts of the world it can be your only device.



Good point.

I was thinking... pretend the smartphone didn't exist. We could track the size of mobile phones from giant Moto-bricks to flip-phones to phones so small they fit on your wrist (smartwatch). That seems like a logical progression from big to small.

However... the smartphone does exist and it threw a wrench into that entire plan.

It's not all bad though. I certainly wouldn't want to go back to having just a flip-phone.

I like your idea of a small smartwatch for calls/texts and a bigger smartphone for everything else. That seems like a good solution.

Something like this:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/light-phone-2#/

 

[bingeciren]

After having a bunch of Ericsson and Nokias, finally in 2004 I had what I considered to be a first smart phone; Palm Treo 650 which later on I upgraded to the 680. It had a pressure sensitive color lcd touch screen, SD card slot to hold pictures and music, apps to buy install and customize, while there was no 3G, LTE or such high speed internet in those days, that thing still could get on the internet using EDGE (really slow). It had a built in email program and it worked fairly decently, I could send and receive sms messages and keep the conversations in a thread, load mp3 files on the SD card and play them using a third party program, take 640 x 480 pixel pictures using the built in camera, take notes and do pretty much all the basic stuff I do what anyone do with a smart phone these days.

It is absolutely mind boggling how advanced the Palm Treo was long before the iPhone even existed, how far ahead of the game they were and yet they still failed.

Palm Treo’s story should be a case study in business and marketing schools.

 

[Baldilocks]

My first phone -- sometime in the 90's.

[doublepost=1539739243][/doublepost]And this is every model I have had since. PhoneArena is good for something, at least

 

[SBlue1]

My first phone -- sometime in the 90's.

[doublepost=1539739243][/doublepost]And this is every model I have had since. PhoneArena is good for something, at least

View attachment 795666

You had all these phones?? Why?

 

[Baldilocks]

You had all these phones?? Why?

Why not?

 

[ZStech]

Now that I am eligible for a new phone like every two years I just tried to find out when it all started for me and I found out it was exactly this time around 20 years ago! Wow!

It was a big chunky Sony CM-DX 2000 with a whopping 97 x 33 pixels display and 100 hours standby time. I was pretty late actually as some in my class and even my brother already had mobile phones.

Since then I had a Nokia 8210 (loved its size and the bright orange metallic flake cover), Nokia 8310, Motorola V500 (my first flip phone), Samsung D600 (my first slide phone), Samsung U700 (loved that all-chrome front), ZTE Blade (my first smartphone), iPhone 5 (my first iPhone), iPhone 6 (best iPhone ever), and finally iPhone 7 (which I hated cause of the missing headphone jack but hey my company gave it to me for free...).

What was your first mobile phone and which was your favourite?

My first one was Sony Ericsson J200. Dad have bought it for me when I was... like 15 or 16 years old How many years ago it was...

 

[jbarley]

Why not?

All the waste in the landfills for a starter.

 

[maxjohnson2]

I don't remember the first cellphone, but the first smartphone was the HTC Touch Pro2 I bought for $299 with 2 years contract from Sprint in 2009, which is a lot under contract even comparing to today. It was a big mistake since it ran Windows Mobile. I was choosing between it and the HTC Hero, in retrospect should have gone with the Hero which run Android.

 

[YaBe]

Hard to believe but this was my first cellphone... a brick!

 

[annk]

Mine was a Motorola I believe. Think it was 1994, because my son was about two years old in a stroller, and I remember we stood in line outside the store to get it.

 

[Healer Flame]

Now that I am eligible for a new phone like every two years I just tried to find out when it all started for me and I found out it was exactly this time around 20 years ago! Wow!

It was a big chunky Sony CM-DX 2000 with a whopping 97 x 33 pixels display and 100 hours standby time. I was pretty late actually as some in my class and even my brother already had mobile phones.

Since then I had a Nokia 8210 (loved its size and the bright orange metallic flake cover), Nokia 8310, Motorola V500 (my first flip phone), Samsung D600 (my first slide phone), Samsung U700 (loved that all-chrome front), ZTE Blade (my first smartphone), iPhone 5 (my first iPhone), iPhone 6 (best iPhone ever), and finally iPhone 7 (which I hated cause of the missing headphone jack but hey my company gave it to me for free...).

What was your first mobile phone and which was your favourite?

I remember back in the 90's my very first phone was Sony Ericsson. Was very excited when i recieved first call.

 

[Mac'nCheese]

Well since this thread is back from the dead, I'll join in. I can't remember my first exactly but my favorite was the star tack that fit in the little tiny pocket inside the bigger pocket of pants.

 

[GGJstudios]

My first mobile phone was the Motorola bag phone, in 1988:

Needless to say, I'm very pleased with where technology is today!

 

[Baldilocks]

All the waste in the landfills for a starter.

Waste? What waste? I've collected all the iPhones I've ever had. I sold the other ones or handed them down. Common sense, people. Common sense.

 

[jeyf]

you can save the plastic carcass but after the batteries are chemically physically toast, the whole assembly will never work again.

counting my current i have had only (5) phones

 

[jbarley]

I'm on my second phone, purchased the first when I retired 22 years ago.
Amazing how long they last, but then I'm not your normal user, I only turn it on when I need to make a call.

 

[SBlue1]

Well since this thread is back from the dead, I'll join in. I can't remember my first exactly but my favorite was the star tack that fit in the little tiny pocket inside the bigger pocket of pants.

When I first saw that in the mobile shop window I fell in love with it.

 

[1claire]

My first phone is a Nokia 5210, I still remember how mad my Mom was when it got confiscated at school.

 

[geekiemac]

My first mobile phone was a Motorola MicroTAC 8400 international. I remember vividly the day in 1996 when I picked it up. I had just landed my first job in IT and was eager to show off my role as the company's techno guru and übergeek As an IT responsible I had to be easily reachable, even during my commutes by train.



That phone lasted for a couple of years, until the flip cover dropped off. By the turn of the century, I had to get one of these nifty Nokias so I went for a Nokia 6150 that - oh-oh - had dual band !

Another couple of years later, I got an Ericsson T39m (back to the flip-phone), a great little phone, so lightweight and cute, and which I could easily pair with my Palm device to go online.

Next one was the back then wildly popular Sony Ericsson T68i ... cute as a candy !

Then I bought a used Samsung flip-phone but can't remember the exact model, then another Sony Ericsson (can't remember the exact model either, but it had a nice camera), before switching to a Palm Treo 680 which was the last non-iPhone I owned before switching definitely to my first iPhone (3G in 2008). I've been using iPhones ever since (did a short stint with Nexus 5 and Galaxy S5 for work though).

 

[yaxomoxay]

My first mobile phone was a Motorola MicroTAC 8400 international. I remember vividly the day in 1996 when I bought it.it, I had just landed my first job in IT and was eager to show off my role as the company's techno guru and übergeek As an IT responsible I had to be easily reachable, even during my commutes by train.

View attachment 829846

That phone lasted for a couple of years, until the flip cover dropped off. By the turn of the century, I had to get one of these nifty Nokias so I went for a Nokia 6150 that - oh-oh - had dual band !

Another couple of years later, I got an Ericsson T39m (back to the flip-phone), a great little phone, so lightweight and cute, and which I could easily pair with my Palm device to go online.

Next one was the back then wildly popular Sony Ericsson T68i ... cute as a candy !

Then I used a Samsung flip-phone for a while but can't remember the exact model, then another Sony Ericsson, before switching to a Palm Treo 680 which was the last phone I had before my first iPhone.

Ah the "Telecom Italia Mobile" logo brought back some memories.