The First Cellphone Went on Sale 30 Years Ago for $4,000

[Marv1]

I came across this article yesterday. Was anyone here a "brick" owner back in the day? Lol.

 

http://mashable.com/2014/03/13/first-cellphone-on-sale/

 

[chamb]

I came across this article yesterday. Was anyone here a "brick" owner back in the day? Lol.

 

http://mashable.com/2014/03/13/first-cellphone-on-sale/

I never owned one, but I did have one of these in my hands at a manufacturers show in the mid 80's.

It was a DynaTAC and looked about like the one shown, but it may not have been the exact model. At the show, it was a very popular item and nobody was allowed to hold it for any length of time.

At that time, very few people thought that the concept was ever going to work. I do not think anybody ever dreamed that we all would be carrying a phone with us everywhere we went.  Nobody ever dreamed that the price could drop to several hundred a unit and be affordable to everyone.  Nobody ever dreamed that we could see 1/4 million cell sites in this country.

[Geesmill]

Yes, it is totally amazing the speed with which the wireless networks have been deployed and the price drops on handsets that have been experienced.  

 

I remember getting assigned a Motorola bag phone for work back in the early 90s.  I traveled all over the western U.S. and when I asked about the cost of roaming, etc my supervisor said it is your work phone, if you need to use it, use it.

 

Well the next month when the $4600 bill came in I was told I probably could use email and landlines for some of those calls.  

 

It is just ridiculous how digital technologies, the internet and VOIP have changed the landscape of communications in the world.

 

I never owned one, but I did have one of these in my hands at a manufacturers show in the mid 80's.

It was a DynaTAC and looked about like the one shown, but it may not have been the exact model. At the show, it was a very popular item and nobody was allowed to hold it for any length of time.

At that time, very few people thought that the concept was ever going to work. I do not think anybody ever dreamed that we all would be carrying a phone with us everywhere we went.  Nobody ever dreamed that the price could drop to several hundred a unit and be affordable to everyone.  Nobody ever dreamed that we could see 1/4 million cell sites in this country.

[S4GRU]

Yes, it is totally amazing the speed with which the wireless networks have been deployed and the price drops on handsets that have been experienced.

 

I remember getting assigned a Motorola bag phone for work back in the early 90s. I traveled all over the western U.S. and when I asked about the cost of roaming, etc my supervisor said it is your work phone, if you need to use it, use it.

 

Well the next month when the $4600 bill came in I was told I probably could use email and landlines for some of those calls.

 

It is just ridiculous how digital technologies, the internet and VOIP have changed the landscape of communications in the world.

I remember my first cell phone bill was $212 back in 1994. I almost died.

 

Robert via Samsung Note 8.0 using Tapatalk Pro