Cell phones have become a lot smaller over the years, but they're bigger than ever in functionality and popularity. Here's a look at how the mobile phone has changed over the decades.
The following phones don't necessarily reflect the first or best of each type, but instead represent certain phases in mobile phone evolution over the last 50 years.
The 88-pound MTA phone, shown here, is typical in size and weight of early mobile phone systems from the pre-integrated-circuit era.
Most were so heavy and power-hungry that they required permanent installation in a car or other vehicle.
Very few people owned, used or even encountered such devices.
Notable qualities :
The first automatic mobile telephone system (it didn't require a human operator to manually connect the user to an outside phone line).
Though Motorola announced the world's first hand-held mobile phone -- a prototype of the DynaTAC 8000X you see above -- in 1973, it took 10 years for the DynaTAC to reach the market.
Upon its release in 1983, the DynaTAC 8000X became an instant cultural icon, both as a status symbol for the rich (thanks to the $3,995 retail price -- $8,657 in 2009 dollars) and as an almost miraculous wonder-phone that a person could use anywhere. With the DynaTAC, the cell phone revolution had finally begun.
Notable qualities :
Small size, light weight; the first hand-held mobile phone.
Motorola's handheld DynaTAC was an amazing breakthrough, but in reality its size proved limiting due to the battery technology of the era. The DynaTAC could manage only 60 minutes of talk time in ideal conditions, while larger "luggable" phones equipped with capacious batteries -- such as the Mobira Talkman, shown here -- could provide many hours of continuous operation.
Notable qualities :
Early luggable mobile phone; relatively long talk time.
After the success of the DynaTAC, Motorola followed up with the much smaller and lighter MicroTAC phone in 1989. The MicroTAC included a novel space-saving idea: Motorola engineers placed part of the phone's hardware in a hinged section that could fold inward or outward as needed, thus reducing the phone's size when it wasn't in use. The flip concept lives on in many cell phones today.
Notable qualities :
First flip phone, first pocket phone; smallest and lightest cellular phone at the time of its debut.
When many people think of the "car phones" of the 1980s and 1990s, they picture bag phones like the Motorola 2900, shown here. The bag contained a transceiver and battery, and the user operated a much lighter, corded handset. Owners could carry the bag on their shoulder, but a bag phone's general bulk mostly limited its usage to cars.
Despite the availability of smaller phones on the market, bag phones remained popular well into the late 1990s due to their long talk times and their superior range.
Notable qualities :
Long talk times, plus greater battery life and signal range.
In 1996, Motorola further shrank its line of pocket cell phones, producing the 3.1-ounce StarTAC -- which immediately proved popular and influential. The StarTAC expanded on the partially collapsible design of its precursor, the MicroTAC, by allowing users to fold the phone in half when they weren't talking on it. We now call this design "clamshell," for its resemblance to the way a clam opens and closes.
The StarTAC's general design was widely imitated, and a large percentage of mobile phones still use it today.
Notable qualities :
First fully "clamshell" mobile phone design; smallest and lightest mobile phone at its release.
The following phones don't necessarily reflect the first or best of each type, but instead represent certain phases in mobile phone evolution over the last 50 years.
- SRA/Ericsson MTA (Mobile Telephone System A)
The 88-pound MTA phone, shown here, is typical in size and weight of early mobile phone systems from the pre-integrated-circuit era.
Most were so heavy and power-hungry that they required permanent installation in a car or other vehicle.
Very few people owned, used or even encountered such devices.
Notable qualities :
The first automatic mobile telephone system (it didn't require a human operator to manually connect the user to an outside phone line).
- Motorola DynaTAC 8000X
Though Motorola announced the world's first hand-held mobile phone -- a prototype of the DynaTAC 8000X you see above -- in 1973, it took 10 years for the DynaTAC to reach the market.
Upon its release in 1983, the DynaTAC 8000X became an instant cultural icon, both as a status symbol for the rich (thanks to the $3,995 retail price -- $8,657 in 2009 dollars) and as an almost miraculous wonder-phone that a person could use anywhere. With the DynaTAC, the cell phone revolution had finally begun.
Notable qualities :
Small size, light weight; the first hand-held mobile phone.
- Nokia Mobira Talkman
Motorola's handheld DynaTAC was an amazing breakthrough, but in reality its size proved limiting due to the battery technology of the era. The DynaTAC could manage only 60 minutes of talk time in ideal conditions, while larger "luggable" phones equipped with capacious batteries -- such as the Mobira Talkman, shown here -- could provide many hours of continuous operation.
Notable qualities :
Early luggable mobile phone; relatively long talk time.
- Motorola MicroTAC
After the success of the DynaTAC, Motorola followed up with the much smaller and lighter MicroTAC phone in 1989. The MicroTAC included a novel space-saving idea: Motorola engineers placed part of the phone's hardware in a hinged section that could fold inward or outward as needed, thus reducing the phone's size when it wasn't in use. The flip concept lives on in many cell phones today.
Notable qualities :
First flip phone, first pocket phone; smallest and lightest cellular phone at the time of its debut.
- Motorola 2900 Bag Phone
When many people think of the "car phones" of the 1980s and 1990s, they picture bag phones like the Motorola 2900, shown here. The bag contained a transceiver and battery, and the user operated a much lighter, corded handset. Owners could carry the bag on their shoulder, but a bag phone's general bulk mostly limited its usage to cars.
Despite the availability of smaller phones on the market, bag phones remained popular well into the late 1990s due to their long talk times and their superior range.
Notable qualities :
Long talk times, plus greater battery life and signal range.
- Motorola StarTAC
In 1996, Motorola further shrank its line of pocket cell phones, producing the 3.1-ounce StarTAC -- which immediately proved popular and influential. The StarTAC expanded on the partially collapsible design of its precursor, the MicroTAC, by allowing users to fold the phone in half when they weren't talking on it. We now call this design "clamshell," for its resemblance to the way a clam opens and closes.
The StarTAC's general design was widely imitated, and a large percentage of mobile phones still use it today.
Notable qualities :
First fully "clamshell" mobile phone design; smallest and lightest mobile phone at its release.
