My history of mobile devices from 1998 - today

June 4, 2008 by alex

[ originally posted over at everydayUX ]

My friend Lian recently posted this photo on Flickr:

Seeing this phone brought back memories of some of the first mobile phones I ever owned. I started to dig up a couple of photos to post in the comments. In the time since then, I felt compelled to try to pull together a list of all of the phones I’ve ever owned. Finding good photos was something I thought the internet would be better at so I apologize for any that aren’t ideal.

I’m pretty sure this list covers them all (but if you know me and remember that I had another device, please let me know and I’ll add it here):

Nokia 2110

This was my first phone. I got it in May 1998 immediately after graduating college and moving back to NYC. I justified the purchase because I felt I had to always be reachable in order to more efficiently a) find an apartment and b) find a job.

Nokia 5110

My second phone, complete with interchangeable faceplate - Nokia was on the customization train way back then - well done. I feel like everyone had one of these at some point. My friend Micah this weekend reminded me about how awesome it was that, with this phone, came an excellent game of Snake.

(ps: Great archive of old Nokia’s here)

Modo

[ Dotcom Bust Special! ]
My friends chipped in and got me one of these for my birthday and I only got to enjoy it for a few weeks before the company went under in one of the most famous Internet flameouts in history (they tore though $40 mil in 2 months!). This was a device that, content-wise, was ahead of its time. Now we know that content can and should live on a mobile phone.

I still keep mine on my desk now as a constant reminder of a) how quickly things can change so never get complacent and b) how proprietary devices are more often than not, a stupid way to go about launching a new product (and now more than ever).

For a walk down memory lane, hop over to Dennis’s Modo tribute page to get all the gory details on the ill-fated company.

Motorola StarTac

The ubiquitous StarTac. Simply a solid phone.

Motorola Timeport

Better and sleeker than the StarTac. I also always loved how this phone felt in my hand.

Siemens S40

The phone was tiny, which was great, but the UI drove me bananas. It was also my first foray into the world of SIM cards and unlocked phones.

Sanyo 6100

This crappy Sanyo phone just plain sucked (but it had a speakerphone!) What was I thinking?! This was the equivalent of a rebound phone after my subpar Siemens experience.

Samsung SGH-500

This was the phone I was rocking when I got to ITP, ready to get my mobile + social on. Sadly I lost this one to an unexpected rain storm.

LG VX6000

[ Halll of Famer ]
This is hands down one of the best phones I’ve ever owned. It wasn’t “smart” but it did the stuff that mattered most - talking + texting + taking sending photos - flawlessly. It also had the super cool disco LEDs on the front screen.

There was a time where I’d say no less than 8 of my friends carried this device. It is also the device I most associate with our whole dodgeball experience - the phone Dennis and I both carried, tested new features on, demoed for the press, and used in all our presentations + collateral. Dennis has been through at least three of them: one broke in half, one “fell” into a pint of beer and the last one was simply crushed.

In fact, this week Karen gave our friend Gabe her old one since he just lost his phone and didn’t want to buy a new one 2 weeks before iPhone v2 is released.

If there were a cellphone Hall of Fame, this guy would be a first ballot entrant.

Palm Treo 650

My entry into the word of smartphones, the Treo 650. Great texting/emailing device. A little clunky in the ol’ pocket though.

Blackberry Pearl

My smartphone gets smaller with the Blackberry Pearl. I really liked this phone. The trackball was a gamechanger for me in regards to navigational tool.

Apple iPhone

My current mobile telephony device, the iPhone. I loved this phone when I got it and that love has only gotten stronger.

Like many, I got my first taste of mobile on a Nokia and after that I hopped around trying as many different manufacturers as I could. Odds are, my phone in the next few weeks will be different yet again. Here are some hints about what it might look like or what it might do.

Whatever it ends up being, it’s amazing to think about how far we’ve come - 3G speeds, real-time GPS, rich media, etc. All in 10 short years.

June 9th can’t come soon enough.

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In the meantime, check out this neat video on the history of mobile phones. I’m sure you’ll see some that bring you back a bit:

Tags: apple, mobile, nokia, palm, samsung, sanyo, video

Posted in EverydayUX, Thoughts