CBS News reports on cell phones back in 1983 (T-Mobile, nerd, flash)

[gsoboi78]

32 years ago, only the rich and important carried them. They were bulky and pricey ($3,000). At one time only 23 phones were allowed on the cellular network at one time in Chicago. They predicted back then that most people would have them, they would be affordable and fit in your pocket. They were right. People started buying them in the late 1980s as mobile car phones in a bag which required you to have an antenna on your car. It wasn't until the 1990s when we saw the explosion of handheld cell phones. Cell phones evolved into to something much bigger in the late 2000s. Now we have smartphones. It will be interesting to see how cell phones evolve in another 30 years. New technologies reveal that one day we will have smartphones on thin screens like film that roll up, the same technology behind electronic paper. Smart phones combined with other breakthrough technologies will become even smarter. I saw a demonstration on tv where a person commanded his car to drive up to him. Driverless cars are just around the corner as well.

Flashback: What we said about mobile phones in 1983 - CBS News

self driving/parking cars with the use of a smartphone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCrmFuDjV9k

cell phone 30 years ago



Here is what a smart phone will look like in about 10 years







smartphones in about 15 to 20 years

[ramkobe]

I remember my dad having a cell phone in 1987 or so. It wasn't as bulky as the one pictured. But it was as heavy as a brick.

[ZeusAV]

That one in the first pic we used to jokingly call the Zack Morris cell phone.

[ramkobe]

This is the phone my dad had.... pretty cool looking actually.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by ZeusAV

That one in the first pic we used to jokingly call the Zack Morris cell phone.

I always think of it as the Gordon Gekko phone from the movie "Wall Street." Back in 1983, those phones cost about as much as a used car. You had to be rich like him to afford one.



It was also quaint to see US workers using tools and manufacturing the phones in the video. That's a relic of the past.