The Mobile/ Cell Phone History Topic

[-Mark-]

So, the other day I randomly started thinking back over how many mobile phones I’ve been through over the years and realised that I'm actually on my eighth phone in around 12-13 years. Oh god though, so much nostalgia Googling around for all these; It didn’t help I’d forgotten the names of a lot of them. I can’t remember exactly when I got some of these or how long I had them for either, so some of them might be best-guess estimates. How about you guys? How many phones have you been through? How long did you have each one, and why did you upgrade when you did?

Ericsson A1018 (2000-2001?, Virgin)

I got this when I was around 12-13, so whilst I can’t exactly remember when it was that I had it, I guess that’d make it around 1999-2000 or so. I didn’t really ask for this as such, my Dad just got it for me. God though, it’s a total brick. I never really used it at that stage other than for the odd text to friends and such. It mostly just sat on a table at home because I guess I was at an age where I never really used it, and the same was true for quite a few of my earlier phones.

Motorola v2288 (2001-2003, Orange)

Now, this is the phone where I got the number that I still have today. I actually got it as part of an offer they had with Sonic Adventure 2. Again, it didn’t see much use, other than a bit when I was on holiday. A year or two later, the battery life was getting pathetic, so my Dad gave me my next phone, which was either a cheap secondhand-off-eBay job or a hand-me-down, I can’t quite remember.

Nokia 3210 (2003-2004?, Orange)

I can’t actually remember too much about this one, really. I know that the 3210 was basically the go-to phone that everyone had a few years prior, but still. Again, I was still at a stage where I never really used my phone, so it was just there for a sort of ‘if and when I needed it’ thing. I think it was replaced my next one which was a hand-me-down when my Dad upgraded (as most of my early phones seemed to be; I went through a lot without really asking for or needing them). Looking back on it, both this and the next phone I got felt more like stop-gaps that I didn’t really want or need to upgrade to, but was just given.

Nokia 8210 (2004-2005?, Orange)

Again, another hand-me-down, although having started Uni in late 2005, I started using the phone a bit more, too. It wasn’t all that different from my previous one, just a bit smaller and lighter. Again, another stop-gap phone, really.

Nokia 6100 (late 2005/early 2006 - Nov 2007, Orange)

I can’t remember if I actually wanted this phone, or Dad just got it for me on a whim (again, second hand from eBay). This was a bit of a step up from my last ones, because it at least had a colour screen. It still couldn’t use MP3 ringtone, but eh. I used this quite a bit, and honestly it feels like I had it for longer than I did, looking back at it.

Nokia 6300 (Nov 2007-Aug 2011, Orange/ ASDA Mobile)

Dad got me this for my 21st birthday. I think it’s the first phone I actively went out of my way to actually want. I was using my phone more and more at this stage, and the limitations of my previous handset were becoming obvious; inbox filling up and corrupting messages when it got too full, it was fairly slow and clunky. This is the phone I had for the longest, because I never really felt a need to upgrade. It’s still an okay mid-range phone by today’s standards, although it was a little on the heavy side due to its metal casing. I switched from Orange to ASDA Mobile in Summer 2009 because it was much cheaper than Orange.

Nokia C2-01 (Aug 2011-Jan 2012, Three)

Okay, I’ll admit; I already wanted an iPhone at this stage, but because I wasn’t in full-time employment at the time, I didn’t feel I could justify spending £600 on one. Still, 3G Internet was becoming more and more important to me, so I decided to go for this (as well as changing networks to 3), since it was going cheap for £50 and is one of the few non-smartphones to actually support 3G Internet. Other than that, it was largely the same as my previous phone, albeit slightly lighter and with a better camera. Ironically, the 3G wasn’t too great, primarily because as a mid-range phone, the Internet speed was crippled by the hardware itself.

Apple iPhone 4S: (Jan 2012-present, Three)

I doubt this needs any introduction. Seeing as the only reason I hadn’t bought one of these much sooner was because I didn’t have a decent enough income to justify it (even if I could have still afforded it), starting my new job in January meant this was right near the top of my want list. Seeing as I’d already had an iPod Touch for a couple of years and was getting tired of carrying around a separate iPod and phone, this seemed like an obvious next step. Of course, after spending such an obscene amount on a phone, I’m not really planning on upgrading again for a good number of years. I hardly use my phone as a phone anyway. I mostly use it for Internet on the go.

...at least I wasn’t planning on upgrading for a long time. Then I realised that 4G Internet is just around the corner. Seeing as fast Internet is the biggest selling point of a phone for me... ugh. D: Well, I’m definitely not just going to jump on 4G at the first chance I get, for certain. At the same time, the promise of faster, more reliable mobile Internet will likely be too enticing for me to fend off for my originally intended five-years-before-next-upgrade. I still want to get a good 2-3 years out of this at least though, because £600. D:

Edited May 7, 2012 by -Mark-

[JezMM]

Ooh, this'll be fun!

The year: 2004, and Jez finally gets his first ever phone.

It is beautiful. Nokia 3220. Full colour screen, midi ringtone support, damn cool disco lights when the bugger rings. Totally amazing.

But of course, by today's standards it's pretty primitive. Wait til you see how it compares to the current phone I use, 8 years later.

(Note: The hairband is required to stop the back of the casing falling off and exposing the (12x10cm half-inch thick) SIM card to the elements).

Aww yeeea.

Edited May 7, 2012 by JezMM

[-Mark-]

It's funny actually, I never realised how many phones I've been through until I counted them all up. Although as I said, a lot of them were basically hand-me-downs that I didn't particularly ask for, so it's not like I went out of my way to upgrade so many times, either.

Also Jez, isn't the battery life terrible now? D: Or have you replaced the battery at all? When I had the 6300 for about four years, I went though around 2-3 batteries due to it just getting lousy after a while. I dread to think how long a batter would last after eight years. D:

[JezMM]

It's funny actually, I never realised how many phones I've been through until I counted them all up. Although as I said, a lot of them were basically hand-me-downs that I didn't particularly ask for, so it's not like I went out of my way to upgrade so many times, either.

Also Jez, isn't the battery life terrible now? D: Or have you replaced the battery at all? When I had the 6300 for about four years, I went though around 2-3 batteries due to it just getting lousy after a while. I dread to think how long a batter would last after eight years. D:

I get about 3 days or so without charging the battery (on all the time), however the actual battery life meter on screen has become completely unrealiable. It'll stay at "full" the majority of the time, but as soon as just one of the five bars disappears, it's time to charge, or else the next time I make/recieve a call, the battery meter will instantly deplete to zero and the phone will turn off.

[Barry the Nomad]

I didn't go mobile until first year of college. Can't recall the models, but I now have an iPhone. I am a firm believer that kids should NOT have phones until high school, and even then there has to be a limit to their minutes, otherwise they waste away on it. I see pre-teens walking around with iPhones and it makes me want to puke.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Barry the Nomad

[Chibinuva]

I didn't go mobile until first year of college. Can't recall the models, but I now have an iPhone. I am a firm believer that kids should NOT have phones until high school, and even then there has to be a limit to their minutes, otherwise they waste away on it. I see pre-teens walking around with iPhones and it makes me want to puke.

While I don't feel as strongly about it, I do agree. It seems ridiculous that I, a freshman in high school, have this basic phone, and I see kids like 10 or so walking around with Blackberries and iPhones. (although I admit there's probably a tinge of jealousy in that)

The Year 2011: Chibi's first cell phone

After having an extra, leftover line and becoming a freshman in high school, my parents decided to get me this phone for my 14th birthday: The Nokia 2330.

As a first phone goes, it's great. It's reliable, sturdy (though not quite so much as the older models,) it has a good battery life (usually every few days given my texting, but can go up to a week before needing to recharge,) it has a fair amount of features (including a sound recorder, various features you'd get on a PDA, and a web browser,) and it's cheap (only $10-20.) It doesn't have a lot of the features newer cell phones have (3G, GPS, camera, ect.) but as a first phone it's great, plus the battery life, durability, and cheaper plan (not requiring a data package,) have made it worth it.

So far, this has been my only phone, as I've been blowing too much money on games to upgrade. However, I have been looking at a few more affordable models, that I believe are referred to as "non-smart phones," (that is with more features than your basic phone like better texting and a camera, without being quite as powerful as a smart phone.)

[Old dead account]

I didn't go mobile until first year of college. Can't recall the models, but I now have an iPhone. I am a firm believer that kids should NOT have phones until high school, and even then there has to be a limit to their minutes, otherwise they waste away on it. I see pre-teens walking around with iPhones and it makes me want to puke.

In high school I saw these two idiotic bimbos talking to each other on the phone...and standing RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER! I hope they weren't actually connected via phone and just doing it to look funny, or rather like idiots in anyone else's eyes.

I've had a phone since 7th grade.

My first one was a prepaid phone that belonged to my mom before

Nokia 3390

I think it was this model, it looks just like mine. Look at its black/white pixelated screen LOL. It was nothing really special, but it was my first cell phone so it was a magical thing indeed!

About 2 years later in High School 9th grade, I got what I think was this model, (look similar enough)

Motorola v195

An improvement over the old phone, I wasn't quite as hyped about this one since it was still a cheap prepaid phone, it still didn't have a camera and still didn't have an mp3 player. It did its job though I guess.

2 years later in 11th grade I finally got a phone that wasn't prepaid and had the features I wanted

Rumor LG

Now this one was awesome at the time. It had a camera and an mp3 player which was what I wanted and tons of other cool little features like bluetooth. I loved this phone but it overstayed its welcome by a few years.

Fast-forward to today, I got my latest phone just this February

iPhone 3G

The most basic iPhone model, it's not exactly up to date, but it's an iPhone, these thing hyped the fuck up and it certainly delivers and relieves me of carrying both an iPod Touch and a phone separately and I love it to pieces. It has a lot more features than my previous phones and has 8GB a lot more memory than my previous 2GB memory stick on my old phone letting me carry all the music I want and about 15 episodes of anything and for the first time I have working 3G internet and wifi and the ability to text pictures and be on here and other sites a lot more often. It's pretty much a dream come true.

As soon as I can I'm updating to a 64GB iPhone 4s to have the entires MLP series, a few movies, all the music in my library, and tons of more games on it.

This was a pretty nostalgic thread

Edited May 7, 2012 by Prince Solaris

[Stacy]

Er, I have Nokia from Tesco. I can't remember what I had before that, er I don't really use it or care to honest, its a phone!

[-Mark-]

I didn't go mobile until first year of college. Can't recall the models, but I now have an iPhone. I am a firm believer that kids should NOT have phones until high school, and even then there has to be a limit to their minutes, otherwise they waste away on it. I see pre-teens walking around with iPhones and it makes me want to puke.

Oh god, yes. I mean, you see children who look about 8-10 with iPhones or Blackberries. What the hell? Moreover, why are their parents willing to spend such an obscene amount on a phone for a child?

[Phos]

I had some random little Nokia brick for a long time (It had snake). I used that up until AT&T stopped using the antenna type it used, so I got a free upgrade to a RAZR, which was fairly high end at the time. The Christmas after the iPhone came out I got one of them partly to keep me more organized, which it kinda did. A few firmware updates later and my first gen iPhone was so laggy that I frequently found myself unable to answer calls, which in a fit of rage and dehydration led to me angrily throwing it at the ground, just in time for the 3GS to come out which I still use. My 3GS is starting to fall apart now, the volume rocker fell out so now I have to stick a fingernail into the side of it to change the volume and the plastic around the external speaker/mic end of the phone is starting to crack all over.

I keep using it because I keep wanting to try out an Android but none of them can match the quality of the iPhone's headphone out. I think the Galaxy Nexus comes closest followed by the Galaxy S and its derivatives.

Siri doesn't know what is best in life nor the answer of the riddle of steel.

[Mollfie]

I honestly cannot remember exactly which models I've owned. I know that this was my first phone:

Nokia 3310

Then I had a Sony Ericsson at one point that was the first phone I ever had which had bluetooth and a camera. Then I had another Nokia which died because I kinda dropped it in the sea >.> then I got another phone before I went to university which died so I got my current phone which is this:

LG KS360

I do really love my phone because the keyboard is great, although everyone else tells me they think it's super tiny lol and I like that it slides away. Plus it's cheap at only £10 a month. It does have a camera, but can't store much because I don't have a memory card. It doesn't have apps.

Edited May 7, 2012 by Mollfie

[Chibi]

Oh boy. I'm really gonna show my age here, but my first phone was one of these...

Motorola StarTAC

I inherited it from some family member somewhere back in the early 2000s. Then my parents came to their senses and got me one of these...

Nokia 3315

Oh the joys of monochromatic screens. It didn't have any apps, but it could text! And it had Snake! That's all you really needed then.

My next phone was one of these shiny things...

Samsung z400

This was maybe in year 11 or 12. (don't really remember dates, but mid 2000s I believe) I remember when I first got it, it made these little chimes when you slid it open and close. It was awesome at first, but I had to turn it off later cause it annoyed me so much!

Anyway, it was a great little phone. Samsung was quality even back then.

2009 rocked up, I was in uni and I needed a smart new phone to accommodate my new lifestyle. Also, I had a chance to get off Telstra, who Aussies would know overcharge you up the whazoo. So, out of all the fancy phones they had out there in 2009, I went with...

Nokia n97

I don't know what compelled me to the n97. Maybe it was the keyboard or the styling or the fact that it wasn't an iPhone. (I will never get an iPhone. I just don't like them.) And sure, the n97 had its problems, but it was a decent little phone. Great for texting and photos, not so good for touching. (resistive touch screen... *shudder*) None the less, I stuck out until the end of my contract.

So now we come to my newest phone, which I got just a couple of months ago. Also, my second carrier switch (Telstra -> Optus -> Virgin). Behold...

Samsung Galaxy SII

Wow. What the hell took me so long? This phone is fantastic! I've been using it for heaps of different things - diary, camera, internet, games, note-taking, voice recording, videos, everything! They don't call them smartphones for nothing, I guess. Plus I got it for $0 upfront on an amazing plan with 2 gigs of data included! So I think I'll be good for a while yet.

[Burnt Ash]

Hmm. Well I got my first phone in 7th grade, a relatively simple one. I think it was called the Motorola Hint. I loved the phone at the time, as it was my first phone ever. Now, I was doing great with it, until one day.... One day, Burnt Ash was taking a little walk, and he took his phone with him. However, the place Burnt Ash was walking in was quite muddy. So, when he returned home, Burnt Ash changed and put his shorts in the washing machine, to clean off all the dirt. Fast forward 45 minutes later, Burnt Ash realized his phone was missing. He searched frantically around the house until a moment of dread came over him: What if the phone was in the washing machine along with my shorts? By the time he got downstairs, the washing machine cycle was over. It had been 45 minutes since it had started. Burnt Ash looked in the machine, and then he found his phone, with a sliver of hope that the phone would still work. He then tried to turn it on, and much to his dismay, the phone was dead.

Three months later, Burnt Ash got a new phone, the Cricket MSGM8. It wasn't as good as the Hint, but it was a phone, and it did it's job properly. Shortly after, Burnt Ash quit on this phone as he didn't like the signal the phone had at his house, etc.

I don't know how long after this later, Burnt Ash got a new phone. The phone that he has today, and the phone he keeps safe and sound. It's the Samsung Strive. Burnt Ash was satisfied with this phone, along with the service provider, and there hasn't been any complaints from him to this day.

Anyway, yeah. Brief history on the phones that I've had. Pretty sure that I've gotten more responsible with them as time progressed.

Edited May 8, 2012 by Burnt Ash

[LunarEdge]

Got my first phone in 9th grade when I was around 15 I believe.

My first phone was a boost mobile phone my mom got me for Christmas because I started going outside more and she wanted to keep track of me XD It was a decent phone but it was costing me an arm and a leg since it was prepaid and I got little to no minutes for my buck.

Then I got a job when I turned 16 and my mother put me on her plan with Sprint. I paid $40 a month for unlimited everything and 500 minutes. I had the black version of this phone for over 3 years before upgrading...

My sister was still working for sprint at the time and obviously I was overdue for an upgrade, so I wanted something with a QWERTY keyboard that slide, so I got this beast of a phone, the first Sprint Rumor phone. Loved the keyboard and the easily customize-able ringtones which I made myself. After having the phone for about another 2-3 years, it broke one day at school when the screen magically broke when I left it unattended while playing ultimate frisbee at my college in my bookbag. No.. there were no heavy objects in my bag that will break the screen the way it was broken... I think someone actually went into my bag and fucked with it XD. After this happened, I needed a new phone ASAP since I used my phone A LOT, so I opted in for the Rumor Touch.

Edited May 8, 2012 by LunarEdge

[HUNTER297]

Finally got time to post. I think I'm gonna be opposit of some people opinions here You see I am 15 and I already had some phones. Mainly because my parents worked in our local "Orange" (previously "Idea" here" but yeah, I was't spoiled because of that. So let's see. My first device was:

Sony Ericsson T68i

I was 4 or , I don't remember. But what I do remember is getting this awsome phone.When my friends got their first phones I got this one. It had everything. It was small, it had Bluetooth (first bluetooth phone from what I remember), it had IR and COLOR DISPLAY! Yes! Everyone were like "OMG YOU HAVE COLOURS!!!". It was awsome phone. My Grandma has it know but its battery is dying so we will have to replace it but I am keeping this phone cause it's awsome

Now next one I got from my Dad. He got new phone so he gave me his buisness one. And it was legendary for me!

Motorola RAZR V3

This phone was even more awsome. It was slim and INDESCRUCTIBLE! More importanty it had 10Mb of internal storage!!!! You know what that meant? I could have custom ringtones Everyone were really jelous of this feature!

Moving on I got my first phone that wasn't only a calling device:

Nokia E65

Music player, Video player. 4GB in Memory Stick. Man this phone was my first multimedia device. I had Walkman but after I got this phone, it was used only sometimes. Oh and let's not forget pretty good camera!.

Then I got what people tend to call "The first smartphone ever" and it isn't iPhone.

Nokia N95

Another phone I got after my Dad. Nokia really showed how Symbian can rock with this phone. It played music, videos, had great camera, you could browse internet, bluetooth 2.0... I can name those feature forever. People call it first smartphone for a reason I guess. But even I couldn't escape iPhones' wrath but I stillloved Symbian so what should I choose?....

Nokia N8

So yeah. I got N8. Mainly because of its features, camera and of course Symbian. And I simply don't trust companies like HTC nor Samsung because of lack in Traditions (You see how I only got "Big 3" phones (Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Nokia). Later on I realized that Symbian is dying. Of course we got upgrade to "Belle" but it's still dying platform. It kinda sucks but you can't change it. But phone was still great! Especially display and audio quality. Oh and big internal storage (for its time)-16GB and 32GB Memory Stick.

Now I plan on getting either Xperia S or Motorola RAZR MAXX. Both are kinda "Back to the roots" for me since I SE and Motorola were my first phones. But I think I'm gonna choose RAZR MAXX.

[lounge]

I still have a basic flip phone from 2006. I don't care. I just use it for time, texts, and calls. I don't really care to own an iphone mainly because my fingers are too big to properly select a link and I end up getting frustrated everytime I use one. I don't know maybe I need practice. I prefer to use the internet on a laptop.

[Blue Brain]

My first phone was when I was 13, some kind of Nokia, it was my mums, all I ever used it for was playing snake though. That's what more phones need to do these days, come with snake. My first phone that wasn't previously owned was when I was 15 and got to choose the Samsung E900 from a list my dad made up for me, then it broke without reason like most pretty phones (I thought it was pretty anyway, sleek design). Then I went back to hand-me-downs

Counting them all I'm on my 6th phone, Orange's San Francisco. Not preowned like the majority but I didn't choose it because my dad offered to pay the bill while I'm at uni because it's a pretty good deal considering how little I use my phone for. I'm just not fluent in the language of mobiles, I tend not to text people back, but call them instead. I'm pretty sure I'll never own an iphone or anything similar, I would just waste it.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Blue Brain

[Mono]

I got my first cell phone around late 2003. I don't remember who made it, but it was low-tech even by 2003 standers. I just got rid of my Blackberry Pearl. My grandmother got it for me when I said I was interested in getting the bigger Blackberry. She got me the phone I didn't want, but I never told her I did not like it, that would be kinda rude, she did buy me a phone I couldn't afford.

At the moment I have no cell phone. I may be the only person on Long Island over 20 who lacks one. Oh well, I never really used my phone except to text.

My dads old car had a phone built into it. I think it was around 1995. Big mother fucker, doesn't do what the cheapest cell phones of today do.