Print
If there's one thing Disney knows how to do, it's how to make a buck. We have no idea how much the Mickey Mouse phone netted Disney, but we'd guess it was lot (cryogenics isn't cheap).
Image Credit: telephonelines.net
Sold throughout the 1980s, the Mickey Mouse phone was a hit for boys and girls alike. It also boasted a pretty fleshed out feature-set, including animated controls (Mickey's arm and head moved when the phone would ring), last number redial, both tone and pulse capabilities, and a switchable ringer that included a normal ringer or one that cycled through five different phrases in Mickey's original voice.
Throughout the years, several other models would follow with different designs and characters.
Invented: 1980s
Another throwback to the Eighties, the Hot Lips phone flew in the face of ergonomics. Both tacky and unwieldy, this phone was a hit nonetheless thanks to talkative teen and pre-teen girls, and we imagine Andy Dick probably owned one too.
Image Credit: teleconceptos.com
Remakes of the original Hot Lips phone are still sold today, which, along with the Hamburger phone, you can find here. And unlike the 1980s, you can rest assured that if you bought this online, it probably won't come with dried saliva from shoppers who pick one up in a store and proceed to mock make-out with it. Gross.
Invented: 1980s
Image Credit: depletedcranium.com
According to reports, during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many of the emergency phone calls made from victims aboard those fated flights originated from Verizon's Airfones, those plastic handsets integrated into seatbacks of many airplanes. Airfone installed the first seatback telephone in 1987, but the air-to-ground communication had been around even before then. In 1980, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted Airfone (then owned by GTE) a nationwide air-to-ground telephone service license under experimental authority.
Invented: 1980s
Nokia has released more mobile phones than we care to count, and it all began with the Mobira Senator. This was Nokia's first ever mobile phone, designed in the boxtype form factor and part of the 1G generation.
The Mobira Senator was never destined for pants pockets, but was actually a car phone. A good thing too, because the device weighed about 21 pounds, which gives us a hernia just thinking about it. The Senator was comprised of a boxy design that looked more like a radio than it did a telephone.
Ugly, heavy, and expensive (just like our ex), little did the 1980s crowd know that Nokia -- and mobile phones in general -- would one day become more popular than a Rubik's Cube.
Invented: 1982
When you think of old cell phones -- the kind you see portrayed in early 1980s flicks and related spoofs, like Night at the Roxbury -- the one you're likely picturing is Motorola's DynaTAC 8000X. The DynaTAC 8000X used to be a sure sign of a big shot, but today those ancient cell phones are laughbly outdated, just like our leisure suits (no worries Larry, you're still the man).
Image Credit: cellular-news.com
After submitting several prototypes to the FCC, the DynaTAC 8000X became the world's first commercial handset, and the first mobile phone able to connect to the telephone network without the aid of a mobile operator. It could also be toted around by the phone's owner, as long as you had a free hand.
Only the wealthy could afford one at the time of the release, however, as the handset retailed for just under $4,000.
Invented: 1983
In 1989, Motorola took cell phones in a completely new direction with the MicroTAC, the world's first flip phone, at least in part. Unlike modern flip phones, the MicroTAC folded away just the mouth piece, but it was effective for the time. At 12.3 ounces, the MicroTAC was the lightest phone on the market.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
It was also pretty expensive, selling for between $2,500 and $3,500. Yes, technological advances had been made in the MicroTAC, but cell phones still hadn't yet become ubiquitous, so they were all pretty pricey.
Not all was as it appeared on the MicroTAC. For example, a small hole on the front of the mouthpiece gave the impression that there was a microphone underneath it, but the mic was actually located higher up behind another hole on the main part of the phone. And the retractable antennae was for aesthetics only, as the MicroTAC came with an internal antennae.
Invented: 1989
Comments are closed on this article
loondawg
June 16, 2010 at 2:22pm
This was probably a lot of people's first phone. (Plus it's got life in that it's a fun project to hack an old one into a working phone)
gbucknell
April 30, 2010 at 8:59am
You forgot one of the most important phones in TV History. More important than Batman's, Get Smart's, Fred Flinstone's, and Mike Brady's phone was the phone use by Captain Kirk on Star Trek. That communicator directly predicted AND influenced the creation of the cell phone universe that we all now live in.
gooberp
April 07, 2010 at 2:56pm
You'd think that since 1948, AT&T's cell network would have been upgraded at least a little since the days of it's first radio car phone. Based on my experience, it's not any different.
Queenof1
March 28, 2010 at 7:44pm
this was a great article! Brought back memories of my Strawberry Shortcake intercom phones :)
The Relic
March 28, 2010 at 5:00pm
Heh, I remember we had one of the Model 500 rotary phones back when I was a kid (this was the 60s and 70s). I still have one here (though unused; my desk phone is a replica Nick and Nora Charles phone).
Bizarre
March 27, 2010 at 8:42pm
wow, some hatin' for the RAZR! In my opinion a black V3 is still one of the cooler phones out there, and if you don't count spart phones, among the coolest. It hasn't aged much, and is still one of the thinnest phones out there, probably because it was the first to reach the reasonable limit of thin-ness in a non-flexible mobile device.
Slugbait
March 27, 2010 at 3:40pm
Personally, I was looking forward to seeing what would be written about the Nokia 8110...
kevintanner800
March 26, 2010 at 12:44pm
Why is the Iphone in there twice? the Iphone was/is not game changing, the only thing it did is prove how many retards are alive in the world.
festiva_man
March 26, 2010 at 10:46am
Good article but the see transparent telephone was always my favorite. I loved seeing the inner workings of things like that.
jbelkin
March 26, 2010 at 9:48am
That ubiquitous infomercial started people realizing that a phone did not need to be square or rectangularly shaped AND that a phone could be cheap - so cheap it's a free giveaway ...
Did the 1990's Nokia you showed had the changing faceplate?, I think that was a game changer also ... the Nokia candybar phone?
tri8gman
March 26, 2010 at 9:12am
I don't really see Apple slogans and "power user" being appropriate in the same paragraph.
Apple doesn't market to Power Users. :P
ushim6
March 26, 2010 at 7:49am
It's perfect for me. I'm in a family plan, still have 1.5 years of contract left, so I just bought the danged thing. No need for a data plan since I'm on campus all the time, blanketed in wifi, and AT&T can't make me since it's unsubsidised.
I may get data sometime in the future, but honestly it's only on the road I miss the data connection, but I always do have SMS to make me feel more connected.
JoetheMobster
March 26, 2010 at 7:42am
creepy, when I was a child the family phone was just like that Western 500 rotary phone...and my mother had it on a doiley that looked exactly like the one in the photo!
SpazzAttack
March 26, 2010 at 4:10am
Still using my Motorola V3M. I very rarely text, so I don't need a full keyboard. Mine has the extended battery, so I don't need to charge it often. And it still makes phone calls, too!!!
Pball1224
March 25, 2010 at 11:33pm
First Car phone at $15, a bargain by today's standards? Uh, did inflation cross your mind? $15
in 1948 is equivalant to $135 today. I don't call that a bargain.Oh, and the Western Electric 1500 (touchtone) is nearly IDENTICAL to the phone on my desk at work, except mine is black, and includes a volume knob on the handset. The whole office of ~2800 employees uses them. I can hear the gasp as this is read. But it does exactly what I need it to do... make phone calls.
davisman123
March 25, 2010 at 11:17pm
I was surprised that the NGAGE wasn't on this list. While it wasn't the greatest phone or game system, it was way ahead of its time in terms of combining both worlds. It deserves a place on this list.
deadsolid
March 25, 2010 at 10:17pm
Where is the fucking Banana phone???
Why are there two iPhones on the list? Apple didn't do shit with the 3Gs.
Danthrax66
March 25, 2010 at 9:14pm
the iphone is a useless piece of crap just like all apple products.
greencpu
March 25, 2010 at 6:36pm
no football phone?!?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWtx9JwNzmY
FOR SHAME
excelguru
March 25, 2010 at 8:02pm
Damn, you beat me to it on the football phone.
And what about E.T.'s wind-powered, saw-blade phone with the umbrella antenna? I mean, that damned thing could reach OUTER SPACE, for crying out loud! How cool was THAT!?
Paul_Lilly
March 25, 2010 at 8:47pm
Damn, can't believe I overlooked E.T.'s homebrewed phone. Very nice suggestion.
-Paul Lilly
