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First Telephone Communication
Alexander Graham Bell speaks the first words into a telephone -
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Candlestick
Popular from the 1890s to the 1930s, the candlestick phone was separated into two pieces. The mouth piece formed the candlestick part, and the receiver was placed by your ear during the phone call. This style died out in the ’30s when phone manufacturers started combining the mouth piece and receiver into a single unit. -
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Rotary
The rotary phone became popular. To dial, you would rotate the dial to the number you wanted, and then release. Based on my limited interaction with rotary dial phones, this must have been incredibly tedious. As push-button phones gained popularity in the 1960s and ’70s, the rotary dial phone thankfully began its slow death. -
Answering Machine
The answering machine transformed phone behavior, allowing callers to leave a message if no one was on the other end. Not popular until the 1960s, these phone accessories originally used cassette tapes to record messages. In the past 15 years, digital answering machines replaced the miniature cassette tapes, and in the past 10 years, we all just use our cell phones voicemail. -
Push-Button
In 1963, AT&T introduced Touch-Tone, which allowed phones to use a keypad to dial numbers and make phone calls. Each key would transmit a certain frequency, signaling to the telephone operator which number you wanted to call. While much better than the rotary dial, these dial tones were subject to spoofing by what were called “blue boxes.” Using a blue box, you could make free long-distance phone calls. -
Portable Phones
Portable, or cordless, phones were the phone equivalent of the TV remote. You were no longer physically attached to your phone’s base station. Beginning in the 1980s, portable phones were like a small-scale cell phone. You could talk on your phone anywhere in your house. Now that you can talk on your phone anywhere in the world, portable phones seem quaint. But at the time, a well-placed portable phone could save you a trip across the house. -
Motorola Dyna TAC 8000X
Released in 1984, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X was the first commercially available mobile phone. In 1973, Martin Cooper made the first cell phone call ever with a predecessor of this beast. At 1.75 pounds, this phone had 30 minutes of talk time and cost a not-so-modest $3,995. -
Motorola StarTAC
The Motorola StarTAC was the first successful flip phone, and in many ways, the first successful consumer cell phone. Introduced in 1996, Motorola eventually sold 60 million StarTACs. Weighing in at just 3.1 ounces, and combined with its innovative clamshell design, the StarTAC was a milestone in the trend toward smaller and smaller cell phones. -
Sanyo SCP-5300
Released in 2003, the Sanyo SCP–5300 was one of the first phones to include a camera. It was already clear that digital cameras would replace film cameras, but it wasn’t clear that a camera could fit in a phone. By today’s standards, the SCP–5300’s camera is pathetic. The SCP–5300 could take 640 × 480 pixel photos and store 10 to 15 of them. It had a built-in flash with a range of only three feet. Still, this phone broke ground, and today it is clear how central cameras are to our phones. -
Palm Treo
With the Treo, Palm expanded its popular PDA line to become one of the first smartphones. The Treo looked very similar to Blackberry’s phones, with a tiny keyboard at the bottom. The Treo ran Palm OS, and like many leading phones at the time, began to lose its appeal after the introduction of touchscreen smartphones. In 2009, the Treo was replaced with the Palm Pre, Palm’s failed response to the iPhone. -
Motorola RAZR
The Motorola RAZR represented the culmination of the flip phone. Unable or unwilling to experiment with new designs, mobile phone companies continued their push for smaller and smaller phones. With the RAZR, Motorola perfected the flip phone design. At just 0.54 inches thin, the RAZR was as much a fashion device as a cell phone. Announced in 2004, Motorola would eventually sell 130 million RAZRs. However, the RAZRs popularity rapidly declined in the face of a new generation of touchscreen smartp -
iPhone Android
When the iPhone was introduced in 2007, Apple brought the smartphone to the masses. With its intuitive touchscreen, intelligent sensors, and sleek design, the iPhone has been an incredible success. The iPhone quickly showed just how clunky previous smartphones and flip phones were. While initially lacking some basic features such as copy-and-paste, the iPhone has consistently improved with annual updates.