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1876 Bell's Liquid Transmitter
Alexander Graham Bell spoke into his device and said to his assistant, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” In doing so, Bell launched the telephone era with the first bi-directional electronic transmission of the spoken word. -
1880 Rotary Phone
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. -
1963 Push-Button
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.” -
1960s The 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. -
1980s Portable Phone
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. -
1984 Motorola DynaTAC
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. -
1973 Nokia Phone
One of many classic Nokia candybar-style phones, the Nokia 5110 was rugged and had a long battery life. More importantly, you could play Snake on its 47 × 84 pixel screen. The 5110 was also customizable, with replaceable face plates. -
1968 Caller ID
There was a time when you had to remember people’s telephone numbers. And then came Caller ID. You could now decide whether that phone call was worth answering or whether you could just send them to voicemail. Now standard, Caller ID changed the way we used telephones. -
1996 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. -
2003 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. -
2007 IPhone and 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. -
2016 IPhone 7
The IPhone 7 is the latest phone on the market as of 2016. The IPhone 7 has the sleekest design of any other phone. The phone does not have a headphone jack. It comes bluetooth earbuds that are required to be charged in order to use. It has a new camera feature where it stabilizes the picture while in motion. There are many more features that are new about the latest IPhone.
