Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, 1983
Here's something cool to dial up on a holiday weekend Friday. A gallery of cell phone designs since 1983, starting with the Motorola DynaTAC monstrosity up through current models not yet available in the U.S.
The compilers of this list at webdesigndepot say they're goal was to target phones that offered the first in a certain feature set or were the first of they're kind at the time. But, they admit they could have missed some models, so they're asking that people leave suggestions in the blog post's comments for future inclusion.
Motorola MicroTAC 9800X, 1989, right
But even with a model missing here and there, it's an impressive look at how far the mobile communications devices that have become so ubiquitous have come in the last quart century. For that matter, just in the last 5 or 6 years. It's only then that groundbreaking ideas like color screens, QWERTY keyboards and, of course, smart phones have become standard. When you look at the first black & white Blackberry in 2003 and the iPhone with its sleek design and touch screen handling, it's amazing to think they came out in the same decade.
Also interesting is to see the groundbreaking work Motorola put into the development of mobile phones, including production of the first models in the early '80s up through the RAZR, but with nothing to show or it as the company continues to falter from lack of innovation.
The post also points out a tremendous amount of advancements along the way and the slow adaptation of those ideas in the North American market - most recent being true 3G networks, which we still don't have like you can find in Europe and Asia.
With a new iPhone due later in the summer, new Google Android phone advancements and a raft of smart phone development in play, this will be a vastly different list to look at as the first decade of the new century comes to a close.
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