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The beging of phones
Telephones have changed dramatically since Alexander Graham Bell spoke the first words into a telephone on March 10, 1876. Overall, they’ve improved since then, but the road wasn’t always smooth. Here’s a look back at the most important advances in telephone technology and some of the worst. http://bgr.com/2013/12/13/telephone-timeline-a-brief-history-of-the-phone/ -
The candlestick phone
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. Thankfully. http://bgr.com/2013/12/13/telephone-timeline-a-brief-history-of-the-phone/ -
The Rotary Phone
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. http://bgr.com/2013/12/13/telephone-timeline-a-brief-history-of-the-phone/ -
The Touch Tone Phone
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. http://bgr.com/2013/12/13/telephone-timeline-a-brief-history-of-the-phone/ -
The Motorola DynaTAC 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. http://bgr.com/2013/12/13/telephone-timeline-a-brief-history-of-the-phone/ -
The Portable Phone
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. http://bgr.com/2013/12/13/telephone-timeline-a-brief- -
The 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. http://bgr.com/2013/12/13/telephone-timeline-a-brief-history-of-the-phone/ -
The 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. -
The Iphone 6
Apple released the iPhone 6 in September 2014. The device had a completely reworked design and wealth of cutting-edge components, and was described by Apple as its most advanced smartphone yet. This has left buyers keen to snap up any information about the iPhone 6 they can get. http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2341526/iphone-6-release-date-price-and-features
