Is The First Cell Phone Still Relevant?

When cell phones first went public, no one knew what they were or who would be using them. Public cell phone testing started in major cities with a wide range of carriers. The first commercial cell phones came from the city of Chicago, where the first tests started with 1000 cell phones and later more cell phones from the city of Maryland and eventually the city of Boston.

Japan started testing a mobile phone service in 1979. Motorola made the first “junk” cell phones with the AT&T Company. Some of the early cell phones had only three numbers. Others were difficult to get rid of and were left in stores for over a year before workers would throw them out. One particular model that became a campaign issue was the “piece of trash” cell phones that resembled a hamster. A rather playful looking hamster was the butt of many jokes.

In the early 1990s Bell Labs released the first cellular telephone to use a touch pad instead of the keyboard and mouse. This was the first step toward making a cell phone that you could hold in your hand, which was the basis for the term “pocket-sized.” Bell Labs also developed an automatic dialer that worked by pressing a button instead of having to touch the keypad by hand. The automatic dialer worked on both analog and digital technology and was introduced with the Bell Labs PTK System.

The Bell Labs phone was not without its problems however. As the digital technology became better and more companies started using it, the price started to come down. It was not long before all the major phone companies were using digital technology in their phones. So, when the first cell phone was released it was by Bell Labs and at that point only the largest and most well known phone companies could afford to make these devices.

When the Bell Labs cellular phones were introduced the competition was not very high. Companies like Motorola were not too far behind. But Bell Labs also knew that they were in a unique position to create a new type of cell phone that would do much better than competing products. The designers knew that if they designed a device that was able to be used while you were walking it would be much more likely to be used.

In the early days of the Bell Labs line people called the phone “the pocket pc.” The idea was that the user could carry the unit in their pocket and browse the internet, use it as a PDA, keep important papers within reach, or do other things that would require the use of the small screen. It was not long before the name of the phone came out and then-after a few short years-the “phone” became known as the first cell phone call. Invented by a Dr. William Cook and funded by AT&T, the first cell phone call was nothing more than a test for the technology.

The idea behind the handheld gadget was that it should be easy to use, should have a good battery life, have a decent sized screen, be lightweight, be capable of storing large amounts of data, have a keypad and a good speaker so that when it was in your hand you could hear the voice of the developer. The problem with the first mobile phones that we have today is that they are just not made with the user in mind. They are clunky, they are difficult to hold, they are hard to talk on, and they are not very reliable. What makes the Dicatac 8000x a much better choice for any user is that it is packed with features that make holding the device much easier-keeping your fingers from hitting the glass.

The Dicatac 8000X was the first mobile devices to integrate Blackberry functionality into the handheld handset. With Blackberry being the leader in the market for cell phones (and having the most loyal of customers), it was natural to see a huge push for the Dicatac into the marketplace. Although the handset was well received, the fact that Blackberry phones were the first to incorporate the Blackberry functionality into their handsets meant that this handset was seen as a direct competitor to the leader. With the Dicatac being able to match the success of the leading brand, what does it leave for the other manufacturers to try and steal?

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