Forum Feature: Cell phones through the eras
Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2020 2:19 pm
I don't know why I went to all the trouble to write this other than I woke up yesterday morning half dreaming about posting it and so decided to do so.
Feel free to weigh in with your own personal histories. Maybe we can expand to other personal electronics in other topics.
enderzero's cell phone history
Nokia Era - Approx 1997-2002
1. Nokia 2160 - Ahh my first phone. It was on AT&T and worked as a phone, little else. I don't remember anything except its functionality.
2. Nokia 6160 - The phone I certainly remember from this era the most. I probably had 2 or 3. It could also play snake. McNevin and I got into "phone modding" by ordering after market faces and buttons to customize the look. I don't think I ever had the 6160m or 6160i but I think one of them supported SMS or something. McNevin would know.
3. Nokia 6385 - I'm pretty sure the last phone I had in the Nokia era was the 6385. I remember it feeling like a pretty big update from the 6160.
Flip phone era - Approx 2003-2009
4. KDDI AU Keitai #1 (not pictured) - This phone has been lost to history (and a drunken night on Dogenzaka) but my first flip phone was purchased by Jo2Fro2 on our first Tokyo trip and then used for a few months when I returned 9 months later to live in Japan. It was maybe a Sony Ericsson but I can't be sure. It definitely had polyphonic ringtone capability. I don't think it had a camera.
5. Sony Ericsson A1402S KDDI AU Keitai #2 - I still have my second Japanese phone in a box somewhere. It was a big step up from my first one. It definitely had a camera which was super rare in the US. The camera captured at 240x320.
6. Sanyo SCP-8100 - My first flip phone back in the states. I broke it when I left it on top of my car when leaving l2icks0r's house one day and it got run over.
7. Samsung SCH-8500 - I can't remember where I got this phone (maybe craigslist) but I had to use this crappy flip phone with no camera after I broke the 8100.
8. Sanyo SCP-8200 - I bought this great little flipper when I got to Santa Barbara and had it my entire stay there and when I moved to LA. I remember it was the first phone available that could text message multiple people at the same time. You could put up to 10 recipients in but it just SMSed them all individually (no group chat).
9. Some random candybar T-Mobile phone I had in Prague (not pictured)
HTC Keyboard Smartphone Era - Approx 2009 - 2013
10. HTC Touch Pro - I'm pretty sure my first smartphone was this baby. It ran a heavily skinned version of Windows Mobile Pro 6.1 (TouchFLO!) and had a sick slide out keyboard. I seem to remember the touch screen was a little wonky.
11. HTC Touch Pro 2 - Another 3G smartphone, this model had a bunch of gray accents and upgraded to Windows Mobile Pro 6.5. The Keyboard slid out at a bit of an angle.
12. HTC EVO Shift 4G - Bring on Android! This shipped with Android 2.2 but I think I got into XDA flashing and stuff on this bad boy. I am pretty sure I used this for quite a while and still have it. I was very anti non-keyboard phones at the time and still used it for just typing for a while even after I moved on.
Samsung Galaxy "White Glove" Era - Approx 2013 - 2017
The Galaxy era began when our film Snap premiered at SXSW and we had a party hosted by Samsung. As part of the party I received a free phone and was entered into their "White Glove" program which meant that I just started getting free phones every time they put out a new one (or if I broke one). It was pretty great but ended around the time of the S8 when they decided there was no reason to be giving free phones to people like me.
13. Galaxy S III - This was a bit of a tough adjustment for me to go to a phone without a physical keyboard but since it was free I started swyping away and never looked back. One of the best things about these early galaxies was the removable batteries which meant I would always just carry around a few charged batteries and never had to worry about dying. I was also doing some light hacking to activate things like tethering which Sprint had locked down. It was also a huge leap forward in cameras. I still have this.
14. Salaxy S 4 - I got this only a few months after the 3. Thanks Samsung. I must have sold it or something.
15. Galaxy S5 - More power, new OS, no space after the S, pretty much the same phone.
16. Galaxy S6 - This was a bummer as they did away with the removable battery and microSD slot. But it did have support for the GearVR. Bring on mobile VR. I still have this.
17. Galaxy S6 Edge+ - This was a great phone but the curved edge was pretty much a gimmick. Still got it.
18. Galaxy S7 Edge - The S7 Edge brought back the microSD card but the screen had a flaw which made it super easy to crack down the edges and with the end of White Glove meant this was my last Galaxy as I wasn't going to pay $200 for the ridiculously expensive screen replacement. I still have it, cracked screen and all.
Pixel Era - Approx 2017 - current
19. Pixel XL - Oh man I loved this phone. So much faster with stock Android than the Galaxies were and just perfectly engineered. Also had support for Google Daydream which was superior mobile VR. I used it for almost 2 years, much longer than any of my Samsungs, mostly because I wasn't willing to give up the headphone jack which Google removed from thew Pixel 2 and 3. Still got it.
20. Pixel 3a XL - But then came the "budget" 3a which brought back the headphone jack. This is almost a perfect phone except one big flaw that it has non-expandable 64GB of storage which is just a bit too svelte. Here's hoping the 4a has a 128GB option!
Feel free to weigh in with your own personal histories. Maybe we can expand to other personal electronics in other topics.
enderzero's cell phone history
Nokia Era - Approx 1997-2002
1. Nokia 2160 - Ahh my first phone. It was on AT&T and worked as a phone, little else. I don't remember anything except its functionality.
2. Nokia 6160 - The phone I certainly remember from this era the most. I probably had 2 or 3. It could also play snake. McNevin and I got into "phone modding" by ordering after market faces and buttons to customize the look. I don't think I ever had the 6160m or 6160i but I think one of them supported SMS or something. McNevin would know.
3. Nokia 6385 - I'm pretty sure the last phone I had in the Nokia era was the 6385. I remember it feeling like a pretty big update from the 6160.
Flip phone era - Approx 2003-2009
4. KDDI AU Keitai #1 (not pictured) - This phone has been lost to history (and a drunken night on Dogenzaka) but my first flip phone was purchased by Jo2Fro2 on our first Tokyo trip and then used for a few months when I returned 9 months later to live in Japan. It was maybe a Sony Ericsson but I can't be sure. It definitely had polyphonic ringtone capability. I don't think it had a camera.
5. Sony Ericsson A1402S KDDI AU Keitai #2 - I still have my second Japanese phone in a box somewhere. It was a big step up from my first one. It definitely had a camera which was super rare in the US. The camera captured at 240x320.
6. Sanyo SCP-8100 - My first flip phone back in the states. I broke it when I left it on top of my car when leaving l2icks0r's house one day and it got run over.
7. Samsung SCH-8500 - I can't remember where I got this phone (maybe craigslist) but I had to use this crappy flip phone with no camera after I broke the 8100.
8. Sanyo SCP-8200 - I bought this great little flipper when I got to Santa Barbara and had it my entire stay there and when I moved to LA. I remember it was the first phone available that could text message multiple people at the same time. You could put up to 10 recipients in but it just SMSed them all individually (no group chat).
9. Some random candybar T-Mobile phone I had in Prague (not pictured)
HTC Keyboard Smartphone Era - Approx 2009 - 2013
10. HTC Touch Pro - I'm pretty sure my first smartphone was this baby. It ran a heavily skinned version of Windows Mobile Pro 6.1 (TouchFLO!) and had a sick slide out keyboard. I seem to remember the touch screen was a little wonky.
11. HTC Touch Pro 2 - Another 3G smartphone, this model had a bunch of gray accents and upgraded to Windows Mobile Pro 6.5. The Keyboard slid out at a bit of an angle.
12. HTC EVO Shift 4G - Bring on Android! This shipped with Android 2.2 but I think I got into XDA flashing and stuff on this bad boy. I am pretty sure I used this for quite a while and still have it. I was very anti non-keyboard phones at the time and still used it for just typing for a while even after I moved on.
Samsung Galaxy "White Glove" Era - Approx 2013 - 2017
The Galaxy era began when our film Snap premiered at SXSW and we had a party hosted by Samsung. As part of the party I received a free phone and was entered into their "White Glove" program which meant that I just started getting free phones every time they put out a new one (or if I broke one). It was pretty great but ended around the time of the S8 when they decided there was no reason to be giving free phones to people like me.
13. Galaxy S III - This was a bit of a tough adjustment for me to go to a phone without a physical keyboard but since it was free I started swyping away and never looked back. One of the best things about these early galaxies was the removable batteries which meant I would always just carry around a few charged batteries and never had to worry about dying. I was also doing some light hacking to activate things like tethering which Sprint had locked down. It was also a huge leap forward in cameras. I still have this.
14. Salaxy S 4 - I got this only a few months after the 3. Thanks Samsung. I must have sold it or something.
15. Galaxy S5 - More power, new OS, no space after the S, pretty much the same phone.
16. Galaxy S6 - This was a bummer as they did away with the removable battery and microSD slot. But it did have support for the GearVR. Bring on mobile VR. I still have this.
17. Galaxy S6 Edge+ - This was a great phone but the curved edge was pretty much a gimmick. Still got it.
18. Galaxy S7 Edge - The S7 Edge brought back the microSD card but the screen had a flaw which made it super easy to crack down the edges and with the end of White Glove meant this was my last Galaxy as I wasn't going to pay $200 for the ridiculously expensive screen replacement. I still have it, cracked screen and all.
Pixel Era - Approx 2017 - current
19. Pixel XL - Oh man I loved this phone. So much faster with stock Android than the Galaxies were and just perfectly engineered. Also had support for Google Daydream which was superior mobile VR. I used it for almost 2 years, much longer than any of my Samsungs, mostly because I wasn't willing to give up the headphone jack which Google removed from thew Pixel 2 and 3. Still got it.
20. Pixel 3a XL - But then came the "budget" 3a which brought back the headphone jack. This is almost a perfect phone except one big flaw that it has non-expandable 64GB of storage which is just a bit too svelte. Here's hoping the 4a has a 128GB option!
