Rise in digital tech use, 1980–2010
1980
- Cell phone subscribers: 11.2 million
- Internet users: All Internet users at this time were indexed in a phone book sized directory.
1990
- Cell phone subscribers: 12.4 million (0.25% of world population in 1990)
- Internet users: 2.8 million (0.05% of world population in 1990)
2002
- Cell phone subscribers: 1,174,000,000 (19% of world population in 2002)
- Internet users: 631 million (11% of world population in 2002)
2010
- Cell phone subscribers: 4 billion (67% of world population in 2010)
- Internet users: 1,800 million (26.6% of world population in 2010)
By the 1980s, the cell phone was being used by a small population of the
public - although in its fundamental form. The technology was new, the
phones heavy and inconvenient to carry, and the service and phone
extremely expensive. It was not surprising, therefore, that not many
people were impressed enough with the cell phone to pay the high prices.
But
as technology advanced, and the cell phone came down in weight and
price, more and more people took the streets with cell phone in hand.
Today's compact and streamlined cell phone offers a bevy of services -
from phone and camera to calendar and music - and is a vital accessory
for most everyone. Whether conducting business or communicating at a
moment's notice with friends and family - the cell phone has elevated
communication to the next level.
03 April 1973
The first mobile telephone call was made on this day forty years ago
by a Motorola engineer named Martin Cooper. The Motorola DynaTAC, which
took a full ten hours to charge and stood at 22.9 centimetres tall, is
widely accepted as being the first phone which made a mobile call. The
phone is reported to have only held charge for approximately 30 minutes
(years later it was admitted that this was more likely 20 minutes); good
job really considering it weighed approximately the same weight as a
large pineapple (1kg). This phone was made popular by Michael Douglas
playing Gordon Gekko in the seventies Hollywood movie Wall Street.
However, unless you were as rich as Gekko, chances are you may not have
had a spare £4,000 dollars to spend on one of these.
01 December 1979
In the years when Margaret Thatcher was about to dominate politics,
the Japanese introduced the first commercial mobile phone network. Aimed
at the rich initially, these phones were car-phones and available only
to rent at first. The cost of one of these would have set you back
around £3,600 dollars every year (not including the cost of the call
itself). By 1984, these phones were much cheaper, with coverage
available to the whole of Japan.
1982
Nokia not wanting to be left behind introduced their first mobile car
phone in the early eighties. The size of a large portable radio and the
weight of a small child (21 pounds), this was not for the weak. The
Nokia Mobira Senator soon became widely available. In the same year,
Nokia introduced the DX200, which became the company’s first mobile hand
held telephone.
1987
The Mobira Cityman was the first phone introduced by Nokia for
general public use. Although this handheld device would have set you
back around £4,000, it became very popular. In the same year, the GSM
network was adopted as the European standard signal (Global System for
Mobile communications). The next ten years would completely
revolutionize the mobile world.
1992
It was the beginning of the nineties when British mobile
telecommunications firms were looking at ways in which to bring mobile
solutions to the UK. This resulted in the introduction of the Rabbit
phone. This phone could only be used if the caller was within 100 metres
of a rabbit sign (a transmitter). For a few years, these signs could be
seen on shops, phone masts and in general public places.
With the Rabbit phone, only the caller could speak. The recipient had to receive the message via pager messaging.
The Rabbit phone only managed to gain 10,000 users at the height of
its popularity and eventually died out. It is thought its demise was due
to the rapid increase in popularity of the networks Cellnet and
Vodaphone, which offered the talk back function.
1994-1999
By the late nineties, Nokia had introduced a few handsets, including
the 2100 series and the 6110. These phones were responsible for the
Nokia ringtone which is believed to be one of the most played music
pieces of all time. It is estimated by Nokia that around 370 million of
these handsets were sold within this period.
2000 Onwards
By the turn of the century, many people in the Western world had a
mobile phone or access to one. By this time, phone companies were
looking at ways in which to offer something more to their customers than
just calls and texts. Beating one another on snake had become boring,
so mobile phone providers were thinking of new and innovative ways in
which to compete in an ever-evolving digital world. This included
introducing cameras on mobiles and being able to access the Internet a
few years later.
2007-Present
By 2007, Steve Jobs had revealed the iPhone. This Smartphone along
with its competitor’s handsets have completely changed the way that we
use phones. There isn’t much that Smartphones can’t do. Whether it’s
ordering a table at a restaurant, making and editing movies, organising
your life or using social media; the Smartphone is an all-in-one for
most people now and many couldn’t imagine life without it.
