Nice little look back at hardware

[hazelnut]

Should bring back a few memories. Can you imagine anyone carrying that shoulder phone around now?

 

http://www.engadget.com/2005/08/22/engadget-1985/

[Warlock]

Dear Hazel,

 

It is indeed ironic when I logged on that I saw your post and just had to comment. Only yesterday while rooting around the house looking for some items we found two of the old huge phones that we obtained years ago when our budget allowed buying them and signing up for the service. As you probably know the first ones available were thousands and only the well off could afford them. Driving around locally and on a long trip without any communications was frightening. While I was into Amateur Radio (Ham) one had to look up repeaters to contact someone in an emergency. Anyway, finding these relics brought back fond memories and we wouldn't think of throwing them away even though we're not connected anymore. I don't know if like the contemporary cell phones one still has the ability to dial 911 even though ones service is disconnected. Some time when I have nothing else to do which is unlikely I may try to find the charger for these old phones and give it whirl. The local law enforcement agencies here are usually very kind to allow one to run a test by dialing 911 but you certainly don't want to tie that up very long at all for obvious reasons. Just my nickels worth on your post and thanks so much for sharing this with us. Have a good one.

 

Warlock

[Andavari]

the first ones available were thousands and only the well off could afford them

 

I was thinking they were expensive from what I could remember, I had only seen them in magazines but have never seen one in person. What's funny is their cousins that live in some older now classic luxury cars, funnier yet if they still work as intended.

[mta]

my sister gave me her hand-me-down shoulder phone when she was done with it.

cost her $1000, some time in the late '80s, so the prices aren't too dissimilar from todays smart phones.

my 'fondest' memory of it was the 8 hour charge time to get the 30 minute talk time. yep, that's not a misprint - 30 minutes talk time but those were the pioneering days when phone plans were measured in $'s per second and we were concerned with the cancer-causing radiation.