Spin-Off: When Did YOU First Get a Cell Phone And...

[MataHari22]

These are all the phones I've had.




I got my first phone in 1999, I believe. It was a plain grey no frills Nokia phone. The reason we got it was two fold, one because we had a fire and our barn burned down, and my exhusband was trying to get a hold of me in an emergency situation, and also I was working nights and closing sometimes. I'd get off at 9:30-10pm and have to drop off the deposit at the bank and then drive 17 miles all the way home, on very rural roads.

The second phone I got was that awesome blue Motorola phone. I remember the kids at work thought that was so cool. They all wanted my phone. Lol. Had a holster thinger so I could wear it all the time. The thing with that phone, was I was always accidentally dialing people. Then, I got the grey Motorola. I didn't have that one for very long. I remember it was in rough shape, and I was still trying to use it, and I was at work and frustrated with it, and I went to open the flip part of the phone to answer it, and it flipped right off and flew right over the counter. That's when I got the pink Motorola. I also started texting with that one. I used that until it died and then I decided to make the leap to an iPhone. A friend of mine had one, and he really liked it. I got an old 3G when the iPhone 4 came out, I think. I got the iPhone 4s in 2012 when the 5 came out. Then, last year, I bought a 6+. That was the first time I actually got a current new phone. I have always used my phones until I pretty much had no choice but to get a new one.

My gram does have a landline in the house, I personally did not get one when I moved in here. I just use my cell.

 

[aprilchem]

I had a bag phone in college (mid 90s) that was for emergencies only. I used it once, when I hit a deer driving from home to school. I think we got rid of it around 1998 or so.

After that, I didn't have a phone until 2005, when I had my first son. It was an iPhone 3GS. I've had iphones ever since.

 

[ronandannette]

These are all the phones I've had.

View attachment 206948


I got my first phone in 1999, I believe. It was a plain grey no frills Nokia phone. The reason we got it was two fold, one because we had a fire and our barn burned down, and my exhusband was trying to get a hold of me in an emergency situation, and also I was working nights and closing sometimes. I'd get off at 9:30-10pm and have to drop off the deposit at the bank and then drive 17 miles all the way home, on very rural roads.

The second phone I got was that awesome blue Motorola phone. I remember the kids at work thought that was so cool. They all wanted my phone. Lol. Had a holster thinger so I could wear it all the time. The thing with that phone, was I was always accidentally dialing people. Then, I got the grey Motorola. I didn't have that one for very long. I remember it was in rough shape, and I was still trying to use it, and I was at work and frustrated with it, and I went to open the flip part of the phone to answer it, and it flipped right off and flew right over the counter. That's when I got the pink Motorola. I also started texting with that one. I used that until it died and then I decided to make the leap to an iPhone. A friend of mine had one, and he really liked it. I got an old 3G when the iPhone 4 came out, I think. I got the iPhone 4s in 2012 when the 5 came out. Then, last year, I bought a 6+. That was the first time I actually got a current new phone. I have always used my phones until I pretty much had no choice but to get a new one.

My gram does have a landline in the house, I personally did not get one when I moved in here. I just use my cell.

I had that hot pink Razr the first week it came out (thanks to my DH who is a fanatical gadget-guy). I was the coolest Mom on the playground that year!

 

[TheDisneyNurse]

When I was 12 (2007) I got one of those pre-paid flip phones. That was back when Razors were all the rage. I was so jealous that I didn't have one First smart phone in 2010, an iphone 3GS. I've been rocking apple products ever since!

 

[maxaroni]

I was another bag phone person, 1993 when my DS was born. I then was so excited to get a Nokia in 1998 and thought that was awesome. I could be shopping and still have access to a phone, if school called. I didn't have to be in the car! A few other Nokia phones prior to the Razr (pink). Loved the Razr but then went to a slide out QWERTY keyboard. My first smartphone was a Blackberry before getting the iphone. Currently have the 6S

 

[MinnieMouse84]

In 2003 when I was 18.

 

[Julie's Haircut]

A Nokia in early 1997.

We got rid of our landline in 2012.

 

[tvguy]

January 1990, Oki bag phone. Kept that phone for 14 years. 3 watts of power compared to the lousy 6-10ths of a watt phones are now. Got rid of it in 2004 because they were phasing out analog phones. Got a Samsung flip, had it a few years, then got a Samsung with a slide out keyboard. Finally got a smart phone 2 years ago. So I have 4 phones in the last 27 years. My DIL usually kills 2 phones a year by comparison!
In 1990, $19.95 a month, 25 cents a minute daytime, 15 cents a minute at night and weekends. My typical total monthly bill was under $25 with monthly access charge, airtime and taxes.
Calls generally were under 1 minute each....things like "I'm on my way home". Took my mom a while to figure out why some of my calls were so brief until I explained I was on my car phone. They were car phones then, not generally called cell phones.

Our work cars had phones hardwired into the car. Every car has a phone log, EVERY call had to be logged. One guy refused, after warnings, he got fired.

My landline is my primary phone at home and work. I still can't believe that people put up with the audio quality issues cell phones have when they drop their landline. I've told more than one person to call me back from a landline because their call was completely un-understandable.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Car phone (bag) in the late 90's, the Nokia in the OP some time later.

Edit: we still have a landline only because it's a requirement for DSL.

 

[Pixiedustaway]

I voted pre-2000 but it was probably 2003/4. It was a small silver phone from Cingular. Paid for the minutes too

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

My first cell phone was a Nokia in 2001. I had a job with a boss who hated letting me call for a ride home after work on the store phone, so my parents wanted me to have a cell phone.

My parents still have a landline because their security system requires it, but I haven't had one in my adult life.

I've always hated talking on the phone, and I do it almost never - at least now that texting is a thing that my parents have learned how to do.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I got my first cell phone when I was 18 and had a job, in 1994. It was a bag phone that rode around in my car for emergencies. I couldn't afford to use it for more than emergencies, it was like $30 a month for 30 minutes or something, and heaven help you if you were "roaming" or went over your minutes. There was no texting then.

 

[wenrob]

I still can't believe that people put up with the audio quality issues cell phones have when they drop their landline. I've told more than one person to call me back from a landline because their call was completely un-understandable.

They have been rolling out WiFi calling the last year or so. If both parties have it enabled on their phones it's like talking to someone sitting right next to you. It's almost jarring it's so clear. Our cell service in our home is crap, we've asked for a booster but they insist it's not needed. When WiFi was enabled it was like night and day. We can actually talk on the phone now.

 

[disney4us2002]

We definitely had the car phones in a bag. Damn thing rarely got service. What was before AT&T? Cingular? That's what we had. AT&T still has our business and still stinks, lol. We do not have cell service at our house as we're in a dead zone so we must keep our landline. Now that contracts are finally going away, maybe we can leave AT&T (fingers crossed)!

 

[clori]

I think my first phone was in 2001 and was like the big Nokia 1 piece phone and was a tracfone. Shortly after I joined my brother's voice stream family plan and m dh took over the trac fone. At one point we went in on our own family plan and had flip phones. I think my first upgrade was the razr phone. Then I went to a dumb smart phone which was a Nokia something. It had its own very limited app market and you could look something up but it wasn't easy. Then I moved to the Samsung Galalaxy s2. The phone after that Samsung Galaxy s4 is my current phone. At one point I got my dh to go from the flip fone to some el cheapo smart phone. He can't get picture messages, is on 3g etc and he is happy.

 

[ronandannette]

I got my first cell phone when I was 18 and had a job, in 1994. It was a bag phone that rode around in my car for emergencies. I couldn't afford to use it for more than emergencies, it was like $30 a month for 30 minutes or something, and heaven help you if you were "roaming" or went over your minutes. There was no texting then.

Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me about "minutes" and "roaming". Not that long ago (2006) we came back from vacation with a $700 bill for having made a few calls home while on a Caribbean cruise. Nowadays we're concerned with DS going over on our ka-jillion zanobite data plan...

 

[mi*vida*loca]

Senior year of high school in 2001 I got a Nokia through sprint. It wasn't a big deal not to have one since most people in school didn't and you had limited talk minutes before 9 pm. There was no texting back then. Those were the days.

 

[Dan Murphy]

1984. Cell phones were referred to as 'car phones'. None were portable yet. Phone with cord on the floor, sending/receiving unit in the trunk, antenna on the rear window. I think the brand was Alpine. No text, no Internet (obviously), 30 cents a minutes in home network area, HUGE cost if calling long distance or roaming out of your home network area.

 

[disneychrista]

I think it was around 2000, I don't really remember. Got it so my kids could get a hold of me while I was at work ( I worked between two offices ). It was the Nokia that EVERYONE seemed to have (like the one in the photo above). I kept it as long as I could. I had to upgrade when US Cellular no longer supported it.

Got my first "Smartphone" about 2 years ago. I got an iPhone 3 months later.

 

[cluvsdisney]

We had these:
View attachment 206937
.

My first phone was very similar to this. I got it in 1992 - at the time I lived in Philly but travelled back to NYC all the time, frequently late at night by myself, and it seemed like a good idea to have just in case. The phone was a fortune and I paid for service by the minute. I used it strictly for emergencies because it was so expensive to make a call.

After that contract expired, I probably didn't get another phone until later in the 90s and it was strictly for calls. I probably started texting in 2008-2009 but it was a pain without a keypad. I got my first smart phone in 2010 and texting became my main method of communication.

We do have a landline although it's fiber optic through out cable company...not a real wired line. The battery back up is good for 6-8 hours and we have a corded phone that is plugged into the wall. But we hardly use it...it's mainly in case of an emergency.