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I went to college in 1991 and that is when I got my first cell phone, my parents had one since the late 80's. I would say it would around 1991 when they became common.
I went to college in 1991 and that is when I got my first cell phone, my parents had one since the late 80's. I would say it would around 1991 when they became common.
I would say cell phones were common by the late 90s. In '91 I remember a few people had beepers, but very few people had cell phones. Almost everyone still used pay phones or landlines in the early 90s. Even in 1995 from what I recall, it seemed unusual for someone to have a personal cell phone.
In the 80ies cell phones are expensive and basically you are either an CEO or an Drug lord if you have one. Only the top levels of an company might have one or someone extremely wealthy. They are also so big an bulky that they can not be carried in the pocket(they are often put into briefcases or large purses.).
In the 90ies esp. by the mid 90ies cell phones are more common but it is mostly people who have them for work. Personal cell phones are more common but still the majority of people don't have them and use beepers instead. Basically having an cell phone at this point would say I am well off enough to afford it or my job is important enough(manager) that my employer wants to be able to contact me 24/7. You don't need to be rich to own one, but it is expensive enough not to easily fit in most people's budgets. They are now small enough to fit in an pocket esp. an coat pocket.
Very late 90ies into the early 2000's and personal use of the cell phone is common for adults but not for children(high schoolers). They easily fit into pants pockets now.
I think it is debatable. They have been in existence since probably the early '80s, but when do you believe the shift happened when it became commonplace for most people to have one? I personally don't think the shift happened until the mid to late '00s. People in the '80s and '90s had them but they were in the minority. I graduated in the late '90s and nobody had cell phones yet. They started teaching the internet to us in computer class in '95 and didn't add them to the library until 1997. (Some had internet explorer and some had Netscape.)
The 1996 movie "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" is a good example of where we were at during that time period. In the movie, the Romy character thought bringing a flip phone to the reunion would make her seem successful. Lmao. I love when she proudly announces, "If anyone needs to make a call I've got a phone.". .
I remember setting up a home phone service in my own name for the first time in 2004 then being annoyed three years later when I tried to drop it for a cell phone but couldn't because I bundled cable, internet, and home phone and it would have only been a $5.00 difference if I had dropped the phone, thus making me unable to afford a cell. Totally annoying. Didn't get my first one until 2010 when I finally moved cross country and dropped that cable package..and it wasn't a smartphone. Just got my first smartphone a month ago. I know I am just naturally a little behind on technology and that a lot of people probably would have went for the cell phone in 2004 but generally.... I didn't observe them really " taking over" until the mid '00s. Even in 2000 I remember having my favorite payphones around town that I knew I could hit if I needed to make a call away from the house. Then those slowly started to disappear. I realize the transition time probably varied in different areas of the country also. I'm sure more people were walking around L.A. with cellphones in the '90s than in Des Moines during the same time.
Opinions?
I went to Europe in 1999 and was surprised at how prevalent cell phones were, even with the "common people". From what I could gather the reason being was that owning and using a cell phone in Europe at that time was cheaper than having a landline. Because you know they are all Socialists and as Socialists they had no choice but to offer cheap pricings that did not nickel and dime customers like Americans do and love just to prove that they hate Capitalism )
I myself had a cell phone in 1998...while living in MSP and my mom had one back in 1995 or so, in California. My cell phone was issued through work. Very few people had one back then, at least in Minneapolis. My friends constantly teased me over it or were totally baffled by anyone even wanting one of those things. My mom kept hers in her car, for roadside emergencies, which if I recall was the #1 reason why people began using them in the early-mid 90s. Even in California they were a rarity at that time. Most people felt they were an invasion of privacy it seems. Why would I want someone to able to contact me that easily? Are you nuts!
In the U.S., well in Minneapolis at least, they started to gain traction around 2001 and were pretty much set in stone in 2003. Subsidized phone pricing, web browsing, email, color screens, and the growing popularity of SMS really helped. This was also pushed by BlackBerries having been seen as a status symbol.
It wasn't until 2004/2005 that things really blew up in the U.S. with the Motorola RAZR, which was offered across virtually all carriers.
As for the pay phones, Minneapolis got rid of them in the early/mid 2000s to help stave off drug dealing. You can still find them around Maryland...along with styrofoam cups.
They REALLY became mainstream when the RAZR came out. Before that, a lot of people certainly had them, but they weren't quite as ubiquitous.
I first got one around 2000. It could call and send texts (which I never did with the standard keyboard).
They were mainstream well before the RAZR came out. I would say the StarTac was the phone that everyone jumped on that made cellphones ubiquitous.
They started to rise to popularity in home use in the early 90s. Carphones were already popular by then. I remember every car having a car phone back then.
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and my mom had one back in 1995 or so, in California. My cell phone was issued through work. Very few people had one back then, at least in Minneapolis. My friends constantly teased me over it or were totally baffled by anyone even wanting one of those things. My mom kept hers in her car, for roadside emergencies, which if I recall was the #1 reason why people began using them in the early-mid 90s. Even in California they were a rarity at that time. Most people felt they were an invasion of privacy it seems. Why would I want someone to able to contact me that easily? Are you nuts!
