TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Shock fuel price increase announced

      4 July 2022

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Wiocc’s data centre business, OADC, appoints CEO

      4 July 2022

      Google’s Equiano cable lands in Namibia

      3 July 2022

      More stage-6 load shedding on the cards for this week

      3 July 2022
    • World

      Tether fails to calm jittery nerves

      4 July 2022

      EU to impose wide-ranging new rules on the crypto industry

      3 July 2022

      Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows files for bankruptcy

      3 July 2022

      Meta girds for ‘fierce’ headwinds

      1 July 2022

      Graphics card prices plummet as crypto demand dries up

      30 June 2022
    • In-depth

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022

      Everything Apple announced at WWDC – in less than 500 words

      7 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Editor's pick»The cellphones of the 1980s

    The cellphones of the 1980s

    Editor's pick By Editor5 January 2015
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    The Vodafone VM1 weighed almost 5kg
    The Vodafone VM1 weighed almost 5kg

    Imagine a cellphone that weighs almost 5kg, is the size of a briefcase and costs R75 000 in today’s money? Believe it or not, that’s what early adopters had to put up with in the early days on mobile in the 1980s.

    To commemorate the first-ever mobile phone call 30 years ago — on 1 January 1985 — Vodafone in the UK, on whose network the call was made, has released a list of the first phones it sold to consumers.

    They included the VM1, a 1985 model that weighed in at 4,9kg. It cost £1 475, or £4 141 when adjusted for inflation.

    The VM1 was classed as a mobile phone, but it couldn’t actually be used outside of a car. The heavy base unit was bolted into the boot of the car or the rear parcel shelf, according to Vodafone. The phone itself was mounted in the front of the vehicle, in front of the dashboard or in the armrest.

    The VM1 was fitted with an aerial drilled into the roof of the car, the company said. An additional glass mount aerial could be stuck out of the rear screen of the car to help pick up greater reception.

    Michael Douglas with a Motorola 8000X in Wall Street
    Michael Douglas with a Motorola 8000X in Wall Street

    Although the VM1 was the first product that company sold, the Transportable Vodafone VT1 became available simultaneously close to the January 1985 launch of the network. It weighed 200g less than the VM1 — 4,7kg — and would have to be charged for 10 hours to provide 30 minutes of talktime. It could be charged in or out of the car depending on the kit the user bought to go with it, Vodafone said.

    The Transportable Vodafone VT1
    The Transportable Vodafone VT1

    “Most customers opted to buy a VM1 above a Transportable if they were frequently in their car, as this was more convenient.”

    The first mobile phone that bears a resemblance to modern devices was the Motorola 8000X, introduced by Vodafone in March 1985. Christened “The Brick” by its users, it was used by Michael Douglas in the 1987 Hollywood hit Wall Street. It cost £2 995, which translates into £8 409 (more than R150 000) in today’s money.

    Nokia Cityman 1320
    Nokia Cityman 1320

    Other early mobiles included the £1 875 (£5 264 adjusted) VPI Citiphone, which played “God Save the Queen” if its user pressed 001 on the keypad and and Chopin’s “Funeral March” if it malfunctioned. There was the Nokia Cityman 1320, Nokia’s first portable phone, introduced in the late 1980s. The Cityman, which weighed 0,75kg, would have set back an early adopter almost £5 000 (R90 000) in today’s money.  — © 2015 NewsCentral Media

    Motorola Nokia Vodafone
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleOld Hollywood battles the tech upstarts
    Next Article Plans for Africa-led mission to the moon

    Related Posts

    Shock fuel price increase announced

    4 July 2022

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Wiocc’s data centre business, OADC, appoints CEO

    4 July 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Presenting the cloud finance in South Africa survey with AWCape and Sage

    4 July 2022

    The Equiano cable has landed

    4 July 2022

    Billetterie simplifies interactions between law firms and clients

    30 June 2022
    Opinion

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.