It's almost impossible to think of life without them, but there was a time (really not that long ago) when we didn't have smart phones, or cell phones for that matter. That all changed July 1st 1985 when they mayors of Toronto and Montreal held the first Canadian cellphone call.
And it likely would have been on a monstrosity like this:
That thing was almost the size of a curling rock, and came in at 3.7 kilos. You got 30 minutes of talk time, and to get it, you had to charge the phone for 10 hours. But it was "portable", in that you weren't tied to a landline. The radio station I worked at in the '90's in Thunder Bay, Ontario used something similar. In fact, I still have the lawyer-size briefcase I needed to buy to carry the phone, tape recorder, mic, mic stand etc to events.
You couldn't text, there were no apps, you couldn't play Angry Bird and no on-board camera. Which was probably for the best, since you'd almost need to be Superman to lift one up for a selfie.
Eventually, we did get a few of these in the newsroom
Which were at least totally portable, although the 'run time' on a charge was still not that great. The main advantage was you could detach the battery and charge it separately from the phone, giving you a little more freedom.
A little side-bar: An Ontario man became the first cellphone customer in Canada when he inked a deal with Bell. His phone alone was 27 hundred dollars, attached to an aerial on his car and came with it's own carrying bag. His annual bill...10 thousand dollars.
So, now were at this point
And whether your favourite phone is a Samsung, I-Phone or something else, they are indispensable. Just don't use a hand-held one while behind the wheel.
And with tomorrow being July 1st, I won't be in the office, so Happy Canada Day, eh?
TTFN
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