I still have a Motorola brick phone like the one pictured. Still works, too and puts out a full 3-watts of RF power compared to the half-watt of today's cell-phones. It's actually quite comfortable to hold against your head compared to and Android or iPhone. Those old phones could be used as weapons. They were heavy as a brick and you could impale somebody with those long, stiff antenna's!
And if you also remember...the cost to make a call on those phones back then ranged anywhere from $3.00 to $5.00 a minute...depending on long distance charges. Now anywhere in the continental US is a local call.
It wasn't just the price of the phone you had to factor in back in the 80's.... The service usually was a 2 year commitment through AT&T or Southwestern Bell. Each call cost about $3.25 a minute...and if you called long distance...expect hundreds of dollars on your cell bill....and you had to have the kind of credit a king would have to qualify for the service.
Back in the 80s when we were invited to friends' homes far from our own, we'd pull up to the curb in front of their houses and my dad would pull out his giant Motorola cell phone that was just like the one in the video, but bigger. He's call up the friends and say we were running half an hour late. Then we'd watch their jaws drop when we knocked on their doors a minute later and catch them totally off guard.
Yes indeed, I remember carrying these things around too! Although immensely HUGE by today's standards, they were way better to carry back then than having to fool around with those damn Bag-Phone sets prior to the Brick! Bag-Phone's were all-the-rage in their day but quickly became obsolete as soon as the Brick came out. And to think I thought I was really somethin when I was issued my first Motorola Brick by the company I worked for :) Ahhhh those were the days. The 1980's were some good times.
Nevermind the phones of yesteryear, the two-way radio's most police, EMS and Fire personnel use operate in the 855 MHz range and they've ALWAYS put out 3 full watts of RF power. This phone was only in production for a few years but people have been using radio's that operate at the same frequencies as many cell-phones for DECADES now, which is something most people don't even think about.
For people that think $595 is a lot: you gotta remember this is in the 80's. Accounting for inflation, this is about $1,206.47 in today's money, MORE THAN DOUBLE!!!!
I've done that but I did act like it was my son's birthday gift one time years ago. He knew he was getting a new cell-phone so I wrapped it up as a gag gift. When he opened it he almost didn't even know what the hell it was. I mean, he knew it was a phone and all but didn't realize they were actually so big and HEAVY. He asked me, "You actually carried this thing around?". I told him that was small compared to the even older bag phones of the day. This was a real advancement for it's time.
My comment about GPS was based on what my carrier (Verizon) told me about an older Nokia phone I wanted to have activated some time back. They told me they could no longer activate ANY phone that did not have GPS capability - be it 911 only or otherwise. They were the ones that flat out told me that all phones must have *some* form of GPS incorporated into them, whether the end-user can access it or only 911 services. Verizon is the one that stated this to me. I merely relayed that info here.
They don't allow use of cell-phones that don't have GPS incorporated into them, at least in the USA, but you can make emergency calls to our 911 emergency system (or 999 in the UK). I was able to try out my phone by attempting to make a phone call. Basically it would start out as a regular phone call but then a message would come on stating the call cannot be made, routed, or some other kind of BS. However, the fact you're hearing the message tells you it's connecting with the tower and working.
Yeah, it's lovely looking back at the time. This brick used to cost 600 bucks when now thin touch screen phones can be as low as 10 bucks or even free, if you sign a contract for your soul. And you CANT impress your friends with "free" D: yet price impressing is apparently the best reason to buy a phone...
My first cell phone in 1995 cost me $75 with a contract. I paid $40 a month for 60 minutes daytime calling and an additional $10 for nights and weekends.
Yes indeed. They did the same thing with cigarettes all these years. Everybody knew they were bad for you but in the USA they never officially stated this until many, many years later after pushing to get the *truth* to be told about them. Cell-phones are probably the same way, it's just the cellular industry would be greatly impacted on a global level if they officially came out and posted this. You know how that goes . . .
My first cell phone had a handset the size of a standard landline. No texting ,web access or data of any kind. It came in a carry bag and plugged into a cigarette lighter. The cellphones from the 80s and early 90s likely wouldnt work today because they used strictly AMPS technology. The major mobile carriers have all phased out AMPS in favor of GSM, CDMA, UMTS, iDEN.
@ryoushii a lot more than just size has changed. you can send and take video, pictures, text messages and the range/coverage and reception is generally a lot better.
I once saw a sign at a drug store that said if you don't remember phones looking like these you're probably not legally old enough to buy tobacco. (Of course, by the time you are legally old enough most people know better)
Don't forget also, that $595 twenty years ago is equal to about $1035 today. Over a thousand bucks in 2009 currency and all you could do was call people with it.
Probably only costs about $5-per-minute to make and recieve calls! What a deal! Also, you can put one of those curly antennas on you car to make you feel like a big shot! Wow!!!
it does the most thinks you don't like and those ones which might result a bit difficult - antenna perfect for wifi, TV, scan radar (just in case of being wanted), GPS - works as a microwave - cook your meals - iphone killer (literally) -perfect for workout ..... Just for 595$
You know...it's commercials like this that make Ray Kurzweil'z book "The Singularity is Near" seem a hell of alot more plausible. I mean, just look at the ipad2! 2040 is going to be a very very very very interesting time to live...
Can't believe I'm saying this, but yes. After years of resisting new technology, I've come to love it. I couldn't go back. Is that sad? Probably. That's progress! The slow train to hell!
Yeah, the cell phone was $595 but the service was $8.00 a minute back then. I'm not exaggerating. The cost per minute was REALLY that price in the 80's!!
My sincere sympathies. I just got a cell phone, out of ncecessity, and hear a range of opinions from "only non-ionizing radiation is present, and so it is safe," to "cell phones cause a condition called 'glioma' and 'acoustic neuromas.'" My intutuon tells me to keep my use of the phone limited, and to not keep it in my pocket, as it transmits even when I'm not talking to communicate call status with towers. Imagine the impact on the industry if it was conclusively cancerous.
imagine paying $1000 for cell phone today with no bells and whistles. wow ! We've come a long way with technology but still haven't been back to the moon.
That could not have been in the 80s, I bought one in 1991 that looked older than this one, it was solid grey, similar shape, and it cost me more like $1100, in Ottawa, Canada
Yea iphones doing everything is like the equivalent to me thinking about my childhood video game hand held toy of a game boy that is the same size as a i-phone now a days for same cost--one hand held toy the other a cell phone with camera, internet, gps etc.
Cell phones are still insanely expensive. They just seem cheap because they're so heavily subsidised by contracts. That's why they want you to stick around for 2 years.
That's a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. One of those would have bought you a lot more status per $ back then than a high end phone now. (Wouldn't have bought you much funtionality per $ though. :-D )
It's funny, because you know that twenty or thirty years from now, people are going to be on here making fun of "old" commercials for iPods, iPhones, iPads, and whatnot, because it'll all be obsolete by then, and there'll be something better--we just don't know what that "something" is yet.
try buying one without a contract, hoss. 16-64GB iPhones are ACTUALLY $649-$849. You only get the discounted price when you get locked into a 2 year contract and end up paying over $2k plus the price of the phone itself.
I still have a Motorola brick phone like the one pictured. Still works, too and puts out a full 3-watts of RF power compared to the half-watt of today's cell-phones. It's actually quite comfortable to hold against your head compared to and Android or iPhone.
Those old phones could be used as weapons. They were heavy as a brick and you could impale somebody with those long, stiff antenna's!
And if you also remember...the cost to make a call on those phones back then ranged anywhere from $3.00 to $5.00 a minute...depending on long distance charges. Now anywhere in the continental US is a local call.
I can't wait for this to come out.
It wasn't just the price of the phone you had to factor in back in the 80's....
The service usually was a 2 year commitment through AT&T or Southwestern Bell. Each call cost about $3.25 a minute...and if you called long distance...expect hundreds of dollars on your cell bill....and you had to have the kind of credit a king would have to qualify for the service.
Back in the 80s when we were invited to friends' homes far from our own, we'd pull up to the curb in front of their houses and my dad would pull out his giant Motorola cell phone that was just like the one in the video, but bigger. He's call up the friends and say we were running half an hour late. Then we'd watch their jaws drop when we knocked on their doors a minute later and catch them totally off guard.
To be like todays smartphone, you needed a brickphone, a walkman, a beeper, a portable tv, and a vcr.
Wow,
600 bucks for a phone in those days was a really good price.
I love that you'd tell your friends your phone cost "a lot more."
I still think AT&T has that very phone for sale...
the cool thing is that 80's cell phones never lose coverage... but why do new phones lose coverage...
Only $595.00!! What a Deal! This saturday!!! I hope I'm not too late
Line up for hours in front of the store before it opens
Yes indeed, I remember carrying these things around too! Although immensely HUGE by today's standards, they were way better to carry back then than having to fool around with those damn Bag-Phone sets prior to the Brick!
Bag-Phone's were all-the-rage in their day but quickly became obsolete as soon as the Brick came out. And to think I thought I was really somethin when I was issued my first Motorola Brick by the company I worked for :)
Ahhhh those were the days. The 1980's were some good times.
Glad I can still use mine on a regular basis!
I swear the 80's was the best time ever!
Nevermind the phones of yesteryear, the two-way radio's most police, EMS and Fire personnel use operate in the 855 MHz range and they've ALWAYS put out 3 full watts of RF power.
This phone was only in production for a few years but people have been using radio's that operate at the same frequencies as many cell-phones for DECADES now, which is something most people don't even think about.
I remember this when I was little. My parents always referred to it as "The brick."
For people that think $595 is a lot: you gotta remember this is in the 80's. Accounting for inflation, this is about $1,206.47 in today's money, MORE THAN DOUBLE!!!!
I've done that but I did act like it was my son's birthday gift one time years ago. He knew he was getting a new cell-phone so I wrapped it up as a gag gift. When he opened it he almost didn't even know what the hell it was. I mean, he knew it was a phone and all but didn't realize they were actually so big and HEAVY. He asked me, "You actually carried this thing around?". I told him that was small compared to the even older bag phones of the day. This was a real advancement for it's time.
$595?! thats a bargain!
"You impress your friends by telling them it cost a lot more." I want to know what the regular retail price on that thing was.
@yell0wberry you forgot a still camera, every smartphone has one of those.
Actually you can impress your friends by telling them the actual price!
My comment about GPS was based on what my carrier (Verizon) told me about an older Nokia phone I wanted to have activated some time back. They told me they could no longer activate ANY phone that did not have GPS capability - be it 911 only or otherwise.
They were the ones that flat out told me that all phones must have *some* form of GPS incorporated into them, whether the end-user can access it or only 911 services. Verizon is the one that stated this to me. I merely relayed that info here.
verizon wireless dude! signal is mad good! hell, it even works in the NYC subway!
WHAT I CAN IMPRESS THEM BUY SAYING IT'S MORE?! Dude, that costs more than my house.
$595? sounds crazy, almost as crazy as buying an iphone for exactly the same price! great commercial thanks!!
Jeez, it's so long ago when cell phones only called and did nothing else.
They don't allow use of cell-phones that don't have GPS incorporated into them, at least in the USA, but you can make emergency calls to our 911 emergency system (or 999 in the UK).
I was able to try out my phone by attempting to make a phone call. Basically it would start out as a regular phone call but then a message would come on stating the call cannot be made, routed, or some other kind of BS. However, the fact you're hearing the message tells you it's connecting with the tower and working.
Yeah, it's lovely looking back at the time. This brick used to cost 600 bucks when now thin touch screen phones can be as low as 10 bucks or even free, if you sign a contract for your soul. And you CANT impress your friends with "free" D: yet price impressing is apparently the best reason to buy a phone...
@EyeballMuscles With a 10 character led screen, there are no text messages (except for error codes/various messages that the phone itself generates)
we have come so far in technology
And now you get your phone for free with a year long subscription, how times have changed
My first cell phone in 1995 cost me $75 with a contract. I paid $40 a month for 60 minutes daytime calling and an additional $10 for nights and weekends.
Yes indeed. They did the same thing with cigarettes all these years. Everybody knew they were bad for you but in the USA they never officially stated this until many, many years later after pushing to get the *truth* to be told about them.
Cell-phones are probably the same way, it's just the cellular industry would be greatly impacted on a global level if they officially came out and posted this. You know how that goes . . .
IF it was the 80's right now, I still wouldn't get that!!!
My first cell phone had a handset the size of a standard landline. No texting ,web access or data of any kind. It came in a carry bag and plugged into a cigarette lighter. The cellphones from the 80s and early 90s likely wouldnt work today because they used strictly AMPS technology. The major mobile carriers have all phased out AMPS in favor of GSM, CDMA, UMTS, iDEN.
@ryoushii a lot more than just size has changed. you can send and take video, pictures, text messages and the range/coverage and reception is generally a lot better.
@ryoushii
If you adjust for inflation, they're actually a lot cheaper now but I agree that long service contracts suck gazelle urethra.
@gooderguy The copyright at the end says 1989. It is 80's, but most of us were thinking early 80's with that title. You were close, though.
that's a pretty cool looking walkie talkie
@xXSherviNXx
Because it was just as impressive 30 years ago as iPhone is now
I once saw a sign at a drug store that said if you don't remember phones looking like these you're probably not legally old enough to buy tobacco.
(Of course, by the time you are legally old enough most people know better)
Don't forget also, that $595 twenty years ago is equal to about $1035 today. Over a thousand bucks in 2009 currency and all you could do was call people with it.
lol i would like to see one of these in person :D
Highland Superstores was based in Michigan.
I love how it was almost the same price as an iPhone 30 years ago :/
Probably only costs about $5-per-minute to make and recieve calls! What a deal! Also, you can put one of those curly antennas on you car to make you feel like a big shot! Wow!!!
From 1989 on Detroit TV!
it does the most thinks you don't like and those ones which might result a bit difficult
- antenna perfect for wifi, TV, scan radar (just in case of being wanted), GPS
- works as a microwave
- cook your meals
- iphone killer (literally)
-perfect for workout
..... Just for 595$
@rhtaft Same concept: Empty your wallet to impress your friends.
You know...it's commercials like this that make Ray Kurzweil'z book "The Singularity is Near" seem a hell of alot more plausible. I mean, just look at the ipad2! 2040 is going to be a very very very very interesting time to live...
It also doubled as barbell and paperweight.. Remember the eighties fitness craze?
Aired on a Detroit TV station, folks!
Wow...that'e even earlier than "Hello Moto..." xD
Can't believe I'm saying this, but yes. After years of resisting new technology, I've come to love it. I couldn't go back. Is that sad? Probably. That's progress! The slow train to hell!
back then 595 was worth more than today trust me
I chose 1988 as a stand-in for "late 1980s." In 2022 that adjusts to $1,400!
I think I remember something like $800 before the luggage got down to the size of a brick.
Yeah, the cell phone was $595 but the service was $8.00 a minute back then.
I'm not exaggerating. The cost per minute was REALLY that price in the 80's!!
@TheBetaFox Makes me wonder what cellphones will be like 30 years from now.
My sincere sympathies. I just got a cell phone, out of ncecessity, and hear a range of opinions from "only non-ionizing radiation is present, and so it is safe," to "cell phones cause a condition called 'glioma' and 'acoustic neuromas.'" My intutuon tells me to keep my use of the phone limited, and to not keep it in my pocket, as it transmits even when I'm not talking to communicate call status with towers. Imagine the impact on the industry if it was conclusively cancerous.
$595??!! Wow! Cell phones cost a lot more back then! They were bigger too! Now a days u can get a low-end cell phone for as little as $29!
heh heh, thanks for the chuckle.
JUST $595, thats expensive today and this was in the eighties.
imagine paying $1000 for cell phone today with no bells and whistles. wow ! We've come a long way with technology but still haven't been back to the moon.
That could not have been in the 80s, I bought one in 1991 that looked older than this one, it was solid grey, similar shape, and it cost me more like $1100, in Ottawa, Canada
Imagine if someone from back then could've seen the iphone
they forgot to say it comes with free cancer radiation
@radicalone4 Have you went to the McDonalds drive "thru" lately?
Holy crap! No wonder Highland is out of business. Their only customer was Zack Morris.
Remember when the coolest phone you could buy was a Motorola Razor? Weren't those about $600 when they were first released, too?
Amazing that I just got a galaxy S 3 for half the cost over 20 years later
Zomg, I wanna replace my cell with this gangsta piece
"Impress your friends by telling them it cost a lot more"
As if paying $600 for a brick phone wasn't high enough . . .
Yea iphones doing everything is like the equivalent to me thinking about my childhood video game hand held toy of a game boy that is the same size as a i-phone now a days for same cost--one hand held toy the other a cell phone with camera, internet, gps etc.
Nowadays it impresses your friends in a negative way by telling them it costs a lot more than $595...
Shit got real once the star-tac came along. Suddenly we're all captain kirk requesting to get beamed up.
Cell phones are still insanely expensive. They just seem cheap because they're so heavily subsidised by contracts. That's why they want you to stick around for 2 years.
@UkeGotMail cause nowadays you never see prices ending in 5, so its just kinda weird to see a $595
Wow.... thats a shit load of money!.... its just crazy seeing that, knowing that a lot of cell phones today are free!
my grandpa had one of these lol
Back when a cell phone put out enough power to actually fry your brain...
wow 595. Or about 5 bucks more than I spent on my 40 inch Bravia LCD :)
Wow, how far we've come, too bad now $595 is usually most people monthly cell phone bill.
woah...i just had a deja vu watching this...wierd.
(ive never even seen this commercial...i think i had a dream about it or something HAHA) :P
Even then they had the Angry Birds app! The middle segments of the "8888888888" LCD display is launched from left to the right using the # button.
This phone doubles as a UAV caller!!
I wonder if anyone in the 80s tried fitting a cell phone into their pocket.
Ahaha you can impress your friends with THAT price already!!!!
That's a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. One of those would have bought you a lot more status per $ back then than a high end phone now.
(Wouldn't have bought you much funtionality per $ though. :-D )
no wonder very few people in the 80's had cell phones... lol
I think Zach Morris went to the store that Saturday and bought the phone
It's funny, because you know that twenty or thirty years from now, people are going to be on here making fun of "old" commercials for iPods, iPhones, iPads, and whatnot, because it'll all be obsolete by then, and there'll be something better--we just don't know what that "something" is yet.
How much were the typical rates for calls in 80's?
that big ass brick i remember my mom had that
Now we have mobile phone and Iphone.
Now that's we call the history of cellphone
that phone won't impress your friends, it'll drive them away!
I remember when that was the top of the line
@TasteTheMonochrome And how much is an iPhone going for these days?
try buying one without a contract, hoss. 16-64GB iPhones are ACTUALLY $649-$849. You only get the discounted price when you get locked into a 2 year contract and end up paying over $2k plus the price of the phone itself.
Tupac - "they get jealous when they see me with my mobile phone."