Why is that this phone gazing the floor in dismay? As it can’t believe that it has been 30 years because it made history. In this day three decades ago, this 14 kilogram beast was used to put the first actual call on Australia’s first actual mobile network — the general public Automatic Telephone System, operated by Telstra (or Telecom, because it was known on the time). Back then, the network could only support 1,000 users without delay and supply coverage for the greater Melbourne area (things have since changed for the simpler). The device, meanwhile, was known simply because the Cell phone and, looking back, wasn’t all that mobile; the carphone system included a forty five centimeter handset, a transceiver and rooftop antenna — interested in a little bit over $5,000. It might also store a whopping 16 phone numbers and would notify users of incoming calls by sounding the car’s horn and flashing its headlights. The Mobile Phone’s Australian reign, however, could be relatively short-lived, with the DynaTAC 8000x ushering in a brand new handheld era, just two years after Telstra’s inaugural call. Dial past the break for a Wagnerian commercial that’ll inform you everything you mostly desired to find out about antiquity, but were too afraid to invite.
[Thanks, Vincent]
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