[busterkeaton]

By the early 1990s, Nokia was getting well established in the mobile business,
with a range of phones that included user-friendly display screens.
This early model had an aerial which needed to be extended to make calls.

By the time the Motorola International series of phones came out, in the mid-90s,
technology was improving to make mobiles smaller.
Phones were also becoming more capable, as they took advantage
of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).
This mobile standard enabled text messaging, among other new features.

This 1997 mobile phone is one of the earliest examples of the clam-shell design.

The Nokia 2110, launched in 1995, was capable of little more than calls and text messages. It came in any colour you could want, so long as that was black.

This Ericsson phone, launched in 1999, included a ringtone composer,
two games (Tetris and Solitaire) and vibrate alert.

The Nokia 3210 was an enormously popular phone, thanks in part to its ease of use
but it also the included Snake game and the fact that
you could personalise it by changing its covers.

 

[benfoldsfive dude]

My mother and father had the last one pictured. Except it had an antenna on the top right. I always liked how you could customize the shells of that phone. Even in 2010, where we have touch-screen phones, I still see some mall vendors still selling those customizable shells.

 

[Ikari T]

oh yeah, I owned that AT&T Nokia cellphone with a 60 min. limit each month. Not during the 1990s, but early 2000s.

 

[kmamaji]

I have own many Nokia Phones but not these ones. I have never use nor i have seen. I think they are old century phones?

 

[ThatName]

My first phone was similar to the last one. The one I had was black, and my parents bought it for me when I went off to college (2001).

 

[Hypaspist]

My family had a land line version of the second one. I enjoyed using it.

 

[Delta Lead]

Bottom nokia for 5 years. Yuck lol, i can read my books on my smart phone now!

 

[xerxes75]

Nokia 3210, the games were super fun back in the day XD.

 

[Iasuru]

I had the last one back when I was young. Don't remember exactly how young. I remember that snake game.

I also remember something like the 4th picture but it had a blue case and I believe it also had the snake game.

 

[Nekomata]

My sister got the last one, which I recieved second hand from her a few years later <.<; which is annoying because I'm older than her and should have gotten a mobile first... ;-;

 

[DiamondDays]

I don't think i know a single person my age who didn't own a 3210.

 

[Persephone]

The Nokia 3210 was an enormously popular phone, thanks in part to its ease of use
but it also the included Snake game and the fact that
you could personalise it by changing its covers.

MY FIRST PHONE!OMGOMGOMG

I sort of miss the simplicity of those years, though I wouldn't give up my iphone for anything.

 

[nádej]

My best friend had the 3210, but I wasn't allowed to have a cell phone until I was sixteen...I was only ten/eleven/twelve when the 3210s were around, and those are the most recent of the pictures.

My parents were still using this at the time (not Nokia, but stilll):

And calling it a 'car phone' and saying "this is silly; these will never catch on."

 

[tympanon]

I entered this thread thinking I would see something like this :tongue:

I got my first mobile in 2004 so it was already a little bit more advanced (blue screen, haha).
My dad did own one of those early '90 Nokias though.

 

[Infermiera]

Yup I had a Nokia 3210

 

[Mind Swirl]

The Nokia 3210 was an enormously popular phone, thanks in part to its ease of use
but it also the included Snake game and the fact that
you could personalise it by changing its covers.

I had one similar or identical to this in black. I played Snake when I was bored and waiting for friends to finish class. It's funny because my brother was looking at my current phone and commented how it didn't have good games and I said "Yeah, it doesn't have Snake!"

 

[voicetrocity]

The first phone I had was massive and you couldn't even text from it. My parent is all up in technology and just HAD to make sure I had that. It was awkward being one of the only people in my class with a phone. It took up way too much space in my backpack and I couldn't figure out what the sense was in someone calling me while I was in school.

I believe my second phone was the 3210, though I never remembered seeing "snake" on it or being able to change the covers (I would have been all over that, had I known it was possible).

I don't think I've ever loved a phone like I loved my Razr. My first phone with a camera and AIM capability!!!!

 

[StaceofBass]

I actually never owned one of those. My first one was a Samsung flip phone when I was 18...which was around 2004-ish xD

 

[fihe]

haha no. but I remember a time when having a phone that took pictures meant you were fancy.

 

[Impavida]

What do you mean "did you ever?" I STILL own and use this one:

I had a couple of the earlier Motorola flip phones when I was a teenager though.