mobile communications
Notes: 11
Ericsson Mobile Phones: from Communications Pioneer to Status Symbol
In 1994, a mobile phone in Russia was not just a means of communication, but a vivid symbol of belonging to the new class of entrepreneurs and…
MSS: Moscow Cellular Communications
Moscow Cellular Communications (MCC) was founded as a Russian-American joint venture, Moscow Cellular, and became the second cellular operator in…
Motorola StarTAC: The Revolutionary Flip Phone
The Motorola StarTAC is a series of flip phones designed and released by Motorola starting in 1996. It was the first truly popular flip phone…
The Nokia 8110 -- a Legendary Slider of the GSM Era
The Nokia 8110 was a mobile phone that became a genuine symbol of technological progress in the second half of the 1990s and a cult object thanks to…
Phone on the belly
In the 90s mobile phones were large and heavy, impossible to carry in a pocket. Protective cases with a belt clip were used for convenience. Pagers…
SAGEM, the French Electronics Maker
SAGEM was a French company founded in 1924 by Marcel Méhé, a 25-year-old entrepreneur. The firm initially specialized in mechanical equipment…
The Eight-Bit Beep: Sound Signals of the First Mobile Phones
The eight-bit beep of early mobile phones: the technical features of these sound signals, the evolution from analog to digital systems, and the…
The Nokia 101: a Revolutionary Phone of the Early 1990s
What owning a mobile phone at all meant in 1993 Moscow, and the era's odd rule that smaller and less imposing beat big and boxy.
The Nokia Mobira: a Status Symbol of the Early 1990s
The "Nokia Mobira" was the series of the first portable mobile phones made by the Finnish company Nokia. Its best-known model was the Mobira Cityman…
The Pager
From Motorola's 1949 patent to a million Russian subscribers by the mid-1990s — and the looted pager Zhorik keeps fidgeting with.
The Permit to Carry a Cell Phone in 1990s Russia
Why owning a mobile phone in 1993 Russia meant registering it with a Soviet-style oversight committee, carrying a permit, and risking a shakedown…