DynaTAC 8000X, the first commercially sold portable cellular phone, by Motorola. They sold for US$3,995 in 1983 dollars, which is about $13,400 in 2026 dollars.
It was actually developed in the early 1970s, despite not reaching the market until 1983. The inventor was Martin Cooper, who is still alive at 97. He placed the world’s first cell phone call in 1973,
By the early 1970s, Cooper headed Motorola’s communications systems division. Here he conceived of the first portable cellular phone in 1973 and led the 10-year process of bringing it to market
Closeup photo of a branded one,
Martin looking dapper and posing with some,
I want to know how conversations go when random people ask Martin what kind of work he used to do. “Well, I made the world’s first cell phone call.” “Uhm… right. Sure. Time for your meds, isn’t it?” “Type my name into Wikipedia.”
EDIT , accuracy update from mindbleach@sh.itjust.works in thread.
Aw man, I remember these dudes running around in the busiest of hours and streets, phoning loudly “sell all!”, “fire them!” And other “look how important I am”-talks 😁
AS a tech nerd I really loved the shit, but I hate phones. Never answer them anyway, they’re just for emergencies.