Mobile Phones Then and Now

By Miral Sattar Monday, Nov. 29, 2010

Then: In 1983, Motorola’s DynaTAC (Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage) 8000X was the world’s first commercially-released mobile phone, with a price tag of $3995 equivalent to $8,772.59 in today’s dollars. Motorola spent 15 years and over $100 million developing the technology. The DynaTAC 8000X allowed 30 minutes of talk time, took 10 hours to charge, weighed 1.75 lb., and stood 13 in. high

Now: The DynaTAC has long been forgotten, with pocket-size touch phones like the Blackberry Torch, Droid X, and iPhone 4 dominating the market.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials