The cellphone celebrates its 40th birthday


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SALT LAKE CITY — The cellphone turned 40 years old on Wednesday and it all started back in 1973 when an inventor with Motorola made the first public mobile phone call.

Mobile phones first became available to the public in the early 1980s and cost nearly $400 up front, with a contract on top of that— hardly a bargain today. Still, these gigantic mobile phones were the hottest technology.

"It's crazy to see how far it's come," said Blake Thomason, of CPR Cell Phone Repair in Midvale.

Thomason and his team have seen their share of technological advances.


I'll never forget it. It was the Nokia 5120. It was a little gray brick phone, it had the antenna on it. Haha. Oh man, that thing was so awesome back in the day. You could play snake on it.

–Blake Thomason


"I mean, you're going from big screens to thin, from these bulky flip phones," said Kyle Chamberlain from CPR Cell Phone Repair.

But even those are a far cry from the infamous brick phones.

In 1973 inventor Martin Cooper, working for Motorola, made the first public mobile phone call in a press conference. This technology so common now, it's just about killed the payphone. Though if you look hard enough, you can still find a working one.

Whether you were one of those lucky and privileged brick owners, or later, everyone remembers their first.

"I'll never forget it. It was the Nokia 5120," Thomason said. "It was a little gray brick phone, it had the antenna on it. Ha ha. Oh man, that thing was so awesome back in the day. You could play snake on it."

And thanks to the touchscreens of today, the guys at Cellphone Repair say technology has changed dramatically and quickly, leaving them to wonder what they are going to come up with next.

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