Page 34 - Sphere No.16 (Apr 2006)

T H E N . . . A N D N O W
PHOTO: CHEUNG PAK-HONG
That
shrinking
feeling
32 SPHERE
IT WAS THE YEAR Apple introduced the Macintosh to the
world and Careless Whisper became a smash hit for Wham
and George Michael. Yes, it was 1984, the year the first mo-
bile phone hit the market.
After years of research and development, Motorola launched
the DynaTAC 8000X. It weighed a colossal 785g and was known
affectionately as “The Brick” or “The Big Brother” in Hong Kong.
The price tag? USD3,995 (HKD31,161). By the end of 1984 there
were 300,000 mobile users worldwide, including many in Hong
Kong who forked out USD2,949 (HKD23,000) to use the Motor-
ola 8000SL, one of the first models on sale locally (pictured).
In 2006, there are more than a billion mobile phone users
around the world. The original mobile phones may seem like di-
nosaurs now but they paved the way for the fashionable, light-
weight, multimedia models of today.
Then: The 8000SL weighed 800g and offered just 70 min-
utes of talk time for every recharging. Never mind the lack of
battery power, just imagine holding something that heavy up
to your ear for more than a few minutes at a time!
Now: The Motorola V3X is today’s ultimate lightweight mo-
bile accessory. With its cost and weight both six times less than
the 8000SL, the handset includes video calling, a two mega-pixel
camera and Bluetooth wireless technology.
V3X
Height: 99mm
Width: 52mm
Depth: 19.3mm
Weight: 127g
Photos are actual size
8000SL
Height: 195mm
Width: 83mm
Depth: 40mm
Weight: 800g