What's the most common use for a mobile phone?

Not making calls, not texting, not accessing the internet or taking and sharing photos - can you believe the most common use for a mobile phone is TELLING THE TIME?

The mobile phone is 40 years old this month.  Martin Cooper made the first call on 3 April, 1973 in New York.   A fascinating article by Adrian Lee is full of facts and figures to make you stop and look back at your phone-using past.

How about being the most annoying person in the office today - test how much your friends & colleagues can remember.  Correct answers in our office were thin on the ground but produced plenty of hilarity.

1. What year did the first mobile phone go on sale in the US?
2. What year did the first mobile phone go on sale in the UK?
3. How much did a phone cost approx in UK when it first went on sale?
4. What year was voicemail first used?
5. What year was texting first used?   (Apparently you had to text via a PC in the early days)
6. What year was (clumsy) internet access first used?
7. What year was photo sharing first used? 

Read more for answers and a link to the full article.

 

ANSWERS:

1. US first phone on sale - 1983
2. UK first phone on sale  - 1987
3. UK first phone on sale in 1987 for £1,200
4. Voicemail arrived 1986
5. Texting arrived 1993
6. Internet Access arrived 1996
7. Photo sharing arrived 1997

Read Adrian Lee's full article here

 
Lynda Nicolson
Marketing & Online Community Manager