Could you hear me then?
Motorola introduced its 2-pound, 13-inch hand-held cellular phone (the DynaTAC 8000X, nicknamed “The
Brick”) in 1984. Ameritech—the first cellular carrier—charged subscribers $50 a month plus 40¢ a minute peak; 24¢ off-peak.
“Our market research on price point indicated buyers would be a select group of . . . large company executives.”
—Paul Gudonis, recalling the 1983 launch of the Ameritech cellular network
By the end of the 1980s, cell phones were increasingly becoming normalized—appearing in movies and TV sitcoms, and being used to conduct everyday life, not just business.
