What year did you first get a cellphone?

[ET21]

2006, freshman year of high school

[tchafe1978]

In 2001 when I was still in college but working at my internship which was a 45 minute drive away along not very busy county and state highways, and through a couple very small towns. I was working 2nd shift and driving home in freezing rain at 1AM. I slid off into the ditch just outside one of the small towns. There wasn't even a pay phone at the gas station in the town. I walked around town for about an hour looking for a porch light on to knock on a door so I could call my future wife and her dad to come get me. They ended up getting stuck about a mile outside of town, and the car's automatic locks locked them out of the car. Luckily I had the other key for that car so we could crawl our way home and get a tow truck in the morning. Anyway, that's what moved us to get our first cellphone, a Nokia brick phone with the changable face plates. A couple years later we got our first flip phones and each got our own instead of sharing one. In about 2015 we finally gave up our, for me, flip phone, and my wife, her slider phone when they both started going on the fritz and got our first android phones. We also then switched from US Cellular to Verizon Prepaid.

[bwana39]

For me 1998.

My wife had one from 1990 to 1992 then she didn't get one again until 2002. She has the same number since 2002.

[kphoger]

Then switched a year later to VoiceStream.  Remember them?

Only because my roommate had a phone with them, and service was nonexistent outside major cities (you couldn't even count on service along Interstate corridors like you [mostly] can now).

When I switched from Sprint to VoiceStream, literally every person in the VoiceStream store that day was switching away from Sprint and, while we were waiting for the sales agents to finalize our new service plans, we were all chatting about how crappy Sprint service was and how happy we all were to be switching away from them.  Shortly thereafter, T-Mobile bought out VoiceStream, and I kept T-Mobile for the next eight years or so.

I lived in a slight valley in Wheaton (because Illinois isn't flat) at the time and, with Sprint, I was having to walk two blocks up the hill in order to get enough cell service to make a phone call.

[GaryV]

I lived in a slight valley in Wheaton (because Illinois isn't flat) at the time and, with Sprint, I was having to walk two blocks up the hill

In the snow, against the wind, both ways ...

in order to get enough cell service to make a phone call.

I'm appreciating the irony of the Comcast/Xfinity truck in that streetview.

[abefroman329]

Then switched a year later to VoiceStream.  Remember them?

Only because my roommate had a phone with them, and service was nonexistent outside major cities (you couldn't even count on service along Interstate corridors like you [mostly] can now).

When I switched from Sprint to VoiceStream, literally every person in the VoiceStream store that day was switching away from Sprint and, while we were waiting for the sales agents to finalize our new service plans, we were all chatting about how crappy Sprint service was and how happy we all were to be switching away from them.  Shortly thereafter, T-Mobile bought out VoiceStream, and I kept T-Mobile for the next eight years or so.

I lived in a slight valley in Wheaton (because Illinois isn't flat) at the time and, with Sprint, I was having to walk two blocks up the hill in order to get enough cell service to make a phone call.

The phones I bought in 1999, that didn't really work, were through Sprint.  That, plus the fact that CDMA was very much the redheaded stepchild of GSM for the longest time (Apple wouldn't even introduce an iPhone that worked on CDMA networks until 2011), meant I never even considered Sprint.

[webny99]

2017. I was pretty "late" in getting one compared to other people my age.

2017 for me too, and I'm four years older than you. The last year or so before getting one was tough.

[kphoger]

The phones I bought in 1999, that didn't really work, were through Sprint.  That, plus the fact that CDMA was very much the redheaded stepchild of GSM for the longest time (Apple wouldn't even introduce an iPhone that worked on CDMA networks until 2011), meant I never even considered Sprint.

Having used T-Mobile and Verizon ever since then, and traveling to rural Mexico somewhat regularly, I've had to be very careful when purchasing a cell phone.  A decade ago, for example, there were very few cell phones offered by my provider that would roam on Telcel's GSM towers in Mexico.  It's a lot easier nowadays.

[abefroman329]

The phones I bought in 1999, that didn't really work, were through Sprint.  That, plus the fact that CDMA was very much the redheaded stepchild of GSM for the longest time (Apple wouldn't even introduce an iPhone that worked on CDMA networks until 2011), meant I never even considered Sprint.

Having used T-Mobile and Verizon ever since then, and traveling to rural Mexico somewhat regularly, I've had to be very careful when purchasing a cell phone.  A decade ago, for example, there were very few cell phones offered by my provider that would roam on Telcel's GSM towers in Mexico.  It's a lot easier nowadays.

Oh, totally - before I got an iPhone, I had a special dual-band BlackBerry that I could use in GSM countries.

Seems like the equivalent nowadays is having a phone that's compatible with, say, 3G, but not 4G or 5G.

[LM117]

Early 2008. It was a silver LG flip phone. Service was from Alltel.

Looked like this:

[davewiecking]

Because I haven't moved in nearly 4 decades, I was just able to dig out my first BAMS bill, which is dated 11/1/90. I think the bag phone is upstairs in the attic. I also had an accessory with an RJ-45 jack, so I could stash the bag in the back of the vehicle and have a Trimline phone attached up front.

[kphoger]

RJ-45

For the uninitiated, that means Ethernet, a.k.a. 4-pair.

[abefroman329]

RJ-45

For the uninitiated, that means Ethernet, a.k.a. 4-pair.

I think Dave meant an RJ-11 jack - I'm not sure the RJ-45 standard existed in 1990, and you definitely couldn't connect a Trimline phone to an RJ-45 jack.

[kphoger]

RJ-45

For the uninitiated, that means Ethernet, a.k.a. 4-pair.

I think Dave meant an RJ-11 jack - I'm not sure the RJ-45 standard existed in 1990, and you definitely couldn't connect a Trimline phone to an RJ-45 jack.

I'm pretty sure RJ-45 connectors had been around for a few years, but possibly only for trunk line systems.  I'm not sure if non-keyed 8p8c connectors were around yet or not in 1990.

At any rate, yes, he probably meant RJ-11.

[abefroman329]

I'm pretty sure RJ-45 connectors had been around for a few years, but possibly only for trunk line systems.  I'm not sure if non-keyed 8p8c connectors were around yet or not in 1990.

Yeah, I couldn't tell you; I didn't become familiar with them until 1997.

[davewiecking]

RJ-45

For the uninitiated, that means Ethernet, a.k.a. 4-pair.

I think Dave meant an RJ-11 jack - I'm not sure the RJ-45 standard existed in 1990, and you definitely couldn't connect a Trimline phone to an RJ-45 jack.

Oops. You are correct. RJ-11. It is of course possible to plug a (2 or 4 conductor) phone plug into an (8 conductor) Ethernet jack, but whether it accomplishes anything depends on how one wires the jack.

[epzik8]

2008, Verizon flip phone

[CoreySamson]

2017. I was pretty "late" in getting one compared to other people my age.

I got mine in 2017 as well much later than my peers.  I got my mom's old iPhone 4S stripped of games and the internet.