" *JimH*" wrote ...

How about this *handy* device from 1973........the original cell phone:

Name: Motorola Dyna-Tac
Size: 9 x 5 x 1.75 inches
Weight: 2.5 pounds
Display: None
Number of Circuit Boards: 30
Talk time: 35 minutes
Recharge Time: 10 hours
Features: Talk, listen, dial

http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/April2003/Brick.jpg

That's a picture of Marty Cooper with an early mock-up of the first *portable*
cell phone. We didn't get it into production until the early eighties and what
a PITA that was. I still have some prototypes of the various ceramic hybrid
modules (~20) that plugged into the main motherboard. As I recall it cost ~$400
just to produce a functional logic module in the early days. The first units
sold for about $4500.

Funny story: One of the major difficulties was getting it to pass a 4' drop test
without breaking internal modules. To celebrate initial production the group had
a big get together at a local bar and presented Marty with a gold plated unit.
As it was passed around and admired one of my rather bold and compulsive
co-workers held it at shoulder height, proclaimed that "If it's a production
unit it should pass the drop test" and dropped it on the floor. There was
stunned silence for a few seconds followed by nervous laughter as it was picked
up and determined to still work. The look on Marty's face was priceless. I
think Gerry might have suffered consequences had he not been so brilliant. He
was a very early proponent of digital voice encoding.

-rick-