Saturday 24 February 2007

You've come a long way baby


Happy 20th birthday to the Aussie mobile phone.

Mel Ward, then MD of Telecom Australia, made the nation's first mobile call on a Mitsubishi handset from the Sydney Opera House on February 23, 1987.

Back then mobile phones were the size of a briefcase, cost over $4,000 and had a battery life of less than half an hour.

Now a staple of modern life, the mobile has long since shaken off its 'Wall St' yuppy image.

As for Mitsubishi, well I'm sure they make nice cars, but their time as mobile telephony trailblazers has long since passed into history.

Obviously being first isn't always best.