A world record attempt to bring the largest number of weird and wonderful mobile phones to a public event will take place next month to celebrate 40 years of the handset.
Professor of Telecommunications at the University of Salford, Nigel Linge, will host a lecture celebrating 40 years of the mobile phone at the ITP Family Christmas Presentation at MediaCityUK on December 7.
Mobile phones have drastically changed since their creation and due to the significant advancement in technology they have changed the way we socialise.
Professor Linge said: “The idea is for people attending the lecture to bring along as many mobiles as possible – old, new, the ones they use and the ones they have hidden in drawers!
“We would love to see as many different models as possible on the day.
“It’s hard to over-estimate the impact the mobile phone has had on our lives in the 21st Century, and our record breaking attempt will be an opportunity to display all of them in their glory!”
The lecture will look back at the history of the mobile phone reflecting on how it has developed from a handheld brick used in comedy sketches famously parodied in Trigger Happy TV, to an essential tool for modern life.
MM took to Piccadilly to find out what phones people used over the years.
Jeff Rhodes, 74, from Eccles, said: “I have never owned a mobile phone and don’t plan to. They are too fiddly for me.
“My daughter keeps pestering me to get one but I can’t see a use for them. I have a phone at home at home and rarely use that.”
Many people like Jess Scunthorpe, 24, from Chorley, claim that phones have become a necessity in the modern day world and that the price of them reflects that.
Miss Scunthorpe forked out more than £400 for her latest handset, the IPhone 4S, which she says ‘she has with her at all times’.
James Turner, 28, a Bury bank assistant, said: “I had a few Sony Ericssons they were good for music, but I can’t believe how much they [phones] have changed over the years.
“I use my Samsung Galaxy all the time, it’s a necessary thing, I wouldn’t go anywhere without it.”
Thomas Isherwood, 53, from Central Manchester, said: “The most embarrassing phone I have ever owned was a Nokia 6110 which was years ago. I can’t remember if you even send texts on it.”
Image courtesy of Matthijs via Flickr, with thanks.
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