Remember When Cellphones Were Special?

Watching a documentary about the gadget innovations of the 1980s (think VHS, Pacman, PCs, Boom Boxes and the Sony Walkman), I recalled the amazing cellphones of my childhood in the 1990s and early 2000s. Click for a blast from the past:

Man, I miss those days. Back then you had a choice of cellphone design and fit-for-purpose handsets we can't even dream about today. Now you just 'choose' by software platform (Apple vs Android vs Windows Mobile), and if you can't handle a touchscreen you buy a BlackBerry. You always feel cheated as well, because unless you're buying the very best you just know you're getting a cheap knock-off of what's actually available, and I never felt that way in the glory days of cellphones where grown men would consider buying clamshell phones.

Back then every new phone I got was an amazing journey of discovery - now it's just a question of 'Oh yeah, I guess the screen really IS a bit sharper, isn't it?' That's not improvement in my book. Bring on The Next Big Invention!