And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
A few years ago I saw an illustration of technology advances. There was a picture of a full page Radio Shack ad from about 1989 with cameras, tape recorders, brick phones, pagers, and other cutting edge tech. Then a shot of a current cell phone. Everything on that full page ad, and lots more, is now in one cell phone. Hmmmm.
My first car phone in the 80s was $2400, installed. Big box behind the seat, handset on the hump, spring like antenna. Worked good. Paid for itself many times.
my first mobile phone was a bag phone, had a large antennae that connected to the car roof with a magnet, ran the cord out the window or door frame. Then had a brick phone, think it's still in my office someplace. My boss at the time wouldn't reimburse for cell phone calls, he thought it was "too expensive". Even when we sales guys pointed out a couple of big lost orders due to the competitors getting to the customers on the phone first, he still insisted that we stop at phone booths to pick up messages and make calls. Idiot... no wonder the company went out of business, and one of the reasons I went to work for the industry leader. That would have been 1988-89.
and the bag phones put out 3 watts, instead of todays phones that put out 1/3 of a watt. I actually have my first bag phone, I bought in 88 or 89. was like $700, plus $80 a month, plus $2 a minute, plus any long distance charges. but I was working as an owner operator trucker and the place I was working with paid you to $150 a day to sign up to be on call on the weekends, and a ton more if you got dispatched, but the catch was : they would call 3 times each day and if you didnt answer the phone all 3 times, you lost the $150. it was my new man purse, I carried that bag phone everywhere, mowing the grass, washing the car, taking a shower etc, plus before GPS it was handy to make a quick call and get directions if you got lost and couldnt get a local driver on the CB radio. but it cost about TWO dollars a minute, so your calls were quick, no excess chitter chatter. quit my dream job of being a park ranger in 88, to buy an 18 wheeler, made $975 a month as a park ranger, made $6000 in the first month as a Owner Operator trucker. my son started trucking at 20 years old, managed to get hired hauling oversize overweight loads, getting paid 90 cents a mile to drive someone elses brand new Kenworth W-900L
Only Radio shack could sell a phone that would stop working BEFORE it went obsolete.
ReplyDelete--Generic
$799? That's in line with a 256GB iPhone.
ReplyDeleteAnd what was the worth of a dollar back then? The minimum wage was $3.25.
DeleteA few years ago I saw an illustration of technology advances. There was a picture of a full page Radio Shack ad from about 1989 with cameras, tape recorders, brick phones, pagers, and other cutting edge tech. Then a shot of a current cell phone. Everything on that full page ad, and lots more, is now in one cell phone. Hmmmm.
ReplyDeleteI miss the old glory days of Radio Shack... they tried desperately to reinvent themselves but it was too late, they lost their way and identity.
ReplyDeleteMy first car phone in the 80s was $2400, installed. Big box behind the seat, handset on the hump, spring like antenna. Worked good. Paid for itself many times.
ReplyDeletemy first mobile phone was a bag phone, had a large antennae that connected to the car roof with a magnet, ran the cord out the window or door frame. Then had a brick phone, think it's still in my office someplace. My boss at the time wouldn't reimburse for cell phone calls, he thought it was "too expensive". Even when we sales guys pointed out a couple of big lost orders due to the competitors getting to the customers on the phone first, he still insisted that we stop at phone booths to pick up messages and make calls. Idiot... no wonder the company went out of business, and one of the reasons I went to work for the industry leader. That would have been 1988-89.
ReplyDeleteHad a Mitsubishi cell phone a bit smaller than that one.....cost almost $2K. But I was making about $10K a month in 89 so it was feasible.
ReplyDeleteand the bag phones put out 3 watts, instead of todays phones that put out 1/3 of a watt.
ReplyDeleteI actually have my first bag phone, I bought in 88 or 89. was like $700, plus $80 a month, plus $2 a minute, plus any long distance charges.
but I was working as an owner operator trucker and the place I was working with paid you to $150 a day to sign up to be on call on the weekends, and a ton more if you got dispatched, but the catch was : they would call 3 times each day and if you didnt answer the phone all 3 times, you lost the $150.
it was my new man purse, I carried that bag phone everywhere, mowing the grass, washing the car, taking a shower etc, plus before GPS it was handy to make a quick call and get directions if you got lost and couldnt get a local driver on the CB radio. but it cost about TWO dollars a minute, so your calls were quick, no excess chitter chatter.
quit my dream job of being a park ranger in 88, to buy an 18 wheeler,
made $975 a month as a park ranger, made $6000 in the first month as a Owner Operator trucker. my son started trucking at 20 years old, managed to get hired hauling oversize overweight loads, getting paid 90 cents a mile to drive someone elses brand new Kenworth W-900L