Phones are everyday items and widely used. But what is the history behind them? We have all heard of the little brick phones that dinosaurs walked around with, so how were they made, and what made designers think to make better ones?
The first phone to come out was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. Alexander made the first successful call to his assistant, Thomas Watson, in March 1876. Some may argue that Antonio Meucci was the first phone inventor, as they developed a voice-communication device in the 1840s. Whilst some people say this was the first 'basic phone', others say Alexander's phone was, as it secured the legal rights and public recognition.
The first 'modern' mobile phone was the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, as it was the first handheld cellular phone. The first mobile call using the device was made in 1973, but it was released to the public in 1984. Many described the device as a large, heavy "brick phone" that was difficult to use.
Samsung, the world's biggest mobile phone company, was opened in 1938 by Lee Byung-Chull. After their opening came their first mobile phone, which was the SH-100, released in South Korea in 1988.
Apple, the world's second-biggest mobile company, was opened after Samsung in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The first Apple phone was the original iPhone, released to the public by Steve Jobs in 2007.
All of the accomplishments listed above are amazing, but an invention that truly changed the world was the IBM Simon Personal Communicator, released in 1994. The phone had basic features like email, calendar, calculator and phone calls. This transformed the phone industry, and some believe it was for the better.
The most recent phones towards the end of 2025 were the iPhone 17 Pro/Pro Max, Galaxy S25 Ultra, Galaxy S25 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 7 and the Pixel 10 Pro XL.
We take phones for granted, and most of the time we expect everyone in the world to have a phone. Imagine life before phones were invented; many people say it would make the world better if we did not have the widely used device, whilst others think it is an incredible invention and an amazing transformation.