That little rectangular supercomputer that’s either in your hand, pocket or purse hasn’t always been so little, so rectangular or so powerful.
The first iteration of the telephone was actually a couple of cans connected by string. And that was about 350 years ago, according to this infographic generated by telecommunications company Invicta Telephone Sales. A couple hundred years later, in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell patented a version of the telephone that allowed two people to talk over a long distance. It would be another 30 years before a telephone with a dial became widely available. And it wasn’t until 1983 that the first cellphone available for commercial use entered the market -- costing almost $4,000.
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Take a look at this infographic for more details on the innovation that developed cans connected with string transform into that smartphone you obsess over now.
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