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Cell phone

My Analog Life

From pagers and clunky cellphones to touch screens, this field sales manager has had 'em all

by Sofia Terenzio
Aug 2, 2024
"My first mobile phone was a huge suitcase I would put in the seat next to me," recalls Kristina Azab. Later, she cherished her BlackBerry.
A mobile phone model that launched in 2001.
Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Images
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I've Always Wondered ...

Why don’t we have a phone book for cell phones?

by Janet Nguyen
Jul 19, 2024
The economic incentives didn’t make sense when cellular services first became available.
A phone book showing "the yellow pages" (business listings) and "the white pages" (residential listings).
jhorrocks/Getty Images Plus
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The fix for crummy cell reception? Probably more cell towers.

by Kai Ryssdal and Sean McHenry
Dec 12, 2023
Networks are clogged, and we need to build more towers, says Alana Semuels of Time magazine. But we don’t want the towers, just the service.
Time magazine's Alana Semuels says the only solution is to build more cell towers. "And that's not even really a solution because nobody wants a cellphone tower in their backyard."
George Frey/AFP via Getty Images
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Small phones are hard to find

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Nov 2, 2023
Makers seem to favor devices with much larger displays. Sean Hollister at The Verge recounts his search for a good small phone.
Customers are being directed toward phones with larger displays, like Apple's latest release, the iPhone 15 Pro.
James D. Morgan/Getty Images
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Marketplace Tech Blogs

You have more choices for wireless than you might think

by Molly Wood and Stephanie Hughes
Jun 20, 2018
Here's how mobile virtual network operators work.
T-Mobile owns the mobile virtual network operator MetroPCS.
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Looking back at the birth of the iPhone, 10 years later

by Molly Wood
Jun 15, 2017
Brian Merchant has the backstory on the iPhone's creation in his new book, "The One Device: The Secret History of the iPhone"
Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone at the Macworld Conference in January 2007 in San Francisco.
TONY AVELAR/AFP/Getty Images
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Want a 212 area code? It's gonna cost you.

by Marielle Segarra
Jun 12, 2017
As New York City adds a new number, the after-market 212 is thriving.
 (L to R) Sameer Uddin and Michelle Macias use their smartphones outside of the Nintendo store in New York City. 
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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AT&T brings unlimited data back

by Mark Garrison
Jan 12, 2016
At least for now. But don't expect a widespread return to the pricing model.
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There should be a lane for that

by Kai Ryssdal
Jul 30, 2015
Move aside, smartphone users.
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Google could be your next wireless carrier

by Annie Baxter
Jan 22, 2015
Google may be making deals with T-Mobile, Sprint to sell its own wireless service.
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