HISTORY

We've come a long way from those brick-phones made popular in the '80s! The concept of portable radios, walkie-talkies and mobile phones has been around since the beginning of the 20th century. Mobile phones as we know them today really took off in the early 1980s. "Motorola is widely considered to be the inventor of the first practical mobile phone for handheld use in a non-vehicle setting." ¹ Since then, phones have become slimmer and more portable.

While in many countries where computer technology is readily available, the mobile phone could be seen as a companion technology to a more powerful network. However, developing countries have seen significant impact by the advancement of mobile phones. "Cell phone use in developing countries has quadrupled in the last decade." ² As a web developer we must realize the vast majority of mobile phone users may have no other means of accessing the Internet.

Just to be clear on the growth of the mobile device worldwide, compare it with other common technologies used today: ³

^{1, 2} Wikipedia, "Mobile Phone," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Phone.
³ Moll, Cameron, "Mobile Web Design," http://www.mobilewebbook.com.