When did the cell phone hysteria come to your town?

[Adebisi]

Reading the "what decade..." thread I became a bit nostalgic. So the question is, when did the cell phone hysteria arrive to your town/class/community/circle of friends? By hysteria I mean the year when most of you suddenly had to get one, altough you couldn't have imagined that the year before.

 

[Gr3yL3gion]

2000 I guess, when all of my family member have one.

My mother have to phone me on my mobile phone to ask me to join the family for dinner when I am in my room in 3rd floor(that's how I am addicted to games back then, I forgot to eat )

 

[sourboy]

We had pagers for a while, so to upgrade to cell phones wasn't a big deal. My first year of college was '95-96, so I put '96 in the poll. That was when the majority bought cells, though some people had them around '93. The 'craze' part of it probably came more about '98 - when EVERYONE seemed to have one...

 

[farting bob]

I think more than half of the people had mobiles in around 1998. Ahh, memories of the brick phones and cool features like a phonebook, and something called texting

 

[Leonel]

Around 1999 for me. Although I do remember my rich aunt used to have one of those brick cellphones earlier than that. A few of my high school chums got them and now even I have one, which I didn't think would ever happen but due to the fact that I don't have a work phone and WebMD's offices in Portland have limited phonelines, I need a cellphone just to keep in contact.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I don't know. My parents got theirs around 1999.

 

[SeleucusNicator]

I got mine in 2003.

 

[Stapel]

hmm, both my dad and stephdad had such devices in the mid 90s. I think Holland hit the 50% barrier in 1998. I got my first in 1999, being fashionably late.

When me and some frat-friends went sailing in 4 small boats in 1996, we needed to communicate. None of us even thought about cell phones.... We purchased four used car batteries and four ........ 27MC transmitting devices !
I still have my 'bakkie' .

 

[Masquerouge]

I had mine in 1998, right after it became widely spread. My mom had the first one in 1997 as a birthday gift, because she was out of town so much

 

[downtown]

Washington DC prob invented the stupid things. I only got mine this year though

 

[Perfection]

I never got one nor do I plan on getting one.

 

[Sophie 378]

I never got one nor do I plan on getting one.

, another member of the non-addicted club! I am always being asked to put my mobile number on official forms and the like, and there is no "I do not have a mobile" option. It pisses me off. I dont remember when the craze started in backwards Pembrokeshire, but I do remember getting very pissed at people who you wanted to talk to them and all they wanted to do was fiddle with their phone hoping someone would ring them, ignoring the people nearest to them. I once saw somebody sitting in the row behind somebody else phone them because that was the only way to get their attention! Why become so dependent on something that you can't even talk to a friend because you have to check your inbox?
Sorry for rant ...

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

I didn't get one until 2003, and even then it was a brick-like one that I only had in case my girlfriend and I got seperated while visiting London.

My mum gave me her old one last year, which can fit into my pocket. I rarely use it unless I'm at work and bored silly.

As for when the hysteria came to town...I think around '99, though I really can't be sure.

 

[volta]

Most people I know started getting them around 1999.

I never got one nor do I plan on getting one.

Having one makes things so much easier. I find it annoying when I can't get in touch with someone because they don't have a cell phone.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

Reading the "what decade..." thread I became a bit nostalgic and began thinking of what happened in my school years. I remembered that in 1996, when I was 13 years old, one kid in my class brought a mobile phone to class and claimed it was his own. We all thought it was sooo cool and could barely believe it. In 1997 however, 2/3 of us had mobile phones. In 1998 almost everyone had one.

So the question is, when did the cell phone hysteria arrive to your town/class/community/circle of friends? By hysteria I mean the year when most of you suddenly had to get one, altough you couldn't have imagined that the year before.

When I started seeing teenage girls and near-vagrants carrying a cell phone around 1999, I figured the craze was on. However, I didn't get a cell phone of my own until 2001, and only because it was right after Sept 11th 2001. Until then, my excuse was that I didn't want people bothering me.

 

[Perfection]

I find it annoying when I can't get in touch with someone because they don't have a cell phone.

I don't, they usually have an answering machine, and email.

 

[Riesstiu IV]

It seems like everybody these days has one of those accursed devices. I don't have a cell phone but my GF is begging me to get one. I think it’s her way of keeping track of me!

 

[MCdread]

I started feeling it around 1997/1998, but it is possible that it had been a while before, I just didn't pay much atention. I resisted on getting my first though, and only aquired one in 2000. It was a Nokia 3210, the best mobile evah! It resisted bravely, until about a year ago, when it became too obvious that it finally needed eternal rest. A couple of weeks ago, I switched its substitute (also a Nokia) for a... let me check it... Motorola V980 with my dad, thus enetering in the brave new world of 3G.

 

[josephstalin]

1998 is about time. To the end of school year evrebody in my class had one.

 

[MCdread]

It seems like everybody these days has one of those accursed devices. I don't have a cell phone but my GF is begging me to get one. I think it’s her way of keeping track of me!

You can be damn sure of that.