We have an HTZ Desire Z from 2010 in our collection.
It is a slider style smart phone. It was the last "google assured" QWERTY slider to be manufactured by HTC.
Reception to this make of smart phone was mixed, with some praising its keyboard, but others finding it difficult, and also complaining about a short battery life.
The phone was discontinued in 2011.
We have a first generation iPhone in our collection.
It was Apple Inc's first smartphone, and it was released in 2007. It became enormously successful.
Previous smartphones such as Blackberrys had been focussed on the business community, but this smartphone appealed to the wider public.
Instead of stylus or keyboard, it had a touchscreen interface. In July 2023, an unopened, first edition model of the 2007 iPhone was sold at auction for $190,372.80, which was nearly 400 times the original price.
We have a replica 1940s General Post office British black bakelite telephone with a rotary dial in our Technology through Time Collection.
The rotary dial became common in the 1930s and meant that customers could dial directly rather than rely on an operator to do this for them.
After World War II, the telephone networks expanded rapidly and more efficient telephone sets, such as the model 500 in the United States, were developed that allowed larger local networks centered around central offices.
Candlestick telephones gained popularity in the 1880s as the telephone became an important piece of technology for modern businesses.
A standard candlestick phone included a base, stem, mouthpiece, and receiver. The phone’s heavy receiver, or speaker end, rested on a hooked perch when not in use.
Our candlestick telephone, like the majority of early candlesticks, has only a single switch for dialing an operator.
Due to the threat of influenza and tuberculosis shortly after World War I, telephone producers developed mouthpieces made from glass or porcelain, which were thought to be more sanitary than Bakelite or rubber. These parts could be easily cleaned by unscrewing and boiling them, and employees of large companies sometimes carried their own mouthpieces to work.
We have two Morse Code Key Machines in our Technology through Time Collection.
Morse keys were used to send telegraph messages using a type of communication called Morse Code.
The machine worked using a bar with a contact underneath. When the bar was pushed down, the circuit was completed, and this meant that an electric current could flow. This type of Morse Key Machine was used by Post Office telegraph operators in Britain for many years. Morse Code consists of a series of long and short signals which could be translated into letters and words, and that written out as a telegram.
We have a 1940s General Post office British black bakelite telephone with a rotary dial in our Technology through Time Collection.
The rotary dial became common in the 1930s and meant that customers could dial directly rather than rely on an operator to do this for them. After World War II, the telephone networks expanded rapidly and more efficient telephone sets, such as the model 500 in the United States, were developed that allowed larger local networks centered around central offices.
We have a 1992 Motorola Personal Mobile Telephone in our Technology through Time Collection.
It was not until 1992 that mobile phones were no longer only allowed for commercial use. Digital consumer phones with low costs were made possible by mass manufacture. It was Motorola’s first attempt at a consumer phone for the UK market. It was marketed as an ’emergency phone’, and did not have a screen.
About 11 million people used mobile devices in 1990; by 2020, this had increased dramatically to about 2.5 billion users worldwide. There was a major evolution in the shape and size of phones, with early "brick" phones gradually becoming something much more portable.