The mobile devices of yesteryear are not the intuitive, lightweight or sleek bits of hardware we're used to today. Enjoy the bizarre, yet brave imaginings of on-the-go lifestyles from the early 20th century and on.

1. The
Bizarre
History of
By Renee Floyd
Mobile
Technology

2. Today’s mobile
technology
activity possible
makes on-the-go

3. by being small,
lightweight and
internet-
accessible.
Today’s mobile
technology
makes on-the-go
activity possible

4. Modern mobile devices
are constantly described
as intuitive.

5. But mobile
technology
hasn’t always
felt so

6. second nature.
But mobile
technology
hasn’t always
felt so

7. What other bizarre
creations came
between this…

8. …and this?

9. Here, we have two Londoners reading “ticker tape news
feeds” on portable telegraphs in1906.

10. In 1912, Berlin
residents could
connect a
compact
receiver and
transmitter to a
“contact place”
and make
phone calls.

11. The device was
so small, it
could be
“carried in a
lady’s handbag
or attached to
her chatelaine.”

12. The device was
so small, it
could be
“carried in a
lady’s handbag
or attached to
her chatelaine.”
A what?

13. This artist’s concept of
“face time” communication
in 1930 is impressively close
to what we have today.

14. Here, we
have an early
example of a
mobile app—
the mobile
appliqué.

15. Here, we
have an early
example of a
mobile app—
the mobile
appliqué.
Sewing
joke.

16. Sometimes, “mobile” simply meant
“the same thing as before,

17. Sometimes, “mobile” simply meant
“the same thing as before,
but with wheels.”

18. In the
1950s,
inventors
of mobile
technology
really
started
using their
heads.

19. Some mobile
workstations
became more
high tech than
their “desk on
wheels”
predecessors.

20. Other mobile workstations
allowed indoor workers to
“get outside” for a change.

21. Portable TVs
arrived in the
sixties,
thanks to the
“art of
miniaturization.”

22. Portable TVs
arrived in the
sixties,
thanks to the
“art of
miniaturization.”

23. Ah, the old, “put some wheels
on it” approach to mobility!

24. The eighties brought forth a wave of mobile
technology, such as this “portable
microcomputer” from 1981.

25. This iPhone/iPad prototype from 1983 is
oddly recognizable thanks to Apple’s
signature styling.

26. Mobile
technology
exploded in the
eighties, and
people had
more gadgets
than they could
carry.

27. Mobile
technology
exploded in the
eighties, and
people had
more gadgets
than they could
carry.
I can’t
carry all
this.

28. Now, we have access to more
information than we can consume.

29. Now, we have access to more
information than we can consume.
That’s a lot of
internet.

30. So how can you
harness that
information on a
mobile device—and
increase productivity
too?

31. Download the free guide today!
Thanks for viewing!

32. All images from
retronaut.com and
commons.wikimedia.org