Ring True: Top 10 Facts On Mobile Phones
Those of you who know me well can attest to the fact that I am not much of a mobile phone user. In fact, I don’t even own a smart phone, which officially makes my parents cooler than me (For goodness sake mum, it doesn’t matter how many times you try sending me that photo of you at the jam fair, my phone just isn’t capable of letting me see it!). And that’s the way I like it. However that’s not to say I don’t have any interest in mobile phones, in fact here are 10 things I recently learned about mobiles…
10. RINGING IN A NEW ERA The First mobile phone available for commercial purchase in the US was in 1983 and cost $3,995. |
9. TALKING FILTH Disturbingly, the average mobile phone has 18 times more bacteria than toilet handles. Is that because so many people are talking sh*t? |
8. BRUSHING ASIDE INEQUALITY While world-wide 4 billion people are now using mobile phones, only about 3.5 billion seem to be using toothbrushes. No wonder they have to talk to people over the phone. |
7. BUT CAN IT TOAST BREAD? Now discontinued, the best-selling electrical gadget of all time is the Nokia 1100, which has sold over 250 million units since launching in 2003. |
6. NO DIRTY TALK Due to a demand from girls wanting to use them while in the bath or shower, in Japan virtually all phones are made to be waterproof. |
5. CALL ME CRAZY
Mental conditions related to mobile phone usage include Frigensophobia (the fear that using a mobile is causing damage to your brain), Ringxiety (when you think you can hear it ringing, even when it isn’t), Telephonophobia (a fear of making or receiving calls) and Nomophobia (a fear of losing contact due to a lack of signal, low battery or lost phone). |
4. NUISANCE CALLER The first ever mobile phone call was by Martin Cooper, an engineer at Motorola in 1973. He called a rival at Bell Labs to boast about the new phone. |
3. LETS TOUCH BASIN
According to data supplied by an insurance company in Britain, during 2011 over 100 thousand mobiles were known to have been dropped down the loo. |
2. CALL ME DEAR
Florida woman Celina Aarons is responsible for the biggest known monthly phone bill of all time, with T-Mobile charging her 200 thousand dollars. In light of the circumstances surrounding the bill, and the media spotlight that went with it, they eventually reduced it to $2,500. |
1. THESE WEREN’T THE DROIDS THEY WERE LOOKING FOR The word “Droid” was sneakily trademarked by Star Wars makers Lucasfilm Ltd (now a part of Disney), and so Verizon have to pay them an undisclosed sum for the right to use it on their DROID brand of devices. |