DynaTAC is a series of cellular telephones manufactured by Motorola, Inc. from 1984 to
1994. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X commercial portable cellular phone received approval
from the U.S. FCC on September 21, 1983 and became the first cell phone to be offered
commercially in 1984. It offered 30 minutes of talk time and 8 hours of standby, and a
LED display for dialing or recall of one of 30 phone numbers. It was priced at $3,995
in 1983. DynaTAC was an abbreviation of Dynamic Adaptive Total Area Coverage.
Several models followed, starting in 1985 with the 8000s and continuing with periodic
updates of increasing frequency until 1993's Classic II. Throughout, the DynaTAC was the
canonical cell phone, and it became a regular feature in mass media, first as a symbol of
wealth and futurism, and later as a quaint throwback when its era had ended. The DynaTAC
was replaced in most roles by the much smaller Motorola MicroTAC when it was first introduced
in 1989, and by the time of the Motorola StarTAC it was already obsolete.
History The first cellular phone was the culmination
of efforts begun at Bell Labs, which first proposed the idea of a cellular system in
1947, and continued to petition the Federal Communications Commission for channels through
the 1950s and 1960s, and research conducted at Motorola. In 1960, electrical engineer
John F. Mitchell, became Motorola's chief engineer for its mobile communication products.
Mitchell oversaw the development and marketing of the first pager to use transistors.
Motorola had long produced mobile telephones for automobiles that were large and heavy
and consumed too much power to allow their use without the automobile's engine running.
Mitchell's team, which included Martin Cooper, developed portable cellular telephony, and
Mitchell was among the Motorola employees granted a patent for this work in 1973; the
first call on the prototype was completed, reportedly, to a wrong number. While Motorola
was developing the cellular phone itself, during 1968–1983, Bell Labs worked on the
system called AMPS, which became the first cellular network in the U.S. Motorola and
others designed cell phones for that and other cellular systems. Martin Cooper, a former
general manager for the systems division at Motorola, led a team that produced the DynaTAC
8000x, the first commercially available cellular phone small enough to be easily carried, and
made the first phone call from it. The DynaTAC's retail price, $3,995, ensured that it would
not become a mass-market item; by 1998, when Mitchell retired, cellphones and associated
services made up two thirds of Motorola's $30 billion in revenue.
On October 13, 1983, David D Meilahn placed the first commercial wireless call on a DynaTAC
from his 1983 Mercedes 380SL to Bob Barnett, former president of Ameritech Mobile Communications,
who then placed a call on a DynaTAC from inside a Chrysler convertible to the grandson of
Alexander Graham Bell who was in Germany for the event. The call, made at Soldier Field
in Chicago, is considered by many as a major turning point in communications. Later Richard
H. Frenkiel, the head of system development at Bell Laboratories, said about the DynaTAC:
"It was a real triumph; a great breakthrough." Publications
U.S. Patent 3,906,166, September 16, 1975 for a Radio Telephone System. the cell phone.
Martin Cooper, Richard W. Dronsurth, Albert J. Leitich, Charles N. Lynk, James J. Mikulski,
John F. Mitchell, Roy A. Richardson, and John H. Sangster.
N.B. Two names were botched in the original filing; Albert Leitich's surname was erroneously
omitted, and the first name of Mikulski was omitted. The original document was refiled
by Motorola's legal staff, but has not yet been identified.
The seeds of the idea for a portable cell phone can be traced to James J. Mikulski,
which were rejected by Mitchell for lack of sufficient business justifications. It is
rumored that when John Mitchell suddenly recognized during an attempted phone call that his 400 MHz
phone had inherent limitations, he immediately reversed his previous decision and championed
the portable cell phone concept. Description
Several versions were made between 1973 and 1983. The product accepted by the FCC weighed
28 ounces and was 10 inches high, not including its flexible "rubber duck" whip antenna. In
addition to the typical 12-key telephone keypad, it had nine additional special keys:
The DynaTAC 8 Series, Classic, Classic II, Ultra Classic, and Ultra Classic II had a
display with red LEDs; the DynaTAC International Series with green LEDs, and the DynaTAC 6000XL
used a vacuum fluorescent display. These displays were severely limited in what information
they could show. The battery allowed for a call of up to 60 minutes, after which it was
necessary to charge the phone up to 10 hours in a trickle charger or one hour in a fast
charger which was a separate accessory. While still retaining the DynaTAC name, the 6000XL
was completely unrelated to the DynaTAC 8000 Series, in that it was a transportable phone
meant for installation in a vehicle. The DynaTAC Series was succeeded by the MicroTAC
Series in 1989. Legacy
With the removal of analog network cells nearly all over the world, the DynaTAC models running
on AMPS or other analog networks are mostly obsolete. Thus, they are more collectors'
items than usable telephones. The International series, however, will still work, but only
on GSM 900 cells. The DynaTac 8000X, due to its resemblance
in size and weight to a standard clay-fired brick, was nicknamed the brick phone by users,
a term later applied to other brands as a contrast to smaller handsets appearing in
the 1990s. Portability
While it might be considered extremely unwieldy by modern standards, at the time it was considered
revolutionary, because mobile telephones were bulky affairs installed in vehicles, or in
heavy briefcases. The DynaTAC 8000X was truly the first mobile telephone which could connect
to the telephone network without the assistance of a mobile operator and could be carried
about by the user. Accessories
In certain markets, a brass swivel antenna was one of the after-market accessories then
available. Motorola also offered a one-hour desktop charger,
though the battery could get quite hot while charging at this accelerated rate. In some
cases, this could cause major problems with the battery, occasionally short circuiting
it and rendering it unusable. Available too was a snug-fitting zippered
leather case which covered the entire body of the phone and had a clear plastic front
to make the user interface accessible. It featured a sturdy spring-steel belt clip and
a small cutaway at the top to allow the antenna to protrude. Charging could still be performed
with the cover on, but change of battery required its removal.
Dynatac relates to US phones, used on the Dynatac system in the US, not phones in use
in the UK. In popular culture
The DynaTAC has become associated with the 1980s in popular culture, and has been heavily
used in film and media set in that period. The phone is well known for being used by
Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, Zack Morris in Saved by the Bell and Tommy Vercetti in Grand
Theft Auto: Vice City. It is also used by Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Professional
wrestling manager Paul E. Dangerously carried one of these phones with him to the ring,
and would often use it as an illegal weapon to help his wrestlers cheat.
References