Stephan Paukner :: syslog

We’re writing the year 1996. TV commercials start to add something like “www.companyname.com” at the bottom corners of the screen. Cell phones start to become popular. Some mates I met at the Austrian Federal Armed Forces used such things to phone with their girlfriends. As I didn’t have a girlfriend, I didn’t need a cell phone. It was the time when cell phones began to drop down from the managers to the rednecks, who carried them on their belts as if they were revolvers, always ready to draw.

It took me until October 1997 to receive my first one, due to opening a student’s account at a local bank. It was a Philips Fizz. I think I still have it somewhere at my parents, and it still should work, except for the display which has been broken by my brother. It was a cute thing. Philips seemed to have different designs which they didn’t distinguish. The antenna could be pulled out and the SIM-card had the size of a credit card. As I only had a prepaid card at that time, calls became rather expensive. I’m not quite sure if everyone was worth it.