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June 18,2019 (Tuesday)

10 surprising facts about cell phones

How many of these cell phones facts do you actually know?

1. The first mobile phone call was made in 1974 by Martin Cooper. He was an inventor at Motorolla.
2. The first cell phone was developed at a time when there wasn’t even a cordless phone for the home. It weighed 1kg!
3. The word ‘cell phone’ comes from the way the device operates. Towers serve areas with signal and are divided up into cells. Each cell connects with the next and ensures a seamless connection. The first use of the word ‘cell phone’ was in 1984.
4. The first mobile phone went on sale in the United States at a whopping price of almost $4 000 in 1983. In today’s terms, that’s roughly $9 000 (R140 000).
5. South Africa received the cell phone in 1994, which was initially only on offer through Vodacom. Fun fact: at the time, Vodacom was spearheaded by Alan Knott-Craig who later became the CEO of Cell C.
6. Your cell phone has more computing power than the computer used for the Apollo 11 moon landing.
7. The average cell phone has 19 times more bacteria than a toilet handle. Oh, and more people in the world have a cell phone than a toilet.
8. The average person unlocks their phone 110 times every day.
9. South Africa has a population of 56.7 million, but has around 89 million SIM connections.
10. There are more cell phones in South Africa than there are taxis, TVs and radios combined!

Source: Essentials