Museum displays the ugliest cell phones of all time

Decades of mobile phone history brought together in one place: the Museum of Mobile Phones has more than 2,100 mobile phones in its collection since 1984. These include numerous pioneering models, as well as real bones.

The history of the cell phone is now longer than many eras of art. Therefore, it is logical that mobile phones are also treated appropriately as museums. The newly opened Museum of mobile telephony wants to do this with a collection of 2,100 devices from around 200 different manufacturers, from 1984 to the present.

The museum is a charity project of the British Ben Wood and is supported by the mobile operator Vodafone UK. It will exist primarily online, with the occasional pop-up in the real world. Wood has been collecting cell phones privately since 2004, and the results are now publicly available.

Designs in the company logo

As with any decent museum, the exhibits are divided into different collections. The collections are called “First”, in which the mobile phones that were the first to have some characteristic are shown, or “The ugliest”, where the bones that the curator perceives as particularly ugly are joined.

Wood considers this to be one of the ugliest cell phones Samsung P110V, which was launched in 2007. Its design was based on the Vodafone logo and consequently the device looks absurd. The Museum of Mobile Telephony also does not forgive the sponsor of the exhibition.

James Bond is loyal to his cell phones

Each exhibit has a museum text that explains the basics of cell phones. One collection is about “James Bond phones”. Until now, through product placement, almost exclusively Sony or Sony Ericsson mobile phones have been placed in the hands of 007 and their assistants and enemies.

In the last movie “No Time to Die” that changed and immediately sparked a mini-controversy. Due to the crown-related delay in the cinema launch, manufacturer Nokia requested that the shots be re-shot so that the latest model can be seen on screen.

But no collection is ever complete. Then question Wood also asked for donations of particularly rare cell phones. So if you have an old Motorola Aura or TAGHeuer Meridiist at home and want to keep it for posterity, the Museum of Mobile Phones will be happy to receive proposals.