Motorola Brick Phone

Seen in season 1 episode ‘Countdown’, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000x  appears as MacGyver’s primary home phone, although in subsequent episodes we see he has a normal landline connected to an answer machine and never see the mobile again.

Released in 1983 and nicknamed the “brick phone” because of it’s size and weight due to its rugged plastic casing and large battery,  it was one of the first portable phones available to consumers and quickly became a status symbol due to its high price tag.

The DynaTAC was a groundbreaking device that introduced many new features to the world of mobile phones. It had a large, bright screen that displayed the caller’s number, a LED light that indicated when the phone was in use, and the ability to store up to 30 phone numbers in its memory. It also had a long battery life of up to one hour of talk time and eight hours of standby time, which was a significant improvement on previous mobile phones that had much shorter battery lives. It was also designed to be durable and to withstand a variety of environmental conditions, including being water-resistant which made it the perfect choice for people who wanted to stay in contact while undertaking outdoor activates such as hiking.

Despite its high price tag the DynaTAC was a commercial success. Motorola sold over 300,000 units of the DynaTAC 8000x during its production run, and it became a status symbol for the wealthy and influential thanks to it being featured in the 1987 movie “Wall Street,” where it was used by the character Gordon Gekko. The DynaTAC’s success paved the way for the development of smaller, more affordable mobile phones that eventually became mainstream.

Today, the DynaTAC is remembered as a design classic and an important milestone in the history of mobile technology. While it is no longer in production, it remains a popular collector’s item and a symbol of the early days of mobile communication.

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