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30 years' changes on phone

By yuan_zcen (  bbs.chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-11-03 15:45

1970s: rare telephone

In modern life, telephone has become a daily tool. But it's very rare 30 years ago. At the end of 1970s, telephone existed as equipment in offices. If you have a family telephone, it's a symbol of power, because only high-class officials can apply to assemble telephone home.

In 1978, only 0.38% families have telephone, the total number of telephone in China is 1% of the world while population is 20%. It’s a number that lagging behind US by 75 years. And most telephones at that time were crank phone.

crank phone                                 wheel phone

1980s: public phones

public phone

In 1982, the first row of coin-phone emerged in Beijing. Then more and more public telephone came out. Every public phone served a bystreet. You can always hear he phone owner calling his neighbors to answer a call.

But at that time it was still hard to telephone somewhere outside a city. You have to go to post office to queue for hours to call a relative.

1990s: fast development

At the beginning of 1990s, it was a symbol of 'Xiaokang' to have a family phone. If you want to assemble a phone, you have to wait for half a month and pay 5 thousand yuan. Now it cost you only 188 yuan and gives you a phone-set.

At the same time, mobile phone began to appear in streets of Beijing. The first batch of riches in China always speaks loudly in mobile phone to show their wealth.

Beep-Pager was a flash in the pan in 1990s. A BP was worthy of 2,000 yuan, as expensive as a TV set. But now it's nothing.

Beep-Pagers

In the late 1990s, mobile telephone also gained ground. And the evolution of mobile phone is pretty quick. China Mobile, China Unicom and several other companies have a benign competitive relations, under which the service is becoming better and cheaper.

New century: Internet phone

On 1987 Sep. 20th, Prof. Qian delivered the first E-mail from China, which was the beginning of using Internet by Chinese. Till 2006, the number of Chinese internet users has reached 140 million. Internet connecting tools like MSN and QQ have become necessary software in daily life and work.

      MSN                                                          QQ

Recently, some top IT companies has begun to put forward new products that connect mobile phone together with internet.

Internet phone

30 years ago, who can imagine that the connection among people would become so colorful today? The variance of connection witnessed the huge change and development of China during the new era of Reform and Open.