Remember When Cell Phones Were the Hot New Thing?

Ah, remember when cell phones were the hot new thing and a big clunky phone with an antenna that you had to pull out was the epitome of cool? You don't ah crap, I'm getting really old aren't I? Well, anywho, cell phones quickly started to shrink in the late 1990s but many models still had visible antennas of some sort until the smartphone era came along getting us all used to sleek rectangular devices without anything poking out at an odd angle. That is, until you have to bust out a dongle.

For those who may not be familiar with the past, cell phones in the late 1990s and early 2000s often had visible antennas that you would need to pull out to use them properly. This was because the frequencies used by these early cell phones were much longer than those of modern cell phones, requiring larger antennas to function effectively. However, as cell phone technology advanced and new frequencies became available, the size and visibility of cell phone antennas began to decrease.

One explanation for why we no longer have visible antennas on our cell phones is related to the frequencies used by these devices. You see, an antenna typically needs to be about one half to one quarter of the wavelength of the signal that it's receiving in order to function properly. For example, if you've ever noticed a CB radio antenna attached to a car, it's because CB radios operate on a frequency where the wavelength is around 11 meters. The antennas for these devices can be comically long due to this requirement.

In contrast, the wavelengths of typical cellular frequencies are much shorter, typically ranging from five to seven inches in length. This means that our cell phones need smaller antennas to function effectively, but since we still want sleek and compact designs, manufacturers had to find alternative solutions. The main issue was figuring out how to stick a small antenna inside a device that's supposed to be handheld, which proved to be harder than expected.

Even though older phones were relatively large compared to today's smartphones, they still had tons of components taking up space within their chassis. As consumer demand for smaller and more portable devices increased, it became clear that this was a problem worth solving. Otherwise, reasonably sized phones with large antennas sticking out of them would be less portable, more fragile, and just plain less sexy - I'm being honest here.

The solution came in 1998 courtesy of a little company you might have heard of called Nokia. Instead of using a long metal rod to construct the antenna, they stamped it onto a component inside the phone in a thin flat layer. Not only that, but this new antenna was also printed with multiple folds and turns, similar to the traces on a printed circuit board. This design allowed for a small enough antenna to be included without compromising the overall size or shape of the device.

This paradigm has lasted into the modern age, where thin metal antennas folded up inside phone bodies are the norm. Many phones even use part of the exterior metal of the phone body itself as part of the antenna. Having one end of the antenna be a large flat sheet like the metal backing of a smartphone can give a significant boost in bandwidth. Physical innovations combined with processing advances that make it easier for phones to work with weaker signals have rendered the need for visible antennas on our cell phones all but obsolete.

However, it's worth noting that faster 5G connections that use even higher frequency signals may require even smaller antennas in the future. If you're one of those folks who really misses the old-school antennas, don't worry - I hear that boomboxes have been making a big comeback lately. You should probably look into that.

Speaking of things to look into, our sponsor for today is Massdrop. Massdrop Sennheiser HD6xx headphones are one of their all-time best sellers with over 50,000 units sold. They have an unchanged driver and sound signature compared to the HD650, meaning they deliver nice balanced mid-range sound and natural sounding bass. They've got a detachable six-foot cable instead of a ten-foot cable based on community feedback, as well as both a 1/8 inch plug that's versatile for everyday use and a quarter-inch adapter for hi-fi equipment. It comes with Sennheiser's long-term support included, and you can click the link below to join the drop today.

These things are awesome - go check them out! Thanks for watching guys like dislike check out our other videos. Leave a comment if you have a suggestion for a future video, don't forget to subscribe because it would be truly tragic if we actually made a video you asked us to make and then you didn't watch it - who is benefiting from that kind of situation? You gotta subscribe and hit the bell, which isn't what bells sound like - it's fine.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enremember when cell phones were the hot new thing and a big clunky phone with an antenna that you had to pull out was the epitome of cool you don't ah crap i'm getting really old aren't i well anywho cell phones quickly started to shrink in the late 1990s but many models still had visible antennas of some sort until the smartphone era came along getting us all used to sleek rectangular devices without anything poking out at an odd angle that is until you have to bust out a dongle but how exactly does a phone pick up a signal without a visible antenna i mean as a 90s kid my knee-jerk response for a long time to a reception issue whether it was on the phone the tv or the radio was to pull the antenna out and start you know wiggling it around until the problem went away so why don't we even have the option to do that anymore one explanation you'll often hear has to do with the frequencies used by modern cell phones you see an antenna typically needs to be about one half to one quarter of the wavelength of the signal that it's receiving in order to function properly and you can see this for yourself if you've ever noticed a cb radio antenna attached to a car because cb radios operate on a frequency where the wavelength is around 11 meters the antennas can be comically long fortunately the wavelengths of typical cellular frequencies are much shorter so depending on what kind of network you're connected to your phone needs an antenna that's somewhere in the neighborhood of around five to seven inches but then hold on a minute those older phones also used frequencies in the 800 to 900 megahertz range so it turns out that the main issue was figuring out how to stick a inch antenna inside a device that's supposed to be handheld and this was harder than you might think even though older phones were relatively speaking so large just as the interiors of today's smartphones are quite crowded with all the features that are packed inside older phones also had tons of components taking up space within the chassis as time went on though and consumer demand forever smaller phones increased it became clear that this was a problem worth solving as otherwise reasonably sized phones with large antennas sticking out of them were less portable more fragile and if we're being honest just less sexy sorry i am that shallow so the solution came in 1998 courtesy of a little company you might have heard of called nokia instead of using a long metal rod they stamped the antenna onto a component inside the phone in a thin flat layer and not only that but this new antenna was also printed with a number of folds and turns kind of like the traces on a printed circuit board instead of in a straight line that meant it took up very little space but was still long enough to receive a signal so this paradigm has lasted into the modern age where thin metal antennas folded up inside phone bodies are the norm and many phones even use part of the exterior metal of the phone body itself as part of the antenna in fact having one end of the antenna be a large flat sheet like the metal backing of a smartphone can give a significant boost in bandwidth these physical innovations combined with processing advances that make it easier for phones to work with a weaker signal mean that there just isn't much reason to stick antennas way on the outside of the main body anymore and in the somewhat near future faster 5g connections that use even higher frequency signals could mean that antennas inside our phones would need to take up even less room though if you're one of those folks that really misses the old school antennas i do hear that boom boxes have been making a big comeback so you should probably look into that speaking of things to look into our sponsor for today massdrop massdrop sennheiser hd6xx headphones are one of their all-time best sellers with over 50 000 units sold they have an unchanged driver and sound signature compared to the hd 650 so that means nice balanced mid-range sound and natural sounding bass they've got a detachable six foot cable instead of a 10 foot cable based on community feedback and they've got both a 1 8 inch plug that's versatile for everyday use and a one quarter inch adapter for your hi-fi equipment it comes with sennheiser's long-term support included and you can click the link below to join the drop today these things are awesome go check them out so thanks for watching guys like dislike check out our other videos leave a comment if you have a suggestion for a future fast as possible and don't forget to subscribe because it would be truly tragic if we actually made the video you asked us to make and then you didn't watch it who is benefiting from a situation like that so you gotta subscribe and hit the bell that's not what bells sound like it's fineremember when cell phones were the hot new thing and a big clunky phone with an antenna that you had to pull out was the epitome of cool you don't ah crap i'm getting really old aren't i well anywho cell phones quickly started to shrink in the late 1990s but many models still had visible antennas of some sort until the smartphone era came along getting us all used to sleek rectangular devices without anything poking out at an odd angle that is until you have to bust out a dongle but how exactly does a phone pick up a signal without a visible antenna i mean as a 90s kid my knee-jerk response for a long time to a reception issue whether it was on the phone the tv or the radio was to pull the antenna out and start you know wiggling it around until the problem went away so why don't we even have the option to do that anymore one explanation you'll often hear has to do with the frequencies used by modern cell phones you see an antenna typically needs to be about one half to one quarter of the wavelength of the signal that it's receiving in order to function properly and you can see this for yourself if you've ever noticed a cb radio antenna attached to a car because cb radios operate on a frequency where the wavelength is around 11 meters the antennas can be comically long fortunately the wavelengths of typical cellular frequencies are much shorter so depending on what kind of network you're connected to your phone needs an antenna that's somewhere in the neighborhood of around five to seven inches but then hold on a minute those older phones also used frequencies in the 800 to 900 megahertz range so it turns out that the main issue was figuring out how to stick a inch antenna inside a device that's supposed to be handheld and this was harder than you might think even though older phones were relatively speaking so large just as the interiors of today's smartphones are quite crowded with all the features that are packed inside older phones also had tons of components taking up space within the chassis as time went on though and consumer demand forever smaller phones increased it became clear that this was a problem worth solving as otherwise reasonably sized phones with large antennas sticking out of them were less portable more fragile and if we're being honest just less sexy sorry i am that shallow so the solution came in 1998 courtesy of a little company you might have heard of called nokia instead of using a long metal rod they stamped the antenna onto a component inside the phone in a thin flat layer and not only that but this new antenna was also printed with a number of folds and turns kind of like the traces on a printed circuit board instead of in a straight line that meant it took up very little space but was still long enough to receive a signal so this paradigm has lasted into the modern age where thin metal antennas folded up inside phone bodies are the norm and many phones even use part of the exterior metal of the phone body itself as part of the antenna in fact having one end of the antenna be a large flat sheet like the metal backing of a smartphone can give a significant boost in bandwidth these physical innovations combined with processing advances that make it easier for phones to work with a weaker signal mean that there just isn't much reason to stick antennas way on the outside of the main body anymore and in the somewhat near future faster 5g connections that use even higher frequency signals could mean that antennas inside our phones would need to take up even less room though if you're one of those folks that really misses the old school antennas i do hear that boom boxes have been making a big comeback so you should probably look into that speaking of things to look into our sponsor for today massdrop massdrop sennheiser hd6xx headphones are one of their all-time best sellers with over 50 000 units sold they have an unchanged driver and sound signature compared to the hd 650 so that means nice balanced mid-range sound and natural sounding bass they've got a detachable six foot cable instead of a 10 foot cable based on community feedback and they've got both a 1 8 inch plug that's versatile for everyday use and a one quarter inch adapter for your hi-fi equipment it comes with sennheiser's long-term support included and you can click the link below to join the drop today these things are awesome go check them out so thanks for watching guys like dislike check out our other videos leave a comment if you have a suggestion for a future fast as possible and don't forget to subscribe because it would be truly tragic if we actually made the video you asked us to make and then you didn't watch it who is benefiting from a situation like that so you gotta subscribe and hit the bell that's not what bells sound like it's fine\n"