Mobile Phone Museum launches online

A collection of mobile phones detailing the history of the device has launched as an online museum with more than 2,000 handsets dating back to 1984.

The Mobile Phone Museum, founded by industry veterans Ben Wood and Matt Chatterley, includes high-resolution photos and backstories for many of the phones in its catalogue.

The museum began as a personal collection started by Mr Wood more than 25 years ago and has now grown to more than 2,100 handsets.

To mark the launch, a special one-day exhibition is being held in London, with pupils from a local primary school visiting to experience a show-and-tell with Mr Wood and the museum’s education team on the history of the mobile phone and its significance.

The museum has signed up mobile operator Vodafone as a five-year sponsor.

“This all started as a passion project over 25 years ago, so it’s immensely exciting to work with Vodafone to launch the museum and to see so many industry veterans and other friendly faces at the exhibition,” Mr Wood said.

“None of this would have been possible without the extraordinary generosity and effort of a handful of eager volunteers, donors and sponsors, so I want to thank them sincerely for their contributions.

“No other invention in recent memory has shaped how we live more fundamentally than the mobile phone. From mobile payments to citizen journalism, always-on social media and the ability to work anywhere, it’s difficult to overstate the importance of the mobile phone.

“It’s a privilege to be able to recognise and celebrate the devices and people who have made such a significant contribution to the world, as we preserve that history and make it available to all by launching the Mobile Phone Museum today.”

The Mobile Phone Museum can be visited at mobilephonemuseum.com.