The new online museum will allow users to relive the history of mobile phones with more than 2,000 devices dating back to 1984. Dubbed the Mobile Phone Museum, this online venture was founded by Ben Wood, chief analyst at research firm CCS Insight, in collaboration with collector Matt Chatterley.
Wood thought of the idea back in 2004 and began collaborating with Chatterley in 2019. The museum displays devices from Wood’s personal collection, which goes back to devices released 25 years ago. Now he has 2100 phones.
The Mobile Phone Museum was opened earlier this month and its founders also struck a deal with telecommunications giant Vodafone, which will be a sponsor for the next five years. “It all started as a passion project over 25 years ago, so it’s exciting to work with Vodafone to launch the museum and see so many industry veterans and other friendly faces on display,” Wood said.
The museum’s website says it’s a charity that contains legendary devices such as the Nokia 3310, Moto Razr V3, Volvo Talkman and many more. It also has more modern devices like the Nokia Lumia 1020, a phone that failed but is considered by many to revolutionize smartphone cameras. Considered one of the first mobile phones in history, the Motorola Satellite series is also included in the catalog.
In the future, the founders also plan to hold exhibitions for the museum. “Due to the current pandemic, we cannot hold exhibitions. We are currently focused on building the website and expanding and further exploring the collection. We are working on a number of opportunities for future exhibitions and will share more information as it becomes available,” the website reads.
The website also says the museum is working on a “range of resources”for teachers and other educators to be used to help schools develop programs for students. They too will be ready in the future and no date has been set yet.