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Cell Phones~ Age You Got One


GingerRose

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142 members have voted

  1. 1. How old were you when you got your first cell/mobile phone?

    • 5-9
      7
    • 10-14
      78
    • 15-18
      39
    • 20-23
      10
    • 24-30
      1
    • 31+
      5
    • I have never had a cell/mobile phone...
      2

This poll is closed to new votes


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Skycaptain

22, but bear in mind that was 1994, when mobiles were a rarity. Britain had two call tariffs, inside the M25, and outside of it. 

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I've consistently had one since my 14th birthday in 2005, it was a bulky flip phone. I briefly had one when I was 12 when my dad randomly decided to buy me one but then sent it back to the store since I didn't use it that much.

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I got one for my 13th birthday.

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GingerRose
19 minutes ago, DarkGloomSquid said:

Around second grade or third grade. 

Wow! Are you a gen Z?

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13th birthday if I remember right. About a year and half after that is when I began to actually use it. 

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bound dust

I'm pretty sure I got one around when I was 5, I was in kinder-garden at least.

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It was 14 or 15, and only because I needed to be able to contact my mom after school. Before that, one of my parents let us borrow one of their phones and they decided it was worth it to let us have our own, though it was with limited abilities and I was not at all aware it could connect to the internet for a couple years. Didn't get a smart phone until I was in college, though I forget the age.

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I got my first phone in sixth grade and it was just a standard flip phone. My parents were divorced and worked late into the day so I needed it in case of emergencies to reach them after school. I didn't get my first smartphone until about 10th grade and my parents didn't buy me the newest version each year. I tended to hang onto my phones anywhere between 2-4 years each. 

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i got mine at 16, when i got my driving permit. 

 

consequently got my first job once the bill came in for the month i started texting (we didn't have texting on our plan and it was over $100 for the texts alone LOL - i wasn't supposed to be texting at all). had to get a job to pay for the bill i racked up rip

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My nephew has had a smart phone for a few years now. He's 4.

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I got one at 18 because of driving (at night, to and from rehearsals and concerts, alone). It spent most of its time turned off, somewhere in my bag.

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16 or so

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1 hour ago, GingerRose said:

Wow! Are you a gen Z?

Umm not really sure, born 99 so sorta end of Millenial and beginning of Gen Z. Most kids had older siblings who had phones so they didnt get till like grade 6 but I was the older one and needed to be the one in contact with my mom. I only started to use one regular when I got my blackberry in sixth grade and BBM was still a thing.  

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Oh shit, I don't remember actually. Maybe around 4th grade? 

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SpaceDustbin

When I was 12 (2001) and started secondary school. I had to bike 12 km to the next city and 80% of the trip was through the middle of nowhere, so I got it in case anything happened on the way. 

 

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I got one when I was 16 and became a youth leader. It lasted eight years.

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lowLifeLoner

I think it would have been around when I started at intermediate... year 7 which I guess is 6th grade for the ameribros. It was a weird little cheap brick that meant I could text Mum or Dad when I got on/off the bus, or if they headed into town and could pick me up. I never actually used any of my phones much up until maybe year 12 when I found a friend to talk to on it lol. 

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banana monkey

16 - By that time, it was late for getting one. My 2 sisters (who are 3-4 years younger than me) had already had one for about 3 or 4 years by that point but I didnt see the need until I was 16. It became annoying for my family not to be able to phone me when we were on shopping trips and was useful to phone home occasionally. I do remember the build up though. I think I went to choose it and when it came on my birthday my aunt randomly texted me and I remember thinking how does she know the number when I dont! I loved my first phone, I used it when I was in sixth form but kept losing in the house and seem to remember that by the time I went to uni my Grandmother gave me her old 3310 as I had no phone. I then managed to switch to a newer nokia (again old phone of sisters on the same network) which lasted me the 3 years I was at uni and was a good phone. I still have it as I have switched between that and an my old motorola (a friend gave that to my sister when she was in year 8 so its probably about 17-20 years old) over the last few years but its very worn (and doesnt work on my current network). Over the last 1-2 years I havent  used a personal mobile phone, and almost got rid of it recently (but I do very rarely use it when I go to meets). 

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everywhere and nowhere

Wow, the fifth one is the model I still use. :) Nokia 6210. However, my new one is damaged. 🤧 It seems that I will have to return it, and my old one is really in a bad shape. 🤧

(By the way, the forum needs a better colourful crying emoji.)

I got my first mobile (still with a little antenna, I bought my first Nokia 6210 a few years earlier and I just like this model... also, I explicitly want my mobile to be old because I enjoy Not Doing Things Most People Do And Doing Things Most People Don't - including using a mobile unlike 95% of mobiles currently used) when I was 20. But, as in a few other slightly older respondents, at that time... no, in my case they weren't a rarity anymore, but they still weren't so common either. My mom gave me a mobile when I started my studies (not that I went far - I live in Warsaw, so each morning I took the bus or metro to the university and returned in the afternoon) and, later, starting travelling alone. Now I can't really afford travels, but she obviously wanted to have some contact with me when I went to, for example, visit ski jumping hills in Harrachov or Johanngeorgenstadt...

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Slice of Ace

I can't actually remember. I think it was around 14-15, but that was a birthday present I didn't want 😅 I didn't actually start using it properly until I got to uni, so about 18-19?

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I think I was 17? No idea. Only got a "smartphone" in 2017 because of a certain AVENite...

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Anthracite_Impreza

Probably around 13, same time as I got my own house key. I was left to fend for myself from an early age.

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fooledbysecrecy

15, i was the first in my family to get one (that was in 2001 mind), nokia 3310 which i still use. not the same one obvs, that one died after about 10 years of use. got a refurbished one off ebay for like a tenner or so? that one's still going strong, nearly 9 years now.

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dandeliongirl

19. (which wasn't an option to vote) I was too cheap to bother before that, but my brother gave me his old one when he upgraded. 

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Lord Jade Cross

At 18. Most of my classmates already had one by 14 but I never saw the use for them (not that I would have gotten one at that age even if I did and wanted it). The only reason I got one at 18 was because of college.

 

Since the classes hours would change every semester, parents said it was crucial to always be in contact which I disagree with because half the time it was them demanding explanations of where I was even though I was at college. I guess they thought I would go nuts and start going out to parties and such, even though I've always hated being around people.  You'd think parents would learn.

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J. van Deijck

I was 15 and I got the phone from my parents so I could communicate where i am.

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