The telephones of the early 2000s have been retroactively dismissed as “dumb” telephones, however a extra correct description could be “devoted telephones.” Because the world transitioned towards smartphones, these much less succesful gadgets have been often known as “function telephones” for his or her capability to take images, play video games, and entry tailor-made web sites. Whereas they lacked the ability of contemporary smartphones, they prioritized compact dimensions and lengthy battery life.
Most of outdated cell telephones had one downside: they have been thick and ugly, usually trying like a pear lower within the center. In distinction, the Motorola Razr V3 was the supermodel of telephones: it was slim, attractive, and being known as “dumb” did not make it any much less fashionable.
Earlier than smartphones grew to become mainstream, the Motorola Razr was the religious predecessor to the iPhone, reworking telephones from a necessity into an object of need.
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Too skinny to be seen
Motorola invented cell telephones within the Nineteen Seventies, commercialized them within the Eighties, and popularized them within the Nineties with the Star Trek-inspired StarTAC. Nonetheless, the corporate later grew to become notorious for its conservative approval course of, which basically prevented it from bringing something new to the market, dropping market dominance to Nokia.
When veteran engineer Roger Jellicoe noticed an idea mannequin for an ultra-thin clamshell cellphone created by a Motorola design workforce, he realized it may truly be made – however provided that he may hold it a secret. He assembled a workforce that labored evenings and weekends on a challenge codenamed “Razor.”
Picture credit score: CNET (above), Taminator (beneath)
Jellicoe discovered an ally in Geoffrey Frost, Motorola’s VP of selling, who acknowledged that folks did not even want to purchase the cellphone – simply seeing it could be sufficient to fully change their notion of the corporate. However what made it so particular, anyway?
20 years in the past, a denims pocket wasn’t a super place for a cellphone as a consequence of pocket dialing. Not like in the present day’s capacitive touchscreens, which may solely be activated by conductive supplies, bodily buttons could possibly be triggered by any type of stress. These unintentional button presses would usually dial numbers out of your speed-dial or latest calls checklist, who would possibly count on one other name from you.
The clamshell type issue was an answer, nevertheless it additionally made telephones bulkier and fewer pocket-friendly. The “Razor” challenge aimed to revolutionize clamshell designs the best way the Apple iPod remodeled transportable music gamers.
The cellphone was prepared by 2004. At lower than 14mm thick, it was slimmer than most candybar telephones even when folded, and when unfolded, it appeared paper-thin. However how did they obtain this stage of thinness?
First, the Razr dropped the headphone jack in addition to the ability connector (some 12 years earlier than the iPhone 7), choosing Mini-USB for each. A lot of the backlit keys have been positioned on a single steel sheet, with bent rubber strips enabling blind typing. The antenna was housed within the cellphone’s non-foldable chin.
The tiny exterior show was coated with glass as a substitute of the same old plastic to stop the cellphone from bending. The remainder of the case wasn’t plastic both; it was made from aluminum, which was unusual on the time.
A cellphone for each pocket
After Frost determined to drop the “O” from its title, the Motorola Razr V3 was launched in November 2004 for $500 – the equal of a contemporary $800 flagship earlier than adjusting for inflation. Folks have been extra than simply impressed – they needed it.
Nobody cared that internally, the cellphone was basically the identical as Motorola’s earlier clamshell fashions. It may play music and video, however with simply 5.5MB of non-expandable storage, that functionality was severely underutilized. Due to its form, the one 0.3MP digicam may even be used for selfies.
As manufacturing ramped up, the cellphone grew to become out there for as little as $99 with a two-year contract. Inside months, it grew to become the best-selling cellphone within the U.S., seen within the arms of celebrities like David Beckham and Reese Witherspoon, and featured in numerous motion pictures and TV exhibits.
The Razr V3x, launched in early 2005, was basically a “Professional” model, providing 3G, a devoted selfie digicam, larger specs throughout, and a microSD slot. Nonetheless, it was a lot thicker and heavier, resembling a extra conventional clamshell cellphone.
Later that very same 12 months, the Razr V3i arrived as a direct successor to the V3, retaining the identical glossy design whereas upgrading to a 1.2MP digicam and a replaceable microSD card. Some provider variations of the V3i have been among the many few Motorola telephones to ship with iTunes, which was rapidly turning into the most well-liked method to purchase music – in any case, this was the heyday of the iPod period.
Nonetheless, iTunes on Motorola telephones was restricted to storing 50 or 100 songs (relying on the area), as Apple realized {that a} cellphone with full iTunes performance may spell the top of devoted music gamers.
By 2006, the Motorola Razr was outselling the iPod, reaching 50 million lifetime gross sales in July.
A reflective legacy
Motorola seemingly returned to its outdated methods after the Razr’s success. The Razr V3xx regarded like a mix of the present V3x and V3i. The Razr2 sequence, launched in 2007, added a 2-inch exterior touchscreen, however by then it was thought-about too costly for a cellphone with no full keyboard (bodily or digital) – the short-lived Blackberry period – and other people continued shopping for the discounted V3 fashions as a substitute.
After 12 consecutive quarters because the best-selling cellphone within the U.S., the Razr V3 sequence was overtaken by the iPhone 3G in 2008. The Razr was discontinued months later, having offered an estimated 130 million models.
The subsequent cellphone to make use of the Razr model title was the Android-based Motorola Droid Razr, launched in 2011.
At 7.1mm thick, it was the thinnest smartphone of its time. Nonetheless, rivals just like the iPhone 4S and Samsung Galaxy SII have been already skinny sufficient for many customers, and the Razr did not do sufficient to avoid wasting the corporate this time.
Motorola’s cellphone division was bought by Google in 2012, primarily for its patent portfolio, and offered to Lenovo two years later. The Motorola Razr, one of many first foldable smartphones launched in 2020, was named and designed after the V3.
The Razr V3 was a big stepping stone between the cumbersome plastic telephones of the early 2000s and in the present day’s glossy, costly smartphones.
It moved telephones from purses into pockets and popularized using premium supplies. Units as soon as praised for his or her efficiency could also be ridiculed years later, however nice design is all the time remembered fondly.