A lingering social stigma still attaches to public use of the cell phone,
but 1998 was the year that the device got so cheap that it ceased to
function as common code for "yuppie jerk." Vicious competition and digital
efficiencies pushed the price of mobile calls to the point where it was
often the most economical way of placing a call, especially for city-based
business users. Typical come-ons included free use at night and on
weekends, or flat-rate pricing in the place of long distance charges.
Shrinking phones such as Motorola's StarTac also made it easier to conceal the
offending device, although at the risk of being mistaken for one of those
people who talk to themselves on the street. With the price barrier
broken, wireless companies began pushing new products with fatter profit
margins like smarter phones and Internet access. Qualcomms's pdQ, announced
in September, was one such device that somehow mashed the popular handheld
PalmPilot together with a mobile phone.
