It seems many started with the Phillips C12.
I remember having a faux leather case with a plastic front cover to 'protect' it.
I have the same number today, that I had when I started out on an Orange bundle deal - 5 free texts per day so long as you had credit.
I always wanted the latest models so would pick up a Carphone Warehouse brochure and analyse the stats going down to see which had the most ringtones, best battery life etc. Back then you could grab something half decent for around £50 from memory. Use it for a bit and sell it to a mate and upgrade.
I used to detest phones that had the network provider printed on it.
I think my favourite phone was the Sony Ericsson P800:
For 2002, it almost felt futuristic. My favourite feature was their version of MS Paint. You had the option to clip a keypad to the bottom if you didn't want to use a stylus.
Back then you really needed to be a Nokia owner if you wanted to accurately receive 'images' of bunny rabbits made up of :smile:?@£&|\||[ characters carefully positioned on several lines in the right format.
I forget which year saw the start of gifs and 3 second clips being sent via infrared.
I remember around 2004 a friend of mine being in pubs turning his Bluetooth on and hoping to find women that he could send notes to via Bluetooth. That was when you could ask for permission to view their files, I believe. Back when you borrowed someone's mobile to send a quick text if you had no credit to discover that when you intended to enter a space you either had a full stop or changed to caps/T9.