When Phones Were Fun: AOL Mobile Communicator (2001)

[@TheMrMobile]

Thanks to Noom for sponsoring this video. Click here noom.com/mrmobile to take your free Noom Evaluation.

[@bits2646]

Want to sell the locked one? I don't need the functionality, It'll just stay behing the glass looking "retro, oh yeah.." :PPP

[@Protoaster]

@@bits2646 what you tryn to do buy something that he owned

[@bits2646]

@@Protoaster no just tryin to get stuff cheap 😂 u have sth cheap to sell? Need other stuff as well, as well have to sell some 😎

[@joksimrovcanin9346]

I like your videos a lot, you bring me to past, nostalgia..... thanks.

[@Protoaster]

@@bits2646 uhhh well I have a 24k gold iPod touch 1 but other that that nothing

[@DjadamGee]

This feels like an LGR Tech Tales episode, in the absolute best way possible. Clint would be proud! Such a great video mate, cheers!

[@jdatlas4668]

Surely you mean tales, not tails? :P

[@tbuddy888]

I thought it was until it loaded.

[@TheMrMobile]

I'm honored; thanks!

[@DjadamGee]

@@TheMrMobile You are very welcome my friend

[@DjadamGee]

@@jdatlas4668 yeah that lol

[@sloeginandsleep1170]

I remember this particular oddity well. I’m half British and Half American and spent most of my childhood in England……and when my dad was back in New York for work, his AOL Communicator was his constant companion. I remember meeting him at Heathrow airport as he got off the plane and seeing this bizarre creation for the first time. It seemed so futuristic and incredible. I just showed dad this video, now happily retired and he said, and I quote “Damn, I forgot how crap they were! Productive, but crap!” Thanks for the video Mr Mobile!

[@TheMrMobile]

Ha! Thanks for sharing the video with an actual erstwhile user! Your dad seems like a cool tech fan.

[@sloeginandsleep1170]

@@TheMrMobile He was always ahead of the curve and he’s passed on his love for gadgets to me…… He fully embraced the foldable revolution, I’ve now joined him, him with his Razr, me with my Z Fold 3. He’s dropped you a sub tonight too, love of tech never grows old!

[@michaelcorcoran8768]

@@TheMrMobile I absolutely love "productive crap."

[@xenotiic8356]

@@sloeginandsleep1170 This is adorable, I love this story so much!

[@sloeginandsleep1170]

@@xenotiic8356 Thank you!! Memories are often fleeting but I’ve still never forgot it 😊

[@RubyRoks]

"Well that only took 8 months" Is the reminder i needed that it takes a very considerable amount of time and effort to upload 15 to 30 minutes of video on a consistent basis

[@nateskool]

Agreed!

[@rustymixer2886]

Just dedication

[@duffin.caprous]

It is interesting. I remember back in the day if you were on AOL and someone messaged you, they'd get angry if you didn't respond immediately because back then, if you were online, it meant you were there in front of your computer. No one logged on and walked away for long periods of time. It's the opposite now. We're always online and if someone messages someone else, it's expected it could take a bit of time to respond since you don't really know if they're in front of their phone or not.

[@Sassquatch0]

My house was backwards to this. Dad worked for the phone company and we had a 2nd line that was used by an always-connected PC acting as our network gateway. He was studying Novell Networks, and we'd gotten a couple "cheap" systems for that time, so we had a small LAN to share the printer & internet. We started with Prodigy, then moved to a local ISP, instead of the national stuff like AOL or CompuServe. Because of that, I was the snob running ICQ instead of AIM. 😝

[@ElectricInevitability]

Remember the chatrooms? ASL?

[@Mattboy300]

You know, that's a really true thing. The other thing for me is that back in the AOL days, you'd be talking to people for the sake of just having a conversation. Now with things like texting and Discord basically being the modern AOL, I feel like just messaging someone to say hi seems weird and I really should only send a message if I need something. I guess that's what being so connected does to us!

[@ryuuseiSoul]

Yeah, you had to write AFK to let them know you'd be away.

[@kingzach74]

@@Mattboy300 Weirdly enough I know exactly how you feel. I feel that more than you can imagine.

[@abhisheksengupta1773]

That last line hit real hard. I still miss those days when we went online only for a moment and not the entire day. World was a much better place back then

[@treylennon4858]

Absolutely. And going back to that nowadays seems virtually impossible.

[@r00tan16]

exactly this. when i tell people i miss this era of the internet they always say things like "well, just dont go online as much" but the reality is, in this day and age you are EXPECTED to be online 24/7. maybe its a regional thing, but jobs no longer take in-person applications, a cinema i worked at no longer offered viewings/times over the phone, shopping centres/malls are dying due to the rise in shopping online, etc. everything now is happening on the internet, and its impossible to remove yourself from it to the extent we used to have it. the internet no longer feels like a fun gadget, it feels bleak and dystopian. its been forced upon people in the worst way (combine that with the minamilist design that plagues most webpages now and its just a miserable experience tbh)

[@ThisIsTechToday]

Wow, EIGHT months to get a working unit. Insane.

[@TheMrMobile]

The joys of sourcing vintage!

[@DenaturedProtein]

Ikr 😂 u could get a working tiny human, in the same duration.

[@ZombieChrist265]

This was one of the most enjoyable “when phones were fun” the frustrating and long process on acquiring/making the phone work was interesting to watch. As well as the added story about how these things worked and how popular they were. Well done.

[@clincej7]

Hats off to you Michael for taking us back in time once again. I think I speak for all of us when I commend you on your perseverance to acquire a working unit to take us back in time to when phones… were fun

[@sexyscientist]

+

[@arjunvalsaraj6315]

Your's is the only channel whose in video ads, I don't like to skip. They are so well made.

[@mcdonnell-douglasdc-1056]

I really do miss the days of being offline, and everyone understood that and went along with it. Moments where you disconnected from the world and enjoy your life your way, without worries from missed calls or friends, families and acquaintances desperately trying to reach you when you wish to be offline. In our world progressively becoming more connected online, this is but a mere pipe dream. You had to put in the extra effort to notify everyone that you wish to be offline.

[@vishnumenon6541]

i guess being offline will be difficult as Michael stated in this video that even something as simple as a microwave are getting "connected". I tried being offline from social media, except for instant messaging apps and the occasional KZbin videos on tech and memes, and the amount of information that I missed from my friends like them sharing achievements, good/bad news made me out-of-sync with the world. I even had some asking me why i wasn't being online on Twitter and Instagram to the point they enquired if i was doing well mentally😂

[@planetphatness]

There's days I leave all my devices at home and it feels good.

[@mcdonnell-douglasdc-1056]

@@vishnumenon6541 Just tell them you are trying to limit your online usage. It will work wonders, when you decide to disconnect and enjoy your life your way. No one is requiring you to stay online. Been doing this for the past year, and I am not as anxious or grumpy as I used to be.

[@vishnumenon6541]

@@mcdonnell-douglasdc-1056 yes. i have limited my presence on Twitter and it has done wonders..

[@AstralPhnx]

The man still has Jibo sitting in his office despite the service being dead. That's dedication

[@sexyscientist]

3:59

[@ahmedkamalhasin2070]

That Jibo farewell video was so emotional I literally shed a few tears after watching it.

[@Wren6858]

I always enjoy his videos. They're a well produced and succinct trip down memory lane.

[@Fuuntag]

I know I should be commenting on the content and not the provider but damnit Mr Mobile; you have been going after my heart recently.

[@jaydenjinomathala3202]

With the quality of these videos he deserves more than 7 million subs

[@MarcoR6]

"All your base are belong to us". Damn it, that brings back memories... :) Thanks for another great one, Michael.

[@mp5wes]

I'm still using the "You Got Mail!" and AIM sounds for my phone notifications. Good thing the files were easy to find back in the day 😁

[@biancaugalde3829]

OMG yes I wouldn't mind going back to those times either! Being online and available ALL OF THE TIME is just so exhausting

[@TheEtonRifles360]

Great trip down memory lane. Still have and use my AOL email address every day.

[@ccroy2001]

I remember getting so many AOL CDs in the mail we used them as coasters! AOL did open a world to me. Good Times.

[@H4lminator]

Damnit, I love these throwbacks to the 90’s/00’s. A magical time! Well, back to binge watching The Office.

[@drew5903]

Michael, this video gives away you age! Big Smiles. Them days are long long gone buddy. Your videos are awesome and super classy to say the least. Thanks for all the work you put in to make them. Cheers to you from DownUnder. Stay safe.

[@erich6096]

I had one of these units. It worked very well. RIM did an awesome job with these. Solid and reliable using a 2 way paging network. The keyboard was the most comfortable compact keyboard Ive ever used, even today. Designed for two thumbs. It truly was fun to use. It's intended replacement the T-Mobile Sidekick was horrible. It worked well as a phone but frequently lost it's data connection. So IMs would not get through either way until it regained a cellular data connection. It was so frustrating I returned the Sidekick to T-Mobile. Which was a shame because I had been looking forward to the next leap with wireless AOL with it's color display and more PC sounding alert tones (the mobile communicator used 8 bit sounding beeps). So glad I didn't cancel my other phone back then. It was after all a phone. I didn't need another phone, I already had one. Other things on it I didn't need were games, like an Asteroids like game. I was hoping for AOL Mobile Communicator 2.0. Maybe with the ability to enter chat rooms and display pictures (which of course is was not at all what the Sidekick was). I used the mobile communicator right up until the day the plug was pulled on it's service. It would still send out pulses of data to a no longer existent service. It's last emails and IMs stuck inside the unit as they were when last received. I threw it away. I wish I had it now as a keepsake but it would be of no practical use today. Service shut off forever in 2003. Even AOL Instant messenger itself is now dead.

[@jacksghost]

Hello Michael, from a very long time viewer I never fail to smile watching every video! The effort and time put into the content really shows! Thank you from every bit of my tech love for doing what you do. No matter the company who makes it, tech is a passion!

[@NoDeathforDinner]

This definitely takes me back to simpler times when I would immediately log onto aim after school to chat with my friends who lived in other states. This has to be my favorite series on KZbin. Amazing job!

[@Ed.E]

oh my god a first actually useful sponsor!! i've been looking for something like noom and wouldn't have found it without the sponsor spot :)))

[@sergiogutzalenko3520]

Mr. Mobile is legendary with the tech documentaries!

[@electricmiragemedia]

Poignant ending. This is one of my favourite eps of "memba when?", thank you.

[@mindflayer]

Wow! I led the AOL Mobile team back then. What a blast from my own past!

[@FigWidIt]

Now this is the content I've been enjoying in the mix along with the usual smartphone reviews of recent releases. After watching so many Pixel 6/6 Pro reviews, since I'm currently waiting for mine to be delivered, these type of videos are such a nice treat to your subscribers.

[@joshualebowitz]

Great video. I loved my RIM BlackBerry 950. Still remember how astonished people were to see that I was able to instantaneously reply to e-mails while on the go. The AA battery on that thing lasted for weeks as well.

[@joshualebowitz]

And kudos for the Office Space reference in your e-mail. ;)

[@jimmystrickland1034]

That’s about all they were good for back then, e-mail or texting. And that one fun lil video game. Not worth the money they wanted for one unless your needed it for working while fishing out on the lake. And it didn’t work for ish outside of a city.

[@TuPhonez4Free]

Man, me and my boss was just having convo about AOL and Yahoo Messenger and MSN and stuff. Man! I miss these days! lol

[@RonDAvilar]

This guy is one of the best KZbinrs in terms of videos producing, it's like watching a television show rather than a KZbin video.

[@ericminerv]

I've said it once and I'll say it over and over, the only youtuber i see his sponsor plugs not only from start to finish, but actually look forward to. No bull.

[@vajdanamal]

Absolutely love this series. I haven't used or seen any of the devices featured. but it was always my dream growing up. Thank you for bringing this content.

[@AnthonyMartinez6567]

You don’t understand how much I wish I could have a device like this today. If it wasn’t for my business needing me to have an iPhone I would have a small messenger like this and I would never call again ahhh I wish lol. Love your videos and the nostalgia it brings me thank you keep up the amazing work 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 I am NEXTEL fan boy and wish it would come back 😭😭😭😭

[@isegrim1978]

I love this series and the lengths you are willing to go to provide us with all the background information and details that give me that nostalgia feeling.

[@evefavretto]

Oh the 2000's, when we were still trying to cram things onto small devices with often bad results. I miss some of those oddities

[@herfamusic]

Absolutely phenomenal work Michael 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻♥️♥️♥️ Your content is incredible on so many levels and you just keep on surprising us and raising the bar. This was super entertaining and educational and nostalgic. And that last sentence about how you wouldn't mind going back to a time like that resonated so much with me too! As always, thank you for your beautiful work ♥️

[@justinbristol8315]

I had that AOL RIM device back in the day and loved it. Thanks for this

[@robertolopesino4942]

This was great! I still remember how excited I was when i first saw a motorola beeper in the 90's

[@Areavampyre]

My friends and I had the Ogo from AT&T. It was a text messenger and email in a clamshell with full keyboard. It was just what we needed

[@RandomRoger]

I'm still hoping you will do one of these on the palm treo 600 series with the infrared. That phone was super cool!

[@tonymarenno9568]

I used to Love my Palm Centro! 🙂

[@TheMrMobile]

@@tonymarenno9568 Hope you caught this episode! kzbin.info/www/bejne/h6fEd3p9hLqompY

[@TheMrMobile]

I may do the Treo as part of a larger video on Palm OS. Meanwhile I really loved spending time with the Palm-powered i500 from Samsung: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWWtZISIes6ogJI

[@sloeginandsleep1170]

@@TheMrMobile If you do a Palm OS video, I’d be on that immediately! I had a brief dabble before my Blackberries took over. That’s another one I’d love to see.

[@RandomRoger]

@@TheMrMobile Saw that one! Very nice video as always. Your production quality is top notch! I sold that phone back in my days as a RadioShack employee. (9 years, 2000 to 2009). I was not a big fan of that one. I was addicted to physical keyboards like on the Treo 650, and had a hard time liking anything without one lol

[@GuantaiN]

You have the best device journeys! This one was a treat.

[@rangorangila1306]

"it takes a lot more effort to sign off than log on" brilliant!

[@m1ll1on4r3]

Thank you very much for making these videos about old tech! I was born 1989 and I can remember all that tech.

[@mxbblife_mu]

Watching on my Surface Duo 2, the most underrated phone of 2021 .

[@ArthurZakaryan23]

I feel like this era of tech while naturally ancient from today's lenses, were downright other worldly in the 90s and way 2000s. My first exposure to the internet in the early 90s when the notion of an ISP was still not a ripe concept as we know it today, with players like AOL, Prodigy, and CompuServe jockeying for who will win consumers over, being a kid on the cusp of the teenage years with a thirst for technology anywhere it can be found, finding any way I can get to go "online" was a rush that nothing else got close to beating. This is my favorite series, please keep exploring all the things that made tech great in this era, tech today in comparison feels insanely saturated and boring to the point that year to year you almost don't care what the latest smartphone has in store.

[@popcultureforever]

Michael Fisher and his team are storytelling geniuses.

[@Anilu777]

Thank you for the fascinating look at early mobile devices. Much appreciated!

[@leebee1100]

YAY 4K 60FPS!! Congratulations! I’m aware that that’s a high bar to cross for high quality production time and cost wise. Thank you for making that investment just in case some of your nerd fans (me) are high resolution and high fps addicts. Your videos are awesome and beautifully edited/produced, so being able to see every detail at double the fluidity is the cherry on top of the cake.

[@mafoggy1995]

Fun fact - I'm a med student and we're still using those one-way pagers here in hospital :D Greetings from Germany in 2021^^

[@the7569]

I love the incredible quality that you put in your videos and the sheer dedication that you have. You spent eight months to find a working unit and then opened one up to them fix it to make a working unit all for you to immediately say that you can't do anything with it

[@SheedahSunshine]

I enjoy these videos so much. Just what I needed after a hard work day. ☺️

[@minimalist_spreadpeace_behappy]

Thanks a lot man , for making this video , it's really a lot for me , EVOLUTION

[@atvega7]

Love this series. This design is pretty epic and with today's tech, could really offer a unique experience. HTC deserves a feature in this series also. I think about their touch pro's with slide out keyboards, hidden boom box slide out speakers and I even remember an HTC phone that was so large, it came with a separate BT phone as an accessory. Back to the video, these were too far ahead of the curve.

[@SicErikTech]

Great nod to This Old House! Love that show lol.

[@SuperJodeculos]

Plot twist: Mr. Mobile wants to go back to a time when there were almost no moblie phones

[@SirLoinDeRes]

AOL was popular even here in Mexico. I remember watching a lot of commercials on TV, and by the way, it was my first ever internet service, weird telecommunications sounds included.

[@gabrielgonzales8362]

I am gonna leave a like cause not only do I like this type of video but you definitely put in some work to bring us the AOL device

[@jdatlas4668]

Whoa, there's a new When Phones Were Fun? This is hands down my favourite series on this channel

[@CandyGirl44]

I remember dial up internet so well! And when we asked the computer guy to put a 1gb hard drive in our desktop, he asked if we wanted to run our city on it lol!

[@rodrigovalerio9548]

Always looking forward for this series!

[@ElectricInevitability]

AOL was my first ISP and that's here in the UK....they completely DOMINATED back then. Met my son's mother in an AOL twenty something chatroom 😆🤣😂 ASL?? 😜

[@kaitlint3987]

It's neat being reminded that the internet features and were a service back then. I think after 15 years or so we forgot that

[@cabbitkisser2620]

every time i hear about aol. i can still hear that tune. you got mail.

[@DjStilettos]

As someone that been in the telecommunications business for over 30 years the beeper/pager, two way pagers, AOL, Nextel, sidekicks was innovating. If you didn’t experienced these Devices and service you didn’t live life.

[@techspin2130]

Wow talk about nostalgia, this really brought me back to my youth

[@shadowpapito]

My RIM pager was one of the very best things I have ever had. It is in my top 5 best of the best computer devices! I did not have the AOL version. Thank you, you reminded me that I have one or two in my basement! I will power it up and see if it still contains information! Cheers!!

[@NeonSonOfXenon]

God, the days of carriers putting their own os on devices... Dark times, those. Dark times

[@sddrx6000]

I get goosebumps watching your video every time.

[@danstenger1]

The Office Space reference at 2:23 is the *perfect* touch for this era of device. The little details like that make this one of my favorite series on KZbin.

[@eddiebooth4466]

Can confirm, AOL discs were just as prevalent over here in the UK. 8 or so years ago we were emptying out the Blockbuster I worked at after they went under and guess what we found under one of the shelving units?

[@LoFIJak]

My mum used to save all the ones we got in the post and turn them into hanging mobiles for the window

[@heklisv]

Michael Fisher, congratulations on the great videos and the interesting topics you touch on, especially interesting are the topics with old telephone devices, of which I am a big fan. Keep up the good work! Greetings from Bulgaria!

[@Errcyco]

Dude the days of AIM/AOL were awesome. Having a dope away message.. or freezing someone’s computer using a punter. I miss the 1998-1999 era interwebs lol. So nostalgic.

[@TheMrMobile]

So many emo song lyrics lived and died in my away messages ...

[@fuzz33594]

Michael - I love this series and appreciate the time you spend creating content that both informs and entertains. Exceptionally well done.

[@RobertDeloyd]

Always fun to watch your videos on old phones :)

[@dstinnettmusic]

That last line was the sound of someone starting into Pandora’s box and being like “let’s just close that”

[@Faze-2]

My brother had a two-way. I can't remember if it had AOL or anything but it was really cool to open up and close and pretend you were typing when you were 4 years old

[@RayonWhittaker]

OMG life was fun back then, music was inspiring and people were very social

[@theadamtron]

Thankyou for this video! I had no idea this device existed! I am quite taken by the simple design and that blue indigo backlight is just the kind I'd fall in love with. That scroll wheel seems like a unique way of navigating the menu while still giving a tactile feel. As connected as we are now full of its distractions having a dedicated device that gets back to basics and does one thing really well simply I too wouldn't mind going back. 🙏

[@vishnumenon6541]

Smartphones and internet connectivity have turned from a luxury to a necessity.

[@NightMotorcyclist]

My brother had one of these along with a black Motorola StarTac and Dell Latitude laptop with a Pentium II processor and a new fangled DVD drive! Of course he was quite a bit older than I was at the time and I had to make do with the old gray Packard Bell to connect to AOL. My brother had 3 cellphones by 2002 despite being in his mid 20s as he loved to spend on tech live everyone else in the family.

[@omaral-azzawi2266]

Man I'm just tired of all KZbinrs posting the same videos of first look and then reviews, you're something different and unique this video should be trending just for the amount the work you put in.

[@darkdeity2012]

Enjoyed the inclusion of what a pain it was to actually get a functioning version of one of these. It's an important part of the retro tech collecting experience and honestly very interesting to people who might think about picking one up. Great video as always.

[@Ibrahim1999]

there's something about your video style that is so captivating and calm , like a cup of coffee , and i dig it , i enjoy seeing retro tech vids and yours show me that indeed there were phones outside of Nokia at the time 😅

[@2011Kestrel]

Thanks to AOL, no matter how many people were over my home was never short of drink coasters. 🙃

[@sjk5845]

I’ve watched you since your days at pocketnow, and I have to say this has become my favorite video of yours. Thanks for all your hard work over the years.

[@muhammadrayhanfirdaus1309]

"..a world I wouldn't mind going back to". Yeah, true. A massage from work in the midnight really make me upset. I'm just a litte kid during that time, early 2000's, and I don't know how my dad coped up with his Nokia 3310 at work without tech and speed like what we have today.

[@eliasdetrois]

When a new Mr. Mobile video drops you just gotta grab some popcorn

[@DominickRuocco]

This video was a beautiful trip down memory lane and a quick reminder how much I miss the 90's. I still actually have my old AOL email address and even remember my password. I logged on right after watching this video. Thank you for making this!

[@Decco6306]

WOW thats a 386 CPU. that actually has a lot more horse power than most people might think.

[@TheMrMobile]

And 60% more power-efficient than RIM's projections. They planned to power this unit with two AA batteries but because the CPU was such a boss, they ended up just needing one! (See "Harvesting The BlackBerry," linked in the description.)

[@Stabity]

This is still the best phone series on KZbin!

[@thecliffold5879]

Mr. MOBILE, thank you so much for the video! We are the same age and I just went back to my high school days with your video, I got chills man! Wow thank you so much for this, I had so much fun watching this!! Oh and how I miss the BlackBerrys, especially that Nextel 7520!! Love your original Mr Mobile music too.

[@JohnMedved]

Great video Michael. I love this series. I was lucky enough to have the Motorola Talkabout through my job at the time (probably around '94). Great memories. It's amazing how far we've come.

[@STICKOMEDIA]

These videos are so nostalgic and always make my day, your voice is so calming, thank you

[@DeusRegum]

Your hairstyle from 20 years ago was 20 years ahead of its time! ;)

[@kkm969]

One of the best tech series out there. I think at the end of each episode of 'Phones were Fun',need few seconds to show how it's a pain in arse to get those Phones nowadays which were Fun😅😅

[@DesertFoxz]

The story of having to jump through so many hoops including do your own repair got me hooked. I had to know whether it worked out or not!

[@mrflashport]

Really miss the days of the RIM product and that era in general. The Mobitex network was a long haul product that served well. It was utilitarian as iDEN was for PTT. It did one thing and did it well. I sure do miss the times when people weren't ignoring everyone around them buried into their devices. I long for those days too but that ship has long sailed. Don't miss the spam of AOL though! Great video as always.

[@JuanVinton]

I had a Kyocera phone where I could log into AOL and chat with friends using an alphanumeric keyboard. Fun times.