The top of this image has a lot of buttons, the middle has a lot of colors, and the bottom has a lot of shiny screens.

Also, it’s incredible to think that some of these phones would also appear on a chart showing the design evolution of the personal computer. Just goes to show that though the basic size of and function of a mobile phone (a cellularly connected device that fits in your pocket) has gone relatively unchanged in the past 25 years, what makes a phone useful and appealing has drastically changed. It used to be primarily about the hardware; now it’s mostly all about the software and the 3rd-party app ecosystem.

(Via Jim Dalrymple.)

25-Years Worth of Cell Phone Design Evolution