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Beepers, or pagers, were a communication device used in the 80s until the late 90s. Its first known color was black, with a small digital screen at the top. It also had a clip on the back to attach it to your pants or purse. Hearing about beepers now is probably nostalgic if you were a teenager or an adult around the 90s. But if you are a Gen Z, you have no idea what I am talking about.
Don’t worry; I’ll explain in detail what a beeper is and what it was used for. And for my millennials, let’s travel back in time.
When were the first beepers made?
Al Gross is the inventor of the beeper, also known as a pager. The first beeper was made in 1940 when Gross worked on a radio-based system that allowed people to communicate with each other in remote locations. Pagers became popular in the 1970s as a way to be contacted without carrying a phone.
They send a signal to a nearby radio tower, which then transmits it to the pager. However, it wasn’t until the 1970s that beepers became widely used. This is because the beeper technology didn’t become small enough to be portable until decades after it was invented.
What is the difference between a Beeper and a pager?
A beeper is a device that makes a loud beeping noise. A pager is a device that receives and displays messages. Pagers were also known as beepers because they made a beeping noise when they received a message. However, “beeper” is now used to refer to both devices.
What is a beeper from the 80s?
Beepers became popular in the 1980s because they allowed people to be reached instantly, no matter where they were. This was a game-changer for businesses and families. Before beepers, if someone wanted to get in touch with someone else, you had to hope that the person would be near a phone.
With beepers, people could be contacted no matter where they were. Beeps were the best way to always be in contact with a friend or your family.
What were beepers like in the 90s?
Beepers were still popular in the 1990s, but due to limitations compared to the invention of the cell phone, Beepers slowly began to lose popularity. Beepers could only receive text messages, so it was nothing compared to a cell phone because you could call someone and talk to them. In addition, beepers did not work well in areas with weak signal strength.
Beepers changed over time by becoming smaller and more lightweight and adding new features such as text messaging and address storage. However, despite these changes, beepers remained largely unchanged until smartphones eventually replaced them in the early 2000s.
Steps | How to use a beeper. |
1 | Obtain a beeper number. This is the number people will use to contact you. |
2 | Distribute your beeper number to those you want to be able to reach you. |
3 | When someone wants to contact you, they send a message to the beeper service. |
4 | The beeper service sends a signal to your beeper, triggering a loud beeping noise. |
5 | A digital message will appear on the screen of the beeper. |
6 | The message may instruct you to “Call home” or provide a phone number for you to call back. |
7 | Upon hearing the beeping, you should find a place to call the person back. |
What were some of the features of the beepers in the 90s?
Some of the features of beepers in the 90s included:
The ability to send and receive text messages
Store phone numbers and addresses.
LED display that showed the time and date
Battery life and signal strength.
How far can pagers reach?
Pagers can reach up to several miles, depending on the beeper’s power and the strength of the signal. And have been known to reach up to 850 meters or half a mile in some beepers.
Here is a list of some of the beepers models that were made between 1980-1996
Some beeper models include:
- Motorola Pageboy (1974): One of the first widely available pagers, it was a simple tone-only device without a display.
- Motorola Bravo (1986): A popular numeric pager that became synonymous with the pager era. It displayed numeric messages.
- Motorola Advisor (1990): Introduced alphanumeric messaging, allowing for more detailed messages beyond just numbers.
- NEC AstraPage (1991): A compact numeric pager known for its durability and clear display.
- Motorola Memo Express (1993): A pocket-sized alphanumeric pager with a small display for short text messages.
- SkyTel SkyWriter (1994): An innovative two-way pager, allowing users not only to receive but also to send messages.
- Apollo VP200 Pro (1995): A programmable numeric pager that allowed for custom alerts and messages.
- Motorola Lifestyle 2000 (1996): A stylish pager with customizable casings, reflecting the user’s personal style.
So with all this knowledge, you have, how much do you think a Beeper cost in the 90s
The beepers in the 90s were not that expensive. They ranged from $19.99 to $49.99. Beepers were affordable for most people, and the service wasn’t that expensive either. The beeper service usually costs around $10-$20 per month. And this was great because you would receive unlimited pager services.
Are there any modern equivalents to beepers?
There are several modern equivalents to beepers, including text messaging and instant messaging applications like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. These applications allow users to send text or instant messages to one another in real time, eliminating many disadvantages of using beepers. In addition, many smartphones can now send and receive text messages, which has made beepers largely obsolete.
Conclusion about beepers in the 90s
So, the next time you feel nostalgic, think about beepers and how they revolutionized communication in the 90s. While beepers are no longer popular, when they were, they gave people in the 90s a fast way to talk with their friends or family. Despite some of their disadvantages, beepers were affordable and easy to use, and they opened doors to new and modern technologies we use today.
