MovieChat Forums > Seinfeld (1989) Discussion > Last episode - cellphone use - how ironi...

Last episode - cellphone use - how ironic


Elaine and Jerry use a cellphone. There's a bit about how calling on the street is bad etiquette for a serious phonecall to a friend.

Its interesting that the show that captured and discussed so much about 90s culture, captured what would be a huge transition in the next five years. In 1998 cellphones were still considered a business phone, but by 2003 I'd say the shift had occured to them being more of a social tool with most people owning one and spending money on fun ringtones.

Because they mentioned cellphone etiquette in a social setting, Seinfeld might have been the first to mention this in sitcom history.

The only jokes about cellphones I remember before thi on tv s is jokes about a phone ringing and business people all reaching for their phone...(hilarious 😒)

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Hm, im from Europe, and in 1998 cellphones were no longer considered a "business phone", they were becoming so hot that even i as a 15 year old teenager got one.

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Because your family is rich.

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How much was a phone in 98' in Europe?

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I can't really remember what i paid for it, and my family certainly wasn't rich, we didnt even had a landline until like 1997. In 1998 i did have a paper route that did not got me much money, so it could not have been a expensive phone. I can still remember how cellphones became a hot item in 1998, i found this old footage from a interviewer who interviewed people if they are gonna buy a cellphone, notice in the beginning how many people picked up their phone that certainly were not cellphones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNwhIHqM60g

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Well then, your individual experience speaks on behalf of us all! Thank you!

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In Europe, it actually does.

I had a cell phone around that time, and I considered myself a 'late adopter', as everyone seemed to have them before me. We had intense fights in SMS messages, which is kinda funny thinking about it now. People just sitting silently in a train, fuming from rage, tapping away and getting even more angry after the BEEPBEEP, and continuing the whole night.

Cell phones were definitely very popular in europe around the 1998-1999 era, so yeah, it DOES speak 'on behalf of us all', no matter how sarcastic you tried to be (sarcasm doesn't really work on text-based format, because there's no tone of voice).

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