Although Chris was quite disappointed, his professional training still forced him to maintain a smile, keeping the curse words on the tip of his tongue from spilling out. But he could be certain: once Hugo left, he would definitely complain to his colleagues at length—earning so much recently, yet being stingy about such a little expense to equip himself with a pager!
"A pager we can forget, I want to take a look at cell phones." Hugo's next words instantly pulled Chris from hell back into heaven. "Uh, or however you prefer to call them—car phones? Portable phones? Anyway, I want to look at the brick." Hugo's puzzled gaze shifted between Joseph and Chris, trying his best to make his meaning clear.
"Of course, of course," Chris replied repeatedly. "Please come this way." Chris extended his right hand in a polite inviting gesture. The other salesmen in the store who had no customers instantly cast envious looks toward Chris, already regretting that they hadn't rushed up to greet first—what a terrible mistake!
"I just went to see A Few Good Men last week—my wife Marianne and I both loved it, it was absolutely brilliant." Chris's smile returned once again to his face. Compared to pagers, which they might sell once every two or three months, selling even one Brick phone meant not only a very generous commission but also played a crucial role in their chances of promotion within the company. Chris suddenly felt that maybe this Christmas would leave a beautiful memory.
"Really? That's wonderful." Hugo smiled back. Though faint dark circles still lingered under his eyes, Hugo's smile always carried a sunlight-like warmth, making people involuntarily feel lighter.
Joseph, looking at Hugo like this, could only let out a long breath, the tangled lines of his brows completely relaxing. Since Hugo had decided to buy the brick, then so be it! In the past year, Hugo had truly worked hard. It was time he rewarded himself a little.
Arriving at the glass counter, the sight that presented itself to Hugo this time was nothing short of spectacular. A whole row of phones was arranged neatly from largest to smallest before him: the one on the far left looked as big as a forearm, while the smallest on the far right was still about the size of a palm.
"This TAC model (MicroTAC Ultra-Lite) was just developed this year," Chris began, pointing at the phone on the far right. "It is also currently the smallest and lightest phone in the world."
Joseph looked at the phone Chris pointed to, somewhat surprised. In his impression, phones had always been those big clunky blocks like the ones on the left. By comparison, the four models on the right were already very compact. No wonder Hugo had originally planned to buy this type of phone—because carrying them was relatively convenient. The only concern was the call quality. After all, the earlier bricks had always had poor call performance, which was why people still preferred landlines.
Hugo, however, was not at all impressed with the TAC on the right—he had seen far more compact and lightweight phones before. Instead, he was more interested in the bricks on the left. "Hey, could you hand me that one to take a look?"
Chris didn't know what Hugo was really thinking, but he still took the big brick from the left and handed it over. Hugo had just received it when he realized it was much heavier than he imagined. "How heavy is this?"
"Two pounds," Chris answered. Hugo's eyes immediately widened. Two pounds—that was nearly a kilogram. That was much heavier than an actual brick. No wonder people said early phones could be used as heavy weapons. Just imagine carrying nearly a kilo of bulk with you everywhere—that wasn't convenience, that was physical training.
"This model is a 1G phone. It can be used for one hour, with a charging time of ten hours. Original price two thousand nine hundred ninety-five dollars, but right now we're running a promotion—just one thousand seven hundred ninety-five dollars." Chris quickly explained. He watched as Hugo weighed the phone in his hand like a weapon, toying with it as though it were some amusing gadget. The sight gave Chris a strange sense of amusement.
"Wow, one hour." Hugo sighed. In 2014, they had endless complaints about smartphone usage time. But imagine when phones had first appeared—ten hours of charging for only one hour of use. By comparison, smartphones had already advanced tremendously. "The TAC you just mentioned—is that a 2G phone?" Once his curiosity was satisfied, Hugo turned his gaze toward the more practical and reliable new models.
"Yes, this phone comes with a new battery, shorter charging time, and longer usage time." Chris immediately jumped in to introduce eagerly. Joseph interrupted to ask, "How long can it be used?" Chris hesitated a moment. "There's no exact time yet, but three hours should be no problem. In addition, this phone has updated ringtones, an upgraded screen…"
"Can it send text messages?" Hugo interrupted Chris's words. In the future, 2G phones would dominate the market. Until the sudden rise of smartphones, 2G phones already had complete functions—text messaging, MMS, wireless location, and so forth were all possible.
"Uh, sorry, could you say that again?" Chris clearly didn't understand Hugo's words, still wearing a smile as he asked.
"Text messages, I mean," Hugo repeated. Yet what to Hugo was the simplest of basic functions, when heard by Joseph and Chris, became an impossible task. Chris revealed an apologetic smile, "Sorry, not possible for now."
Joseph directly shot Hugo a glance. "Don't set your expectations too high."
Hugo looked quite helpless. He picked up the TAC phone in his hand—about half the size of a palm. Purely in terms of size, it was already impressively small, but still a bit heavier than he had imagined. "How heavy?"
"Five point nine ounces. This is currently the lightest model in the world." Chris's answer was full of confidence.
Five point nine ounces—roughly one hundred and sixty-seven grams. This weight could truly be called remarkable. Not only compared with those big bricks, but even against many lightweight phones of the twenty-first century, it was by no means inferior. Though at present its function was limited only to making and receiving calls, there really was nothing left to complain about.
"Wouldn't the call quality be poor?" Joseph asked hesitantly. "Martin Cooper once said the distance between the ear and the mouth is extremely important. But now with this model shrunk down, that distance is ignored—wouldn't call quality be affected?"
Martin Cooper—the inventor of the modern mobile phone. The TAC in Hugo's hand was of a flip design: open the square flap beneath the screen to see the keypad, with the microphone placed at the top of the flap. This was precisely the method to minimize the phone's size while still maintaining as much of the ear-to-mouth distance as possible.
"Rest assured, before our phones hit the market they all go through detailed testing. This model's call quality has improved greatly compared to before. It is our latest and best design," Chris explained sincerely, striving to make his words sound more persuasive.
But for Hugo, it had little effect. Speaking of call quality, he naturally wouldn't expect the phones of today to compare with those of the twenty-first century. In truth, Hugo did not have many requirements for a phone's functions. Holding this TAC, smaller and lighter than he had imagined, was already a huge gain. It seemed that 1992 was much more "advanced" than expected.
"How much is this phone? And what about the telecom company?" Hugo asked somewhat uncertainly. Right now he had no idea how the relationship between cell phones and carriers worked—whether phones used SIM cards or, like landlines, required signing agreements directly with the company.
"As long as you buy the phone, we'll provide a contract with Ameritech Scientific. After paying a certain monthly base fee, charges are calculated by call time. We also have a detailed rate list." Chris briefly explained. "This phone just launched this year, so the price is relatively high. It costs three thousand four hundred and ninety-five dollars."
Three thousand four hundred and ninety-five dollars for a single brick—such a price truly made people gasp. No wonder mobile phones were considered an essential luxury of the wealthy, with no way for mass adoption to spread. But Hugo also knew that in the coming years, phones would rapidly develop, and prices would quickly fall, making it possible for even the middle class to afford them.
Though the price was quite high, Hugo still decided to buy one. After all, making money was meant to be spent. A miser would never enjoy life's pleasures. Moreover, with a mobile phone, life would indeed become much more convenient—something money itself could not replace. If not for the fact that the Internet had not yet developed—in 1991 the first user-friendly interface to connect online was only just created at the University of Minnesota, and widespread use was still far off—Hugo would have long since rushed to buy a computer.
"All right then, give me two bricks." Hugo spoke straightforwardly. The smile on Chris's face immediately bloomed, but Joseph, standing beside, cried out in shock, "Are you insane?"
Two bricks—that was seven thousand dollars gone. To Joseph, this was truly a massive expenditure. He simply hadn't prepared himself mentally. "Why are you buying two? That's a waste!"
"One for me, one for you. Otherwise, if I buy one, who would I even call?" Hugo said as though it were obvious. "Oh, right, I should also get one for Kal, Alex, and Charlize." The meaning of a mobile phone, aside from making life more convenient, was to make contact between friends much simpler. Normally friends relied on landlines, and answering machines were often the more frequent point of contact. But with a mobile phone, this step could be skipped. So, if only Hugo alone had a phone, with no one else to call, then the phone's real value would be lost.
"Chris, please give me five bricks." Hugo's words made Chris's smile grow even brighter. This was a true thunderclap—after worrying that he might not close even a single deal today, his very first sale turned out to be five brand-new TACs. For Chris, life was about to undergo an "earth-shaking" change.
.....
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