Motorola MicroTAC 9800X 1989

Motorola MicroTAC 9800X 1989

Motorola MicroTAC 9800X 1989

The MicroTAC 9800X was not only the smallest and lightest mobile phone of its time, it was the first to feature the trend-setting "clamshell" type design where a mouthpiece flipped to cover the keypad when not in use.

Featuring a dot-matrix LED display, very advanced for the day, the MicroTAC and its immediate variants remained in production well into the 1990s and formed the basis for much of the world’s idea of what a "cellular phone" looked like.

Acrylic on canvas, 5x7″.  From my series of paintings of historical telephones.

More Posts from Robtfirefly and Others

14 years ago
More The Wicker Man nonsense.  My Extra-derpy Nicholas Cage From my Earlier Piece is Now A Brand

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Inspired by the ending of this rather brilliant Wicker Man YouTube Poop.

Original photo by Flickr user TheTruthAbout (cc by-sa)


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9 years ago
I’ve Long Tried To Do Something Creative Every Day If Possible, Whether It Be Something Huge And Refined

I’ve long tried to do something creative every day if possible, whether it be something huge and refined or a small sketch I throw out and never think of again.

For 2016, as I focus on getting myself back into a good creative place after a very difficult 2015, I’ve decided to try and make a project out of daily doodles.  Here’s Day One, a 10-minute MyPaint self-portrait.  I hate doing self-portraits and timed drawing, so what better way to push myself out of my comfort zone a bit?


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9 years ago
I Don’t Know Who This Is Or Why He’s Saying A Lightbulb, I Only Know That I Scribbled Him In About

I don’t know who this is or why he’s saying a lightbulb, I only know that I scribbled him in about half a minute on a sparsely-populated city bus due to not wanting to have my netbook and drawing tablet out on a sparsely-populated city bus for longer than half a minute.


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14 years ago
I Liked Basing A Drawing On the Userpic Of My 400th Twitter Follwer so Much That I Decided To Make

I liked basing a drawing on the userpic of my 400th Twitter follwer so much that I decided to make it a habit for every hundredth follower after that.  Here's a fifteen-minute sketch of my 500th follower, who just happens to be my old pal @jayeennenn.  Jenn's an old-school telephone enthusiast like myself, among other things she archives old telephone company recordings, so I dug up the last telephone book left in my house and doodled her on the telephone page.

I must point out that Jenn is more attractive than her userpic or this sketch of her userpic would suggest.  I'd snark at her extreme-eyeball-close-up avatar and tell her to go back to MySpace with that stuff but, well..

Ballpoint pen on telephone book page, 9.75x6.5".


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9 years ago
In Today’s Daily Doodle, President William McKinley Wishes He Had A Nintendo Game Boy.

In today’s daily doodle, President William McKinley wishes he had a Nintendo Game Boy.


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11 years ago
Over On Twitter, Patrickfedo Has Been Organizing A Neat Ghostbusters Fan-art Collaboration.  I'm Pitching

Over on Twitter, patrickfedo has been organizing a neat Ghostbusters fan-art collaboration.  I'm pitching in with this pic of one of my favorite ghosts from the series, the taxi-driving ghost from the first film.


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9 years ago

There are only so many combinations available.


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9 years ago
Missed Doing Yesterday’s Daily Doodle Post Because The Migraine I’ve Spent Today With Was Coming

Missed doing yesterday’s daily doodle post because the migraine I’ve spent today with was coming on.  So, today’s daily post is inspired by the migraine which is still, as of this writing, in progress.

I look forward to seeing what it looks like once I can turn my monitor brightness back up to full again.


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9 years ago

My performance at "Say Everything" yesterday, August 13, 2015, chatting with intrepid interim hosts Davey Stevey Dave and Babe Parker.

"Say Everything," the unique interactive standup showcase where comics eschew prepared material and just have a freeform chat with the hosts and the crowd, happens every Thursday evening at Paddy Reilly's Music Bar in Manhattan. More info at www.facebook.com/sayeverythingcomedy !


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14 years ago
My Current Business Card.  The Design Was Slightly Accidental; I Was Playing With Some Vintage Photos

My current business card.  The design was slightly accidental; I was playing with some vintage photos of my ancestors to pass the time while trying to come up with a new business card design, when I realized the distraction I'd been fooling around with would be just the thing to use.  It's a bit more "me" than my previous business cards.  I'd like to think my late great-grandparents would approve.

Background skyline is adapted from this public domain image.

Printed on 3x2" cardstock, with glossy coating on the front and rounded corners.  The reverse is blank, the better for writing any additional information the situation may require.  The cards are also quite useful for getting old food out from between one's teeth, though I always make sure to not use my relatives' corners for that.


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robtfirefly - Art by RTF
Art by RTF

Hello there. I'm Rob. This used to be my art blog until I left Tumblr; here's why you won't see me around here anymore. This is my website, you can find the rest of what I do from there. Here's a bunch of social media I do still use. Here's how to contact me directly if you wish, please feel free. All my original artwork posted on this Tumblr is released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. Feel free to reuse, remix, etc. any of my stuff under the terms of this license.

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