Mobile Phone Museum: Virtual insight into the device
Ben Wood, founder of the Mobile Phone Museum, with some of the over 2,000 unique mobile phones that will be part of the online museum that launched in November. (DPA)


From archaeology to maritime and from military-war to science, there are many types of museums with fascinating content in the world. However, have you seen one dedicated to mobile phones? Besides, you can visit such a museum online at the Mobile Phone Museum if you want.

A collection of mobile phones detailing the history of the device was launched by industry veterans Ben Wood and Matt Chatterley as an online museum with more than 2,000 handsets dating back to 1984.

The Mobile Phone Museum includes high-resolution photos and backstories for many of the phones in its catalog.

The museum began as a personal collection started by Wood more than 25 years ago and has now grown to more than 2,100 handsets.

To mark the launch, a special one-day exhibition is being held in London, with pupils from a local primary school visiting to experience a show-and-tell with Wood and the museum's education team on the history of the mobile phone and its significance.

The museum has signed up mobile operator Vodafone as a five-year sponsor.

"This all started as a passion project over 25 years ago, so it's immensely exciting to work with Vodafone to launch the museum and to see so many industry veterans and other friendly faces at the exhibition," Wood said.

"No other invention in recent memory has shaped how we live more fundamentally than the mobile phone. From mobile payments to citizen journalism, always-on social media and the ability to work anywhere, it's difficult to overstate the importance of the mobile phone," he said.

"It's a privilege to be able to recognize and celebrate the devices and people who have made such a significant contribution to the world, as we preserve that history and make it available to all by launching the Mobile Phone Museum today."

The Mobile Phone Museum can be visited at mobilephonemuseum.com.