wow, what a bunch of n00bs...
My first phone was a Motorola.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Motorola-Cellular-Bag-Phone-America-Series-822-/360369596525 except in black. This was 91-92-ish. I think it was AT&T and I had it in service for 2-3 years. I just threw it out a year or two ago. The battery still would charge up and the unit powered up but, of course, no analog service nowadays.
After that I had one of the big chunky handhelds - like in the Psych commercials. Fit in the briefcase and work paid for it so I didn't mind it that much but I eventually got my own because it was so cumbersome. Kind of hazy until '98 but they were pocket-sized.
In '98 I got a nextel for the walkie-talkie and loved it. In early 1999, I got a new job and the company gave me a Nokia 6160
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_6110 on the AT&T unlimited plan. They gave me a pager, a palm III and a cellphone. I invented the Treo that day... :-)
In early 2001, I upgraded to the 8260
http://www.phonearena.com/phones/Nokia-8260_id31 and had it until 2003/2004 when I went back to Nextel. I think I averaged 3000-4000 minutes per month during this period.
In 2003, Delta had an offer for 25K bonus miles per Nextel phone, max of 5. So, Nextel here I (and my wife and in laws and...) come. :-) Phone was a i730
http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones/motorola-i730-nextel/4505-6454_7-30586622.html and had that until I got my Treo 650.
After having a Palm since 97 when the Pilot came out, then a III (that I still have and it still works), I got the Treo 650 as soon as it came out. Finally, I only needed to carry one device! I upgraded to the 755p when it came out and it's what I still carry today. I'm on my 5th or 6th one (swapped it last week and got scammed with the $10 smartphone charge) and it will {sniff} be my last.
Seriously overdue for a new phone but I just couldn't make the jump into a new phone that would a> not convert all my existing data and b> lose functionality. I think I might have it all sussed out as much as i can for iOS so I should have a 4S by the end of the year.
In there, there were some other phones as well: Nokia 51xx for Europe, a satellite phone when I was in Alaska for a long-term gig and there was something else that popped into my head typing this up but I forget it now. I need to go take my Geritol and go to bed....