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Motorola Ends 28-Year Run Spawned by Gordon Gekko’s ‘Shoe Phone’
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Gordon Gekko barking orders on his Motorola DynaTAC in “Wall Street,” Zack Morris plotting his high-school schemes through the device on television’s “Saved By the Bell,” and gangster Tommy Vercetti using the same brick-shaped phone in the video game “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.”
Motorola Inc.’s $3,995, 2 1/2-pound gadget, the first commercially available wireless phone, was the symbol of 1980s influence and power. In the years since, as mobile devices became cheaper and user-friendly enough for the masses, the industry’s pioneer rarely was able to match that iconic status.