When Phones Were Fun: The Xelibri Experiment (2003)

Imagine sitting down to breakfast with one of the biggest companies in the world and being told this:

“We need to do something bold, something nobody expects. I will give you a budget, personnel, marketing, products, prices and distribution. All I want from you is to go out and change the world!”

The year was 2002, the place was Munich’s Hotel Bayerischer Hof and the man with the sweet ‘stache was Rudi Lamprecht of German tech giant Siemens, whose mobile division was at the time the world’s fourth-largest cellphone maker. The man on the other side of the table was George Appling, an American consultant whose acceptance of that offer would lead to what he once called “the greatest job imaginable.” Appling’s team would go on to build a family of cellphones unlike any the world had yet seen (promoted by a set of commercials the likes of which I hope never to see again)!

But just two years later, this journey into “tomorrow” would be cut short – and a year after that, with its phone division losing 1.5 million euros per day, Siemens abandoned a twenty-year legacy and left the mobile space entirely. This is the story of some of the weirdest cellphones the world has ever seen: the story of Xelibri.

[SPECIAL THANKS]

Valentinos Antoniades:

[SUBSCRIBE TO MRMOBILE]

[ABOUT WHEN PHONES WERE FUN – SIEMENS XELIBRI]

This is the eleventh in a series of MrMobile videos exploring the mobile tech world's most vibrant period in design and experimentation. In “When Phones Were Fun,” Michael Fisher re-reviews cellphones from the golden age of mobile, the decade-long span from the turn of the century to approximately 2009.

When Phones Were Fun: Episode 12 features samples from Siemens / Xelibri’s “Space on Earth” and “Fashion Extravaganza” collections of 2003, on loan from Valentinos Antoniades. Specific devices featured: Xelibri 2, Xelibri 5, Xelibri 6, Xelibri 7. No company paid a fee or otherwise offered compensation in exchange for this coverage, nor did any company preview or approve this content before publication.

[LINKS]

Handy Man: The American who is revolutionizing mobile phones [Munich Found]:

XL Video in massive phone launch [etnow]:

Siemens Xelibri Marketing [Merete Busk]:

Siemens Launches Its Xelibri Mobile Phones [Campaign]:

Siemens Formula for Success Paid Off In Europe; U.S. May Be Harder to Crack [WSJ]:

Siemens Xelibri 2 Specs [Softpedia]:

Superbrands case studies: Siemens mobile [Campaign]:

SIEMENS DROPS CHIC XELIBRI LINE [WSJ]:

Siemens Sells Cell Phone Unit [DW]:

Xelibri’s Digital Darlings Press Fashion Buttons [Shanghai Star]:

Bang & Olufsen and ELLE Pick Up Where Xelibri Failed [SlashData]:

Panasonic G70 vs Siemens Xelibri 6 [Mobile Gazette]:

German Giant Siemens Gets Disconnected [Der Spiegel]:

BenQ Mobile – end of the story for Siemens [Mobile-Review]:

Counterclockwise: the history of Siemens phones and their many innovations [GSMArena]:

Listing of Siemens Phones [GSMArena]:

[SOCIALIZE]

[DISCLOSURES]

#siemens #xelibri #throwback #2003 #retro #whenphoneswerefun #vintagemobilephones #oldphones #cellphones #tech #history

[startedtech]

Michael lookin like he wants pics of Spiderman on his desk ASAP

[kirbycarr]

When I saw this video in my notifications I cried. These phones are so rare and the fact you were able to track down and even hold them for this video is nothing short of incredible. I know I've said it many times but your work means so much to us. Tech preservation is important and I couldn't think of anyone else to present it to us than you.

[jjunture]

I miss this era in cell phones. Xelibri and Nokia both had such fun form factors back then. Design teams really seemed to believe that no idea was a bad idea.

[lsg]

'When Phones Were Fun' is my favourite series, mostly because I remember these phones when they were 'new'. Man, time flies

[RodrigoVzq]

The Moustache production was impecable

[Ibanez]

I know this gets said a lot, but these videos are impeccably well made, they're so much more than just having a look at some old phones, they're a reflection, a video essay about a snapshot of tech history and how it relates to the current market.

This might be a nerd thing, but consumer tech history really gets over looked. People talk about old music, films, fashion etc all the time, but we all had a relationship with various tech throughout our lives. Love these videos Mr Mobz, keep them coming :)

[antonyfishtank]

"I am confus"
-Mr Mobile 2021

[Afterburner]

This whole 'experiment' makes me think of 'The Homer' Car from The Simpsons, down to telling a random consultant to do whatever they like without much oversight whatsoever.

[VanDy]

"kids from 2002 loved the compowder from totally spies" ... Sir, with a few words you just crushed my soul ... I remember so vividly how i liked that cartoon ... Now you're my mortal enemy for showing me how old im getting

[sulemanzahid]

I remember back at that time, everyone in school was in a race to have interesting looking phones. back then cameras, mp3 players didn't matter much. What mattered was how unique your phone design was, my friend had a nokia 7610 and we all thought him to be the coolest guy in our class.. this was 2008 in Pakistan. Don't know if anybody would relate to that

[slippie]

sounds like the title of a mid-2000s psychological horror movie

[razvigor]

This was a real flashback. My bestfriend dad was director of Siemens in my country (still is) and we could get anything before it was officially on the market. We both got SX1 before it came out as an early N. year present in 03'. Same crazy keyboard layout around the screen. Great phone, but keyboard struggle was real. 😆 When Xelibri came out at that time, my girlfriend fell in love with model 6, clamshell in rose color. I remember taking model 6 and S65 before it came out in February 04', gave her both phones and asked to use them for 10 minutes. After few minutes, she gave back model 6 and said it was rubbish to use. Who could guess! 😆😂 She took S65 and fell in love with that phone. It was an early birthday present for her. I gave back model 6 with my SX1, and got myself also S65, which was such a great phone to use. I believe that every person had that reaction like my girlfriend had while trying to use Xelibri, and thats why they failed.

[jm]

That was grand. I've missed When Phones Were Fun!

[melweismann]

"Founded the Sherwood Forest Faire" well there's a plot twist

[jilliancrampton]

All I can think about the 6 is "hold on, I'm on my hamburger phone."

[kaitlyn__L]

I literally cried out “it’s not said selibri?” in anger at my TV, so I appreciated the “yes, that’s really how it’s pronounced” at the end of the intro haha

[AakashAdky]

"XELEBRI" sounds more like a POKÉMON 😛, mega evolved form of CELEBI 😂😂

[levinrajan]

This video is proof that there's no other tech channel like this

[errorgabe_]

I was wishing that one day, Michael will cover the weird phones that Siemens did in the early 2000's

[xakh]

Wait, what, he founded Sherwood? I've been there! It's a fantastic faire. I don't know how you go from alien eggs to that but bravo.