Many, many years ago – I suspect it was about 1994, although I may be out by a couple of years – me ma got a mobile phone. This was before such things were common; the technology (or the stuff we were using) was still analogue; text messaging was a long way away, and you were still required to put up an aerial to get reception. The first phone that we had has a Nokia.
The next one, still analogue, was an NEC. But that did suck, so Nokia was swiftly returned to.
Fast forward to 1999. I’d moved away to uni, and didn’t much feel like queueing for the communal payphone. I’d also secured a job and had some money, so it was off to the mobile phone shop for me, where I became the proud owner of an nk702 (basically an Orange branded 6110). And I liked it.
Then two things happened: The Matrix and the old phone dying. This meant a new phone was needed, and seeing as how I was happy with Nokia and I wanted the cool phone effect of the Matrix, and I’m a geek, I got me a 7110. Which gave me a mobile net connection. And – for a time – it was good.
Soon, there came a 5510 music player, which had a whopping 64meg of storage. And I quite liked it, but lost it while inebriated on the Stagecoach X14.
The replacement was the first of the camera phones: the 7650. With which I took many embarrassing photos of drunkenness back before such things were considered normal. Trendsetter, that’s me… I got a year or more out of that before the power button failed and I was offered another free replacement. To some boring, common as muck Nokia whose name I can’t even remember.
Until I got me the N91 in June of ’06. And very happy I was with it; good music player, good camera, good interface.
It would appear, looking back on this history, that I’m a bit of a Nokia fanboy. Despite knocking Mac-heads for their slavish loyalty to the evils of Apple, I’d fallen victim to something not entirely dissimilar. But I could justify this to myself: Nokia’s products are much more varied than the Apple line-up, and I wasn’t just following the herd.
Except, it seems, that I’ve now joined the herd. Because upon the N91’s demise, I’ve moved to something different. Something from an entirely different company, but one which seemed to fit my needs a little bit more than the equivalent Nokia model.
So I’m now getting used to a nice, shiny, W960i. And I’m liking it…
Back to games, methinks…
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For information, in all the time of changing phones every year or two, I’ve spent a total of about £100, the rest were upgrades. Which can’t make a lot of sense for the phone companies, since I’ve not exactly been on gouging contracts, but hey, I’ll not complain…
Spent 100quid in total or 100quid above and beyond your phone bill? Even I’ve managed to spend over 100quid in five years of mobile phoneage, not much over though
At cost price to the mobile providers the handsets are much cheaper than the hundreds and hundreds you pay a year to the mobile phone companies on even a modest contractual cost per month.
If I’m wrong please let me know I could do with an upgrade to my ten yr old brick!
Over and above the cost of the contract, I’m afraid. But say the average phone contract runs at about £150 annually, and you get a free upgrade every year. The phone company would need to be getting the handsets for under £100 to make any money at all. Which I can’t imagine is the case. So it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.
‘course, since I started towards the higher end phones I’ve been on 18 month contracts, which makes a little more sense…
I have only had 3 phones since 1998.
Still have the first one, ericcson -LARGE with aerial. Had the long life battery. You could knock somone out cold with it.
I think I’ll be getting a phone embedded in a tooth next year, no sms or GPRS, it’ll have bluetooth though.
Whereas I, as set out above, have had seven since October 1999. Because I don’t particularly believe in Reduce, Reuse or Recycle.
Tell a lie, several of the phones have then gone on to be used by other people. So I suspect that the Reuse has been taken care of…