The Ballad of the Phone

The following entry used to be on my old Multiply blog.

I thought I'd share this here in light of some recent events (story to follow).

    My dad got me my first phone a few months before college. It was a yellow Alcatel unit with only two lines of CAPS locked text, which I was embarrassed to be seen with that I let it die a few months into freshman year.
    Aside from my dad's business going down around that time and I couldn't afford a new one, I decided  that I didn't like the phone culture developing at the time - the status symbol, the dependency. So a cellphone wasn't a priority for me even as I became one of the more active, most wanted students in the next few yeas.
    On my senior year, when I was president of CASA, my co-officer lent me his old Nokia 5110, which I had  broken before the 1st semester was even over. Come December, three months before graduation, my dad left for the U.S. and I inherited his 3310.
    Then, I started working for events. In one event, I broke that phone's LCD. Two weeks before a major event, I was held up and the phone was taken from me - broken LCD, my sponsors and suppliers' numbers and all. That was hell.
    In early 2006, Dre lent me her old Motorola unit. All I had to do was get a SIM card for it.
    With the phone nearing the end of its life, and with phones and loads getting cheaper, I finally bought my first phone that summer: an 1100. The monochromatic phone and its  flashlight served me for two years until last year when its LCD broke.
    To replace the aging 1100, I got a 1208,  my first colored phone, which  had a flashlight as well. Just last month, my phone laid on the floor as flood waters entered our house.
    Clearly I'm not a phone person. I prefer basic models and I'm careless with them. For me, phones shouldn't cost you an arm and a leg.
    So, for my next cellphone, my criteria was that it should have an MP3 player (to also replace the Zen Stone Plus I lost) and can be connected to a PC so I can back up contacts. My budget was P2k and I didn't care if it was a Nokia or other known brands.
    At last month's OGM, I decided to look around SM Marikina. What I found was a Korean brand called eTouch whose phones met my criteria, was discounted at the time, and included a 2gb microSD card. My only issues were that I won't find protective casings for it and there was no way to back contacts up on PC.
    So, I went around more and discovered the Nokia 3110 Classic. When I held it and saw the infra red, the USB connector, and the specs, I knew I found my perfect phone. Except it was beyond budget. It retailed at P4.5k, excluding a microSD card, which would easily swell the price up to P5k.
    The next day, I went to Greenhills to look for more options and forget about the 3110 Classic. I couldn't do it. Finally, I decided "Screw it," and looked for the best price instead. My experience with my Aiptek camera and Blue netbook taught me that I need gadgets with extensive user support.
    I eventually got my Nokia 3110 Classic at P4.4k, inclusive of a 2gb SD card, and I am happier for it. It is now protectively covered in silicon with the plastic film covering the screen, camera and IR intact. I back my numbers up, transfer data between my phone and PDA, and enjoy mobile internet.
    Yes, evolution is nice. That reminds me: There is an eco-friendly variant of my phone called  Nokia 3110 Evolve. Crap.

09/9/21 3:55 pm