2009/09/21

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

7 comments:

  1. Wow, the 3110 Evolve looks sexy.

    And I knew you were totally unlucky with handsets, but I didn't know how bad your luck was!

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  2. oh, yes! I guess I'm asking for it too because, and you know this, I'm really not impressed with mobile phones. I'd ogle at the latest cameras, media players, gaming consoles, PDA's, but phones are just meh.

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  3. Finally! Someone who's luck with phones is worse than mine :P

    1st - Phillips Savvy (1st year HS) - fell out of my pocket while riding EK's Jungle Log Jam, temporarily replaced by my dad's Ericsson (they weren't Sony-Ericsson yet! LOL)

    2nd - Nokia 3210 (2nd-4th year HS) - got stolen in school

    3rd - Nokia 3310 (4th year HS) - got stolen after the Corrs concert in Araneta

    4th - Nokia 3310 (4th year HS) - lasted until college! Ang saya-saya. It even survived being chewed on by my dog. My dad gave this to my lolo when I changed phones.

    5th - Nokia (forgot the model number but it had a colored screen) - got stolen between Ortigas MRT station and Megamall

    6th - Nokia 5100 - still alive but has since been updated. I still keep it around as a backup phone.

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  4. err... you're welcome, I guess.

    pansin ko lang - 'di mo favorite ang 3310, no? hahaha!

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  5. Ay mali! My 2nd phone was a 3210. Hehe. And I like the 3310 - nice size, weight, keyboard size and feel, and menu. And it's sturdy :D

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  6. Haha my very first phone was in second year college. It got stolen along with my entire bag on the very day my crush finally mustered over his shyness to call me -_- And yeah it was one of those huge cellphones big as a brick so I had to keep it in my backpack.

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