My Mobile Phone journey in life (Part 1)

Mobile phones are fascinating. Yet there’s scrutiny in their true value. Their degree of importance vary from person to person. Mobile phones are mere tools according to some people; others see mobile phones as an extension of themselves; and others remark that they can’t live without their mobile phones.

Personally, I look at my mobile phone as a helpful tool for investment. And the return depends on how fast and powerful the phone can be. Thus there is a constant search for the most inexpensive flagship phone. But I also look at my phone with sentimental value. It’s a memory holder and a form of jewelry. It’s a tool at work, a companion in my journey, and a personal device during highs or lows. I’ve never idolized a phone. Instead having a phone was an experience to GOD’s goodness.

Starting with Nokia

A humble Nokia 3210

I didn’t buy my first cellphone. I found it lying on the side of the road. It was a Nokia 3210.

We were on our way home from my grandma’s house when mom spotted a cellphone on the side of the road. The car was running about 40 kph, and my mom at the passenger seat yelled, “Pa! Cellphone!”

My dad slowly pulled over. Then we got out of the car to walk back to the spot. Behold, a 3210 without a sim card. We looked around for the remote possibility of finding the owner but there was nobody. Just cars passing by. So we grabbed it.

Cellphones were a new and curious tech at this time. And they weren’t cheap yet. We were all stumped why there was a 3210 on the side of the road. I couldn’t afford one but I just found mine.

A family friend inspected and cleaned the 3210. We were glad it was working, and we immediately bought a sim card. I still remember my first mobile number.

This is the phone that made me appreciate of simply having a cellphone. I didn’t need the bells and whistles. It had snake, it was a phone in my pocket, and it was enough.

I carried that phone everywhere in high school. It was important but it was still just a detached phone. Yet it came at a perfect time for growing up, such as random sweet texts and friendly banters. I felt safe during field trips and scouting excursions. I took care of it anyway I could even with uneven purple and orange covers. Though I always had my 3210 with me, I didn’t use it much. My preloaded credits expire because I wasn’t texting and I also didn’t want to spend my load. Weirdo.

Nokia NGage QD

My parents decided to buy us siblings new phones in 2004. We would attend the same university, so my parents didn’t want us using aging 3210 and 3310 phones. The 3310 would be handed down to my mom instead.

I chose the NGage QD as it seemed cool back then as a phone and handheld game device. The original promo was it came with a free cartridge (The Sims Bustin’ Out or Tomb Raider). I was fascinated about a spin-off Sims game on console back then. Knowing well that I won’t afford another cart soon, the replayable life-sim game was a no-brainer.

The NGage QD functioned well as a gaming device for its time. It played Sims Bustin’ Out well without crashing Out. The 5/7 keys acted as A/B buttons. It played naturally. NGage did have a large game library with Elder Scrolls, Crash Nitro Kart, Call of Duty to name a few. There was also Civilization II!

NGage QD was a good phone. The system was responsive with the Symbian OS. You held it up normally to your ears during phone calls unlike the original NGage. But texting was slower with the right thumb. It didn’t have a camera. But it fit snuggly in your palm like a bar of soap. It didn’t need a case but I remember having a strap on it.

I loved it as a dedicated mobile gaming console. I’ve made new friends and made stronger friendships with that phone because they wanted to play Sims too. It was a rival to the Gameboy and PSP. And you’re playing full games on MMCs unlike f2p mobile games today. NGage was an early attempt to have fuller gaming experience with your phone. It was a good phone and a fun game device.

A move to a new home and to Sony Ericsson

After a couple of years using my NGage, our family has decided to move to Canada.

I moved away from my NGage QD as I didn’t know if it would work in a foreign land. I didn’t know about GSMs or CDMAs yet. So I just bought a phone here. I only have one Sony-Ericsson phone and it’s the flip-phone z310a.

Having a phone was my top priority since I’m new in Canada. I wanted to be safe with a usable phone using a starter plan. I had to learn the transit routes, make friends again, and see what the city looks like. It was time to learn my new normal. Namely learn how to go to school, work, and home. I needed a phone in case of emergencies as the winter here is no joke. Temps can easily dip as low as -20C to -50C in winter.

The z310a was my phone during long walks and bus commutes. And this was also the phone toward graduating high school again. I used this phone when we had to meet up for band practice. Or any activity when I’m needed on the drums. The z310a was a straight up phone as if a nod to my old Nokia 3210.

The z310a was a reliable phone for a small flip-phone. I only used it for talk and text. I didn’t use its VGA camera. But I could text fast again. It served well as a feature phone. It was compact and functional. And I can flip it open just by flicking my wrist with it. Like a businessman. Also it’s one of the reasons why I’m eyeing on a future Sony phone. That is if Sony still makes phones in the future.

Meeting the Samsung brand

Samsung Intensity I

We were changing plans after two years and I wanted a free phone. So I picked the QWERTY equipped Samsung Intensity I because BlackBerry phones were becoming THE thing. iPhones and BlackBerry phones have started to gain a cult following. Samsung still had to do a lot of homework but Nokia was fading. But again, I just needed a functional phone.

The Intensity I was my first Samsung phone. And it was a QWERTY flip-phone.

The Intensity I was a fun phone. Sliding the screen up and down was seamlessly satisfying. It had a 1.3 MP camera, but it was prehistoric for a 2009 phone. It was my first phone where I had to type on a QWERTY keypad to text. I was so used to thumb texting through the numeric key pads. I felt like Bambi on stilts learning how to walk when texting on its QWERTY keyboard.

The only thing that I haven’t really tried with this phone is its mp3 player. I couldn’t afford an SD card. And not being able to use an mp3 player at this period sucked. I super love music. Those who know me know that this is an understatement. I can’t function without music.

And I was STILL shaking my head when I realized that I still couldn’t take good pictures with my current phone. It’s ridiculous. It’s obvious that feature phones will be obsolete. It was time to smarten up with smartphones.

I’m cutting part one of the story here

It stuck with me after Google announced creating their own free mobile OS, the Android OS. Phone apps would become an entire market. So it was time to graduate fast from feature phones.

The Samsung Intensity I would be my last feature phone and also my last non-touch screen phone. There was simply a need to catch up with the times as the world of mobile technology was rapidly advancing. Feature phones were almost obsolete. And I have to admit that they were prehistoric past 2010s.

The digital information age has arrived. Mobile phones have become computers. 4G LTE felt sorcery. And it was time to try the new technology. After the Samsung Intensity, I prompted myself to get a new plan.