Smartphone’s, First Time I Thought, I Must Have One of Those.

Posted by Peach Rabbit on May 3, 2012 · 9 Comments 

These days, I find myself barely leaving a room with making sure my Nokia N9 is to hand. When I pop outside for a “Breath of Fresh Air” (my term for going out for a fag) I always have it on me, and the thought of going out for the day, say to work, without it doesn’t enter my head. Not only am I always reachable, but it is a tiny carry case full of my music, a camera, a web browser, a compass, a video player… the list goes on, not to mention social networks.

But, for me, it hasn’t always been that way. A couple of years ago, when I had a standard Nokia dumb phone, the name of which I didn’t know even then, let alone now, I think it was a 34 something or other, the most I did on it besides talking and texts, was the odd Sudoku game. It also had a rubbish camera which was more a novelty than anything else. So, I was thinking back, to the moment when I thought, Smartphone! Gotta get one. For some, that situation may not have ever happened, they may have been given one by their employers, or walked into a phone shop planning to get a bog standard Nokia 5220 on Pay as You Go, and got talked into walking out with an iPhone for £50 a month. I even know people given one by their partners, for some reason or another.

But for me, there was a fairly gradual lead up to the moment I realised my all too often cigarette breaks could be livened up by watching a YouTube video, and that I could do away with carrying both my mobile and an MP3 player when I went out. The first stage of realising my hearts desire, was when a work colleague, brought in her new iPhone 3GS. It must have been around Christmas 2009. She brought it in to work and showed me the pinching and zooming motions, and I thought “That is pretty smart.” I also got to see the App Store. While I was impressed, I didn’t like the price she said it cost her. Also, compared to my tiny Nokia, it looked like a brick, albeit a very pretty, clever brick.

Then came an episode of Channel 5’s The Gadget Show. Not something I watch regularly, but this was a count down of the best gadgets of the last 10 years. The top 2 places were made up by a BlackBerry phone, and an iPhone. The presenters really sold their case why each thought either phone should be No 1, giving examples which I wasn’t even aware the phones could do. I remember thinking after watching this, “I want one of those.” But, they seemed so expensive. I wasn’t completely convinced, until a mate of mine visited one day.

As I remember, it was early 2010. For some reason my phone was on the blink that day, and I asked him if I could use his phone to text my wife. When he handed it over, and I got to use one myself, I was sold. He had a Nokia 5800. The interface was so similar to what I had on my phone, and I remember thinking how great the larger screen was. The Nokia 5800 was released in April 2008, and a lot cheaper than the iPhone, which while I liked what I saw, hadn’t grabbed my attention like the Symbian S60 V5 phone had. So, I did a bit of looking around the web at prices. Contract prices were equivalent to what I was spending on my Pay as You Go, and the phone came free.

Can’t remember the exact date, but early February 2010. I realised I could afford one, and justify getting one, that was the moment I thought “I MUST have a Smartphone.” I looked around at different phones, but at the time, nothing could distract me from the 5800. So I got one. And, was very happy, for a short while. Then, I saw the Nokia X6. It was a sleeker looking version of the 5800, with a capacitive touch screen, and released just after I had got the 5800.

But, that is a story for another day, my discontention with the phone I own.

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Filed under Technology · Tagged with N9, Nokia, Smartphones