What, a wireless telephone that people just use for voice calls and SMS? Ridiculous! 
In 2003 I bought a 6310i for 99 GBP including lifetime free O2 line rental and 200 free voice minutes a month. Well OK, now the phone’s barely worth 50 quid, but it seemed like a good deal at the time. The original battery is getting a bit weak so it needs charging every 5-7 days. Oh, and it also works as an ersatz alarm clock…
With products like that, no wonder Nokia almost went bust!
I think I still have one in a drawer somewhere!
I loved my Nokia, just calls and SMSs. Charge lasted a month. Gave me real cred in client meetings. People actually said “only oligarchs carry phones like that.” Apparently hacking and surveillance is more difficult with them, but that may be an OWT.
This makes me green of envy… I’d love to be able to use such a simple phone. But no. We get our trip briefings through an app and the company wants us to communicate with them by E-Mail. The iPhone they gave me needs to be charged twice per day (!) since the last software update – before that it was once per day which was terrible enough.
But my fondest memories date back to the time when there was no mobile phone at all. After landing, we would agree with the passengers on a time for the return flight and both parties – passengers and crew – knew that missing that appointment would cause unpredictable delays. So they were always on time. Now, they let you wait for two, three or four hours before calling you on your mobile to tell you that they will “soon” be on the way to the airport, hanging up the very moment you try to tell them that this will consist a violation of your duty times…
Obviously I posted that somewhat tongue in cheek, but the phone shops carry a lot of “old peoples’ phones” these days, like this
Technology is incredibly divisive. There are those who can and those who cannot, use today’s complex IT hardware. Most people over something like 70 simply cannot manage a smartphone. There are 1000 ways to “break” it, crash it, make it go into some funny mode… If you have children who are nearby, they can be summoned to get it going again, but if you don’t…?
That’s undoubtedly why Nokia is not bringing back the classic 6310i which was a “business” phone and obviously business people are using smartphones – because they cannot function without them. I had the 6310i for about 10 years. It would run for 2 weeks on one charge, and would get a weak signal and work long after every smartphone (of the time, or anytime later) was completely useless.
Incidentally I think Nokia could do well if they go for convergence i.e. a high quality camera, like the 808 had. It might mean a slightly thicker phone, say 10mm rather than 7mm, but the 7mm phones are very hard to hold anyway. Today’s phones already do everything needed functionally but their cameras become totally useless as soon as the light goes down a bit.
Funnily enough, I’m just now shooting a commercial for Nokia. They’re relaunching the brand with a whole new series of Android smartphones. They look great and I think they might have a god chance after all the cock-ups Samsung has had with their platform,
I still have my vintage 1999 Bosch 509 that I keep in the car. I live in a weak signal area and it works better than any of my smartphones. Some years ago my wife was returning from Paris by train and there was a derailment and her train was held up in Bordeaux station.
The young executive types got out their fancy phones and couldn’t get a signal. She pulls this antiquated device out of her bag and phones me to say she was delayed so I didn’t drive to the station. Saved me a lot of bother. I also have a Nokia 6021 which has bluetooth! and that also works a charm. I took a load of previous phones to the thrift shop the other day, but I retained these two.
Simon
I loved my motorola 3584. Charge lasted for days, it had a very quick phone book and I could use it wherever I was, even in Japan. It was light, and very durable.
I’m pretty sure I still have my 3210 in a drawer. The later 8210 I gave to friends for their young daughter to play with. The battery and chargers would be in the same drawer. A normal charge lasted at least a week, charging on week-ends, unless I played a lot of Snake ;-)
Both have hit the asphalt a number of times and at most one half of the case flew off, just needed to clip back in and off you go.
Though I have to admit I have been fairly lucky with my iPhones, I’ve never broken any screens or anything despite a number of falls too. Charge last about a day, if I don’t use it too much.
