With technology perpetually besting itself minute after minute, it's no surprise that we have devices such as smart phones with operating systems that needlessly update weekly. Today it's not uncommon for a phone to carry enough storage space to rival that of a HDD that you would have seen in best PC's a decade ago. This entry however is not about the growth and development of cellular phones. What this is really about, is the remembrance of phones that did not have an empire backed OS, Gigabytes of storage, or touchscreens.
Don't get confused though, I'm also not talking about the phones that were... well just phones. Let's jump back to roughly half a decade ago, it was 2005 - 2006. Smart Phones were just kicking off, but they sure weren't overthrowing the market. No, it was the more affordable, and far more common phones like the Nokia 3300 right above this paragraph. Yes, these old, yet not so old phones are one of the many things oddly enough I find nostalgic. I'm not sure what it is, but there is something almost charming about the simple interface that can barely pass as an operating system nowadays. They aren't complex, they have a simple BIOS, the operating systems are probably programmed with a low-level Assembly language, but I have to admit I get a little excited when I still see someone using them.
I think we naturally take old technology for granted, quite often and seldom realize it. I mean, it's not really a fault that we all possess, it's just that technology is developing so quickly that we don't have time to enjoy the same old device for a decade anymore. Another key factor is the quality of the device, they are being made with cheaper materials, calculated by a company actuary to save money. Everything seems as though it's becoming more and more fragile, or in some cases - down right defective.
Let's jump back a few more years, back to the regular keypad era of phones. These phones are just moving into the text-messaging era. It's late-late 90's, early 2000's. These phones, much like the Nokia above, are TANKS. I can't say for certain what material they are made out of, but I can speak with experience that these things are more durable than anything on the market today. Now I know that, durability is not a good argument when it comes to trying to convince someone who isn't accident prone. However, accidents are exactly what they are, unexpected. I've seen so many young parents purchase expensive smart phones for their children who then promptly ruin them. An old Nokia phone could be run over by a car, and it would still be able to function. Durability, just one of the appealing characteristics you don't often get out of more modern and sophisticated devices. Much like the stereotypical genius-nerd character, smart phones are becoming less resilient.
Don't get me wrong though, I love playing with a new Smart Phone just as much as the next geek. Let's just try not to forget the predecessors that built a solid foundation for Smart Phones as a successful device. If you neglect the fundamental ideas, you lose the inspiration that opens the road to ingenuity and evolution.
I suppose I'll wrap this up here, since I'm kind of just rambling now. Of course this was my first real post, hopefully I will develop a more solid post-flow. Right now I'm kind of just typing my thoughts without order, so perhaps I should create a thought routine. Anyways! Yes, old phones, charming, reliable, durable, nostalgic. Feel free to share your thoughts on the subject, as well as give me any suggestions for posting. Everything is appreciated.
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