It all started in 1999 with the Philips/BT Cellnet (remember them!?) C12. Best thing about it was being able to compose your own ringtones using keytones. Was cool until everyone who’d waited a month or two longer had a Nokia and could play Snake.
I finally saw sense and moved to Nokia in 2000. This, the 3210, was the phone inbetween two classics. It had Snake on it (possibly even Snake II)
Sticking with Nokia, my uni days in 2001 with this classic Nokia, the 3310. God I wish I still had this (epic battery life). I seem to remember cladding it in some horrific faux metallic case that added about an inch in width and depth (to the phone).
Life got serious with the first ever camera phone in 2002. The Nokia 7650. Was awesome until I had it knicked (uninsured) on my 21st birthday.
After a few hand-me downs saw me through to my next upgrade in 2003, I went to Samsung for the one and only time, sticking to the slide phone mantra for now with the D800. I recall being livid when they brought out not one, but two upgrades to this within 6 months. Nonetheless, life as a poor student meant I took a cut on the tariff rather than a new phone in 2004.
The advent of email on your phone and a professional life saw me head to Blackberry in 2005 for the one and only time. The original Blackberry Pearl looked great, but as soon as a smidgen of dust got caught in the tracker ball, it was as good as useless. I recall limping through the last 4 months of the year without the tracker ball altogether – it finally gave way after 30 or so weekly removals to clean. Crap.
Up next came the concept of music on your phone in 2006. I moved on with the Sony Ericsson W800, which I recall loving. Besides the musical focus, it was a solid phone. No stupid tracker ball or flimsy slider motion.
A move overseas to Spain in 2007 came with the delights of my first company phone. The Nokia 6233 was budget to say the least and belonged in 1999. The phone bills were anything but budget as it was a Gibraltar registered phone and the roaming charges in Spain were greater than anywhere else in Europe.
My first foray into dual phone ownership came alongside this farce in 2008. The Nokia E65 was a decent phone, although I recall Vodafone Espana as being a fricking nightmare to deal with.
Back to the UK in 2010 and my first smartphone, the Android powered HTC Desire HD. Cracking phone, ever-worsening battery life. I stuck with it for a remarkable 26 months.
That brings me to the present day. The all conquering Apple iPhone finally caught my eye with their sixth entrant, the iPhone 5. I’d still go back to ’99 for that Nokia 3310’s awesome battery life though…
Got to wonder what the future holds…
Tom Galanis 