My Mobile Phone Journey

I was a relative latecomer to the world of mobile phones, only getting one in the early 2000s so that I could call people if I was running late.

The first phone I has was one of the classic Nokia ‘candy-bar’ phones, the 1100. It was resolutely 2G, with a black-and-white LCD screen, but that was just fine for my needs.

I swapped that for a Nokia 6230i phone in 2007, which had the same form factor but a colour screen and slightly more features, including a rudimentary camera, and the ability to use ringtones. That last one was a source of much joy for me, as I had the Brylcreem advertising jingle and the intro to Felix The Cat as my SMS and call ringtones respectively. 🙂

In late 2009, I got my first feature phone, the INQ1. That was also my first contract phone, as I’d previously been pay-as-you-go (PAYG), and a switch from Vodafone to Three as my provider. It was definitely cheap and cheerful, and I was even able to get it working with Twitter thanks to its Java ME support. But its lowly specification, along with the relative paucity of 3G coverage at the time, meant that I only used it sporadically as an Internet device. Sadly, its cheapness also meant that it didn’t last long, and I eventually had to throw it away.

The phone that I picked to replace the INQ1 was the HTC Wildfire, my first foray into the world of Android devices. While it wasn’t a speed demon, the fact that it ran Android app made it a great deal more useful to me! With added memory card, it could double up as a podcast and music player for my commute to and from work. But the lack of upgrades from Android 2.2 Froyo meant that it eventually succumbed to forced obsolescence. (I didn’t feel brave enough to try and jailbreak the phone.)

By this point, I’d had an iPad for a few years, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that I was tempted by the iPhone 4S. That has the distinction of the phone I’ve used for longest to date. I loved that phone! ♥ Aside from a brief dalliance with the Lenovo PHAB2 phablet phone a few years ago, I’ve been in the Apple ecosystem ever since. My current refurbished iPhone SE will probably see me through another few years, and equal the 4S for longevity. And after that? To be honest, I don’t know yet. I’m hoping that Apple keeps at least one smaller phone in their line-up, as I definitely prefer being able to reach across the entire screen.