Monday 27 February 2017

Putting the genie back in the bottle


Without boring you too much (again) I can say that after spending all day in front of this iMac, I can now see all of my old photos which come up at the touch of a button. They take a while to come up the first time you look though, because there are over 5000, not the 2500 I thought there were. Digital cameras have a lot to answer for, but at least there are no selfies in the collection.

In a massively retrograde and possibly suicidal (again) move, the latest owners of Nokia have just announced the launch - or re-launch - of their old Nokia 3310 phone. It is true that everyone loved this phone for its size, shape and bomb-proof dependability, and every previous owner of one remembers them with affection. I had two, and only stopped using them when the numbers wore off the keypads. I gave the last one to a young friend who only wanted to recieve calls or, in the rare occasions she made them, was able to remember or guess the keypad format. I think she is still using it.

They are very useful for making and recieving calls and text messages, and that's it. Nokia think that the biggest market for them in the West will be old people like me, families going on a tech-rehab holiday and drug-dealers. Ok, I made the last category up, but I am sure this will be the case. They will cost £42, which is pretty much exactly what I paid for mine about 17 years ago.

Normally when designers hark back to the past, they make things bigger - Minis and Fiat 500s for instance - but in a cunning plan to save on tooling-up, Nokia will most likely use all the injection moulds left over from 17 years ago. Good job nobody threw them away! The improvements will be subtle. Slightly better sound quality, and... er... that's it. I wonder if it will have 'Snakes' on it?

If it were not for the fact that I have finally succumbed to the world of smartphones, I would get one. Not least because of the battery life, which is about a week even when it is used. I still haven't got over having to charge my old iPhone every 12 hours - as if I don't give the bloody thing too much attention already, but not as much attention as most.

Up until this iPhone, I would go into a shop and spend one minute looking for the cheapest unlocked phone they had (like every other old person), pay for it and walk out again. You can still buy phones which are considered obsolete (or stupid) but even a child of 6 would not be seen dead with one in the playground.

I wonder how well this latest model will do.

18 comments:

  1. I have just casually looked at my stats, and am amazed to find that 16,500 people read this blog last month. I wonder if that is true. I think 500 of them were me. I have also accidentally discovered that it is still possible to block followers...

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    1. Does it tell you if it's the same people several times a day?

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    2. Nope. I guess it is though. Even 8000 a month is surprising.

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  2. Congrats on getting your Seagate open.
    We find Apple Helpline extremely useful they assisted me last week and sent me the link to an anti-virus programme which is free to Mac owners, and the PC crowd though have to buy it.

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    1. I didn't actually manage to get the Seagate open. I am saving that for later - maybe now...

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  3. I find the Nokia phone business quite amusing. I have stuck with the basic Nokia (don't know what model) for years, and a few months ago bought another one from Tescos for £19. So funny that all these flash gits with their mega expensive Smart phones that have to be charged every few hours, are now realising that my phone, that holds a charge for several days, isn't so archaic after all.

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  4. It receives and sends phone calls and has a text facility, what more does a person need.

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    1. The ability to sit in a pub and respond to your comment as I am doing now? Maybe not.

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  5. I must have one of those in a cupboard somewhere!

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    1. I still have three of those - why I have three I have no idea, but I'm keeping them!

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  6. I've still got one of those in a drawer upstairs..will I look cool and trendy if I use it? or just old? don't answer that.......

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  7. 16500?!?! Holy moly! Even if we take off 500 for myself because I click in all the time, that still leaves a lot of people to answer for. Who are they? Leave a comment every now and then people!

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  8. OK, maybe not all 16,500 of you. I don't think 16,500 Comments could be answered.

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    1. John Gray can't manage 100, but he has got things on his mind right now.

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  9. Do you have something on your freeways where one semi rides just a car length from the semi in front, taking advantage of the vacuum, or something like that. We call it riding in the rocking chair. Anyway, that's what many of these viewers are. All those dodgy places the viewers are from, they're just slip streaming onto to worse things like vile porn sites. That's all I know; I quit clicking on their destinations after the first shocker.

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  10. I read the charge for the 'new' Nokia is supposed to last a month. Perfect for my husband who constantly complains about how often he has to recharge his phone. He only uses it to make calls and receive texts. Has only ever sent one text.

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