The Mobile is a Phone Again
Monday
Oct 22, 2007
Last I wrote about mobile phones it was about my Nokia 1112 (which I reviewed here), the basic but decent mobile phone I’ve been using for almost a year now. Looks like I’m not alone in opting for basic, no-frills phones. Jeremy Wagstaff writes of a recent experience one Loose Wire.
The Nokia 1100, according to Wikipedia, is the world’s best selling handset, having shifted 200 million units. It seems to cost about $20, often less, and has a battery life of about 400 hours. And, crucially for my friend, sports two important features: It makes and receives calls and SMS. Beyond that, in the words of Bryan Ferry, there’s nothing. (Well, actually there’s WAP, but who uses that?)
The point about the Nokia 1100 is that it’s a phone. It doesn’t pretend to be anything else (except a flashlight, if you press and hold the “c” key down (presumably “c” stands for torCh or flasChlight or “come into the light where I can see you, Mildred”.) It’s designed for conditions in developing countries — dustproof keyboard, non-slip sides — but for many of us that could describe an ordinary day in the office (dusty, slippery, in need of illumination).
For my PIM and mobile Internet needs, I use my laptop!
J. Angelo Racoma is a technology journalist and blogger. See more of his blog posts here at racoma.com.ph, commentaries at racoma.net, and Twitter feed at @jangelo.
Comments
ba
October 23rd, 2007 at 12:10 am
Woohoo for 1100!
jhay
October 23rd, 2007 at 6:49 am
The magic word here is: usability!
Jehzeel Laurente
October 24th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Indeed, 1100 is the best and cheapest phone ever
it’s not like 1110i, a newer version of that 1100 i think, but it seems there are a lot of problems on it.
I have terrible experience using N1110i.. If you’ve reached 3,700 messages or less.. It doesn’t send any SMS anymore. It always prompts the “CHECK OPERATOR SERVICES” message. You should reset your message counter in order to send an SMS again
And, if your SENT MESSAGE folder is not erased for a couple of days, you can’t send any message anymore, because it will always fail. You should always erase your SENT ITEMS
acantos
October 25th, 2007 at 5:48 am
since i do not own a digicam or any type of camera, i’d still prefer to use a mobile phone with a built in camera. but simplicity, i still salute 1100.
Lorie Locara
October 25th, 2007 at 10:55 am
i use a panasonic gd 52 that was my dad’s when i was 3rd year high school heheh. the charger nearly exploded in my face when i tried to implement a kludge for its burst fuse.
eek.