10 Things We Loved About the Old Nokia Phones

(SPOT.ph) Sure the smartphone is killing it nowadays. But there was a time, a simpler and more relaxing time, when cellular phones didn’t take away our privacy, our attention, or our dignity. And a simple monotonous beep could make your day a little better.

1. Numbers meant something

3310? 3100? 6600? N90? 7610? You know what these looked like. They didn't progressively get thinner or bigger-they became weirder. There was a Nokia phone shaped like a leaf. The 3650 looked like a remote control for another device. Who knows why?

2. Made in Finland

It was hipster before there was hipster, because what was mainstream about Finland?

3. The long-lasting battery

For a wireless mobile device, smartphones spend a lot of time attached to a wall socket or a powerbank. Back then, one bar meant one day.

4. The novelty of texts

Art made with strange punctuations. The letter "u" with an umlaut for smiling (primitive emojis). Getting rid of vowels in words for acceptable reasons. Sending quotes. Receiving messages. The agony of having to delete messages because your inbox is full.

5. Single-handed texting

People used to be able to talk, sip coffee, and text at the same time. Now it's no talking, taking pictures of the coffee, and ignoring messages. Some phones hardly fit in one hand anymore. (Hey buddy, we can see exactly what you're watching!)

Message alert tone

Ringtone

6. Monophonic tone

Those repeating beeps and their effect on your mood. Spam was unheard of, so you knew that whenever you heard that sound, someone thought about you and decided to send a message. Plus, ringtones were a big deal. You customized the crap out of that, so you know exactly who was texting or calling.

7. Durability

Not that they didn't break, but let's just say that if you were ever in a situation where you had to throw your phone at something or someone, it wasn’t impossible to put it back together. (P.S. Nokia 5210, perfect for baha season.)

8. Interface action

The "slide to unlock" thing was fun for a while, but it never compared to how cool it was to flip a phone open to say hello. Or to end a conversation by snapping the phone shut. Infinitely more badass than touching a fake button. Let's not even get started on 8110, a.k.a. the slidey phone from The Matrix.

9. Customization

There were face plates (the transparent ones!) and there were phone charms. What were they for? Absolutely nothing. They just dangled.

10. Snake

Who needed state-of-the-art CGI effects when there were pixels that needed to be eaten by a featureless snake?