Remembering Nokia, and How It Changed Our Lives

In all industries, companies rise and fall. Some, sadly, fall quicker than others, and this is perhaps no more true than in the dog-eat-dog tech industry.

Within this decade alone, we've seen Apple rise to become a giant, watched as Google spread its wings to become much more than a search company, held our breath as HP suffered the equivalent of a near-death heart attack as it announced its pullout from the PC business (only to schizophrenically do an about-turn soon after), and mourned the slow crumbling of RIM Blackberry. Even so, arguably the greatest shock arrived a mere five days ago when Microsoft announced to the world that they had purchased the entirety of Nokia's phone manufacturing business, and licensed their "Lumia" and "Asha" brand names. Nokia, as a phone company and brand, was no more.

You've probably read the news, witnessed the collective shock expressed by the many tech blogs out there. But we believe that, more than anywhere else in the world, those of us living in Asia will be the loudest mourners at Nokia's funeral - over the last few decades, Nokia has gradually built a fortress here, with an overwhelming majority of phone owners having purchased a Nokia at some point of our lives. Not seeing the familiar, two-arm logo grace another boot screen will surely be a huge mental shift for many of us.

All of us on the Suburban KID team have owned Nokias. Through this article, we'd like to offer a tribute to our "Connecting People" devices that have changed our lives, in ways both big and small.

The Invincible: 3310

Terence: Ah, yes. The infamous. The unbreakable. The legend. The Nokia 3310. Really, they should've put me in charge of this phone's marketing.

My father purchased this back at the turn of the millennium, before I knew nary a thing about phones, or tech in general. It was, for all intents and purposes, my first exposure to the world of mobile. It had a near-perfect balance of heft and ergonomics, giving a sense of confidence to anyone who held the thing. That said, I could have hardly guessed that its toughness would give it its lofty legendary status in the future, which probably says a lot about the durability of electronics at the time.

As a kid, though, what I did understand was a potentially entertaining device when I saw it. For reasons that will soon be clear, the unassuming brick gradually became something of a portable gaming device to me, much to the dismay of my parents (particularly my father, who actually owned the phone). But before we get into that...over to you, Greg.

Gregory: Although the phone I owned when I was a young lad, fresh out of primary school, was not a 3310, it was still a variant of that retro icon, a locally sold 3315 with a blue screen glow instead of green. The phone was more or less 9 years old when I was entrusted to own it, and naive little me got bored of it after a few months, deeming it too outdated and itching for a new ‘toy’ to play with. Not long after I was in possession of a Nokia 1208. Full color screen! A flashlight! Such an exciting toy! However, when I opened up the games section, I was a tad disappointed at not finding “Space Impact”.

Space Impact

"I stared at the glowing screen of my phone, my thumbs doing an intricate dance over the number keys, guiding a brave little starship against the seemingly endless waves of meteors and aliens, trying to hit every last one in hopes of getting a power-up, reaching the boss with one extra life remaining."

It's a bit of a surprise that the majority here on the team actually have our fondest memories not in Snake, the forever unforgettable game, but Space Impact, which consumed many, many hours of our early years as we desperately mashed the keypads of our Nokia 3310s, trying for the umpteenth time to gain yet another high score; this game, then, was single-handedly responsible in filling a void for those of us without Gameboys and PlayStations. Fond memories indeed.

The Other Guys: 3100 and 1202

Matthew: The 3100 was my second phone, after owning an old Siemens phone. It was not exceptionally bad, but it was not as feature packed as the newer Sony Ericsson phones that my friends started to own. However, it had something else that those phones did not have. What it had was great battery life. I could leave it uncharged for days on end, even a week, and it still had a little bit of juice in it. For my lazy self, it was superb, not having to charge my phone everyday. The 3100 was none like any other phone that I ever had, and I absolutely loved it even though it was not the best.

Many years later, and many phones later, I am proud to say I am still rocking a Nokia as of now - the 1202, a basic model with a monochrome display. Even though with smart phones popping out here and there, I am still revelling in its great battery life, and not to mention the awesome flashlight on top of the phone. Needless to say, Nokia will always have a very special place in my heart.

Beach Rally

"While Gregory and Terence were piloting a starship, obliterating aliens and meteors, I was in my racing suit, car rallying on the beach. Beach rally was the name of the game, and it literally consumed hours upon hours of my time as a kid. I remember maneuvering my little blue convertible down the sandy track, avoiding and overtaking other cars along the way. My heart would pound like bongo drums on steroids as the timer clocked down, indicating that the car would run out of fuel and stop if I didn't cross a new checkpoint. Oh, the times that I would stop just inches from a new checkpoint were countless, and they provoked many moments of frustration and squeaky noises from my infuriated self. It was especially addicting for me, without a Gameboy or PlayStation, as Terence mentioned above. The little clamshell 3100 was the only form of entertainment I had, and I brought it virtually everywhere I went. A life saver at times, it provided instant entertainment whenever I got bored outside of home, especially when my parents were having seemingly unending conversations."

The Padawan and His Master: 3110 classic and N97 mini

Terence: My first, legitimate mobile phone was the Nokia 3110 classic, not to be confused with the 3310 above. It was mostly by chance, though; when I finally - after much begging and pleading - persuaded my parents to allow me to have a phone at the age of 11, I was looking out for a flip phone. The clamshell form factor appealed to me because it just appeared so cool to my young mind - remember how movie characters would slam shut their flip phones after a long exchange of thinly-veiled threats, with plenty of teeth gnashing and some nail-biting pauses in between? (See Breaking Bad for a modern example) No wonder, then, that I clamored for a clamshell (heh) so much.

However, finding a flip phone with all the features I wanted - camera, bluetooth, media playback...hell, everything - at a price of ~RM 400 was proving to be difficult. Heck, finding a phone, regardless of phone factor, with all those features at that price point was almost impossible at the time. So when I came across that Nokia, I readily gave in and selected it on the spot.

Even with its price considered, it's not a perfect phone. The interface could be slow, especially with large files, and the camera was nearly useless with its 1.3 MP image quality. However, it retained the good ergonomics and weight balance that Nokia was so good at, and it had solid build quality for the cost, not to mention the features other phones couldn't cram in. It also opened up a new world to me: the many, many small Nokia games out there, which I remember excitedly acquiring from whoever had a good collection.

This, needless to say, dismayed my parents more than ever. What can I say? I'm a game-loving guy, and the numerous addicting games that were developed for Nokia phones was all the more tempting. Not so surprising then that the 3110 was taken away from me quite a few times for this very reason. Ah well. (There was my texting, too, but that's a whole 'nother story) Regardless, this phone, with all its strengths and shortcomings, accompanied me all the way into the smartphone years, and I took it everywhere: tuition, holiday trips, occasionally to school (illegally), etc. And after all these years, I still have it, safely tucked in my desk drawer.

I haven't owned the N97 mini for all that long. It was my father's phone, and is now my secondary phone (I currently rock a Galaxy Nexus). Being the tech junkie that I am, once he upgraded to a Galaxy S3, I asked to have it - I love owning different gadgets, even if they turn out to be turds.

And, to be honest...this phone is a turd. It's simply not very good at all - the touchscreen is resistive, making for an uncomfortable user experience; the keyboard isn't very good; the camera isn't particularly great; the Symbian interface, in an era of Android and iOS devices, is a stinky, laggy, rage-inducing mess. I'm still holding on to it, though, as with the 3110. If nothing else, it makes for a decent music player so that I can save some of my Nexus's battery.

Thank you and goodbye

All good things must come to an end, it seems, sad as it may be. Sure, the Nokia spirit lives on, under Microsoft's new phone division, but they won't even be technically Nokias anymore, just "Lumias" and "Ashas" at most.

While a common theme about Nokia phones is they never seem to hit that highest level of perfection, their phones will always have a distinct feel that probably no other manufacturer will be able to replicate. As the sun sets on the Nokia brand, we look back at their glory years with enough nostalgia to fill a British teapot. Or, perhaps, a Finnish one.



Picture credit to:
1) cbsi.com
2) astrokode.wordpress.com
3) mforum.ru
4) Cover pic was hand-drawn by Siangling Tan