Oldie but goodie

In practically every occasion that my core buddies and I get together, there’s at least one guy who brandishes a newly acquired latest cellphone model. Sometimes the handset is so current, you won’t even find it yet on the manufacturer’s website! Among the seven of us though, there’s one guy who still sports the same Nokia 3310 handset of five years ago. Yup, I would think in most circles these days it would be considered an antiquated unit in the cellphone evolution cycle. Mind you, it’s not because this Mr. Vintage can’t afford to upgrade his unit. Believe me, he drives an exotic sports car that would make the BIR RATE team want to harass him.

At times I would overhear close friends start to tease him about his cellphone when he pulls it out of his pocket as it emits its boring mono ringtone. "Whoa, may signal pa ba yan?" they’ll say. There would be times all of us would be exchanging images via Bluetooth and he would be left out because of his handset’s lack of a Bluetooth connectivity function. Part of our group’s ritual, too, would be to compare our latest Symbian Series 60 applications or newly downloaded Java games. We would pass our units around and test-drive the software on each other’s handsets. While we all show off, my buddy Mr. Vintage plays his favorite Snake game on his 3310’s little display. After a while, mobile phones are again passed around but this time we show off images or videos we have recently taken of our kids. Those images are just so razor-sharp nowadays with higher-end mobile handsets sporting at least a 1.3-megapixel camera and high resolution 262k color display. Mr. Vintage’s mobile phone has never been passed around since it does not even have a color screen, let alone the ability to take images with multiple settings for lighting and color.

A few weeks ago just out of curiosity, I asked Mr. Vintage why he has not upgraded his cellphone despite its age and limited functions. I’m sure affordability was not an issue. He answered me so casually, "All I do is call and text, so why the hell do I need to upgrade my cellphone? You guys are always looking for a charger because of all the tinkering you guys do on your cellphone; my battery lasts me the whole 24 hours." He further explained his point and I started to comprehend the logic that was unfolding. Mr. Vintage confessed that he feared that the life of his cellphone was almost coming to an end because of the numerous glitches he has been encountering lately. This apparently was making him very uneasy. Why? You see, Mr. Vintage’s logic was that when his 3310 perishes and he is forced to buy a new model smartphone like ours, that he would be inevitably kicking off an endless and unfounded compulsion to constantly upgrade his cellphone, or anything in his life for that matter! Yikes! That sounds like the trap our whole group is in. We have been locked in this cycle of paying more and more for new gadgets and services as the years go by. Going back in time by about 20 years, if I had heard a psychic make this forecast, I would have probably thought that he was insane and I would laugh myself silly. Think of it really, here is a short list of perceived needs that some people nowadays don’t think twice of paying for: peripheral devices, DSL service, cable TV, iTunes music downloads and mobile phones with their abundance of value-added services for sale (tones, logos, Java games, etc.), to name just a few.

I stepped back to ponder Mr. Vintage’s logic and he actually makes good sense. I’m guilty on all counts and I’m depressed to even imagine the amounts of money I have been blowing all these years. So to Mr. Vintage and the others like him out there, hold on and do not succumb to the lure. Also rest assured, Mr. Vintage, that when your dear 3310 is put to rest, I shall personally accompany you to Semicon and limit your purchase options to just plain vanilla handsets.

* * *

Patrick R. Garcia is the managing director of Bidshot Wireless Services. For comments or suggestions, e-mail [email protected].