Phones and the relentless march of technology

[Sysagent]

iPhone here and I love it, best phone I have ever had...

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Or you could just do what I did and get a refurbished ancient Nokia for twenty quid off ebay. No camera, no colour screen, no multiphonic ringtones, no internet ... perfect. The only thing I'll miss about the LG is the backgammon.

 

[palinurus]

Which reminded me, I've just been looking for my phone. Found it in the bottom of my courier bag. Where it's been for the last four days.

Someone took the piss out of it last week, it dates from 2005.

 

[Andy in Sig]

I think I got mine in 2002 but they cancelled the number because I didn't use it for six months. I've been toying with the idea of getting a new sim card for it.

 

[rh100]

Or you could just do what I did and get a refurbished ancient Nokia for twenty quid off ebay. No camera, no colour screen, no multiphonic ringtones, no internet ... perfect. The only thing I'll miss about the LG is the backgammon.

we got a basic nokia for my Nan, seemed to be the easiest option. For someone else in the family we got a specialist phone - where you program the sim with 5 numbers, and the phone just has 5 big buttons, one for each number, and on/off and answer, no display at all.

 

[Fnaar]

Android Google phone here... love it! Use it for phoning (obviously), texting, internet when out and about, I can take photos with it, take vid clips with it, watch bbc i-player on it, come on this forum, etc. It's got lots of other useless () applications too, like spirit-level, calculator, music player... all sorts of stuff I enjoy fiddling around with.

 

[rh100]

I haven't figured out how to turn it on yet

 

[XmisterIS]

They're just starting something in Germany which has been going for a while in Japan: dead simple mobile phones that basically only do phoning and texts. The original target audience was pensioners who didn't understand all the bells and whistles but apparently they have also caught on with people who want a phone that sort of acts like a phone. I've no doubt that if they are a success over here they will be coming to the UK soon.

Do you know where to get one dirt cheap?

I've found this http://www.seniorenhandys.org/hagenuk-fono-3.html and a number of other similar phones.

They'd be great for my mum, but they're pretty expensive for something so basic!

Also, my mum has no idea about texting, so she'd want one even simpler - just the ability to send and receive calls.

I did a search for "Einfaches Handy ohne SMS", but no luck ...

Anyway, would one of those german phones work in the UK? I am guessing that mobiles are standard across Europe.

 

[Mr Pig]

Mate of mine has a Nokia N..something or other, big slider thing. Does everything, Internet, GPS, radar, I think you can even make phone calls on it. He's cracking up because the battery only lasts an hour!

Yes, we've lost the plot, and I say 'we' because the manufacturers only build what the public buys. People are inherently greedy, materialistic and competitive so whatever you give them they want more. Whether it's actually any use to them or not is largely irrelevant. My nine-year-old daughter is getting a phone for her birthday as she's feeling left out, all her pals have them. She needs a phone about as much as she needs a chain saw but at least the former only costs £30 and is unlikely to take her leg off!

 

[661-Pete]

I'm still hanging on to my ageing Nokia 3310 until it falls apart. Can't fault it for phoning and (moderate) texting, except that it doesn't have a lot of memory so you sometimes run out of space for text messages, and space for directory entries is also rather limited.

It also has a built-in ringtone composer (does any more recent phone have that?) so I can set up my own (unique) custom tune and avoid mistaking someone else's ringtone for mine.

Does anyone know what the 'standard' charger connection is going to be? Mine is a 3mm coaxial.

 

[rh100]

mini usb

 

[Andy in Sig]

Do you know where to get one dirt cheap?

I've found this http://www.seniorenhandys.org/hagenuk-fono-3.html and a number of other similar phones.

This seems to be the cheapest model:

Audioline amplicom Power Tel M5000

But I reckon I ended up at the same website as you. They should work everywhere. I think it is just a matter of buying a simcard.

 

[marinyork]

mini usb

It is far, far from standard.

 

[4F]

Or you could just do what I did and get a refurbished ancient Nokia for twenty quid off ebay. No camera, no colour screen, no multiphonic ringtones, no internet ... perfect. The only thing I'll miss about the LG is the backgammon.

With you there. My bog standard Nokia 3109C does exactly what I want, phone and text. Cost me £ 20 second hand off e bay.

 

[rh100]

It is far, far from standard.

USB has been around for years as the standard high speed powered serial connection

at the moment it's not yet on all phones, but it will be

http://lifestyle.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=17227

The idea being that you won't need multiple chargers, you can charge from your PC USB port, and they wont ship chargers with the phones after a while.