Other Stories About 2000s Devices |

Friends, at this challenging time for the whole world, I decided to try to bring a little happy and sweet nostalgia to the Internet. Because it is filled with negative news now. But the solution is already here – thanks to this website, we will remember the goodies of the 2000s together with you. I plan to touch on many areas, for example, smartphones, games, music, movies, culture, and other interesting aspects of this decade.

Today I’m going to tell the story of my encounter with the world of smartphones. It started with me in the middle of zeros. I remember once admiringly reading an article about a new product of that time – Nokia 3230. There I came across a thought where the author supposed that there would be a great time when almost everyone would have a smartphone in the future. And so, today, we are already living in this era.

But then, only a few were the lords of smart devices. I didn’t have my phone at all. There were several reasons for that:

First, the main obstacle is the price. Although I live in Ukraine, the most striking example is the real estate market situation in the Russian capital. For instance, in 2001, the total cost of fifteen new Nokia 9210 was equal to the price of a studio apartment in Moscow. 

The price per square meter was 650 dollars, and the device from the Finns cost 1300. Today, a square meter of a Moscow apartment can reach over five thousand dollars. Accordingly, it’s the cost of five new iPhones. As you can see, there’s a tenfold difference. Is there anything else to say?

Secondly, in those days, there wasn’t much need for such functionality. Synthesis of phone and computer at the beginning of zeros was not necessary for the average user. It was more than enough for him to call and write SMS. Already closer to the middle of the decade began to show trends in consumer sympathy for novelty. 

For example, a peculiar peak of the “Pyramid of Maslow” of those times was to have a camera and MP3 support onboard the phone. Most people did not even suspect the existence of a whole line of smartphones based on Symbian OS, which had been available for several years. They were able to perform most of the daily tasks that modern devices have. 

Of course, multi-core processors were not in them at that time, but check emails, play with friends through the Internet / Bluetooth, fill the memory card with a few gigabytes of favorite music or video – no problem.

Thirdly, own safety. I don’t think we need to go into detail here. Everybody understands that it is not a good idea to walk through dubious terrain in the evenings and shine with a giant (for those times) two-inch screen.

Fourthly, in real life, only a few people knew someone with similar interests. The low prevalence of smartphones – modest remained the number of people interested in this area of mobile technology. Therefore, in most cases, we had to content ourselves with talking about this topic thanks to forums on the Internet.

As you can see, it is quite logical that smart devices had low popularity among the population then. But despite the above nuances, my dream came true after all. A few months after reading that article, my parents bought me my first own phone and, at the same time, a smartphone. It was not a hero from the magazine, but a slightly more powerful model – Nokia 6630.

It just became cheaper at that time. Because at the moment of the start of sales, its price tag was simply cloud. As in the case of 9210, a dozen such devices could also quietly find an apartment. In my native Ukraine, it was definitely possible. And if we go back to the current flagships, you should note that the attention of people around Nokia 6630 attracted at a very different level.

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And in general, smartphones based on Symbian OS were challenging to identify as a phone – they were kind of some gifts from aliens. Because the chic then among my peers was considered Nokia 3310. And Siemens with WAV-format support – it was really “Wow!”.

When you were pulling your smartphone out of your pocket, you instantly stupor others. They stood with the face of a first-grader who needs to solve a task in higher mathematics.

But it wasn’t the cover. It was the stuffing that pulled me to Nokia 6630. I knew the scale of the world in this compact case, which I called the Racket. Thanks to it, it was possible to engage in programming (supported software for writing programs in the Python language) and draw in a reasonably high-quality graphic editor.

Based on the created drawings, I made and shared complete design themes for Symbian OS smartphones. Also, the Nokia 6630 is the first smartphone with 3G support.

So to say that I was in the seventh heaven of happiness is to say nothing. I remember the first experts in my class called my Nokia phone “sma-ra-thon.” Also, this euphoria caused by the absence of a computer at home – my parents thought it would only hinder me from studying.

And, frankly, today, I agreed with them. After all, I started writing my first articles at the Rocket. Fortunately, a comfortable keyboard and a T9 helped this hobby and communication in “ICQ”, which was our number one messenger until the social networks era. This word filled with pain. Why precisely the pain? Because mobile Internet was expensive and slow back then.

That was how I got to know the world of smartphones. Look for an extension of the topic in the next materials. In the meantime, I say goodbye to you, friends. I wish you all health and have fun on Smart2000s space!

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