Ode to my Nokia 9300
by Fred Roed on 14/11/06 at 7:08 pm
5 comments
Exactly 3 and half years ago, I succumbed to a marketing lie.
You may not think this is such a big deal. ‘It happens all the time,’ I hear you say. ‘We’re always buying stuff we don’t need.’ Just yesterday my business partner told me he bought a pricier iPod than he needed, because it was only 30 quid (he lives in the UK) more for the better model. ‘I wasn’t going to quibble over £30,’ he said solemnly. My wife reckons that I should buy a car R100, 000 more than I was thinking. ‘It’s only a couple of hundred rand more a month.’ Many people buy Sunlight liquid instead of the cheaper No Name brand, even though they know the same liquid gets separated in the factory and placed in different packaging. I buy Kelloggs instead of the other stuff. It happens all the time. We get duped all the time.
And you know what? Most of the time, it’s okay. Sometimes, however, it really is not. 3 and half years ago, I renewed my cell phone contract, a hefty one which locked me into a contract for 2 years. The reward: a Samsung V200 phone. Remember it? If you don’t, think back to the Matrix sequels and all the advertising Samsung did over the phone that Keanu used in the movies. It had a swivel camera that was connected to the hinge of the clamshell design.
As my buddy Andrew would say: ‘It was tit!’
I was happy for about 3 days; impressed by the cool noises that the phone made when you pressed buttons, the flashing lights around the outside LCD, and only mildly annoyed by the message ‘Amazing!’ emblazoned on the silver casing. On the fourth day (or thereabouts), I had my first ‘I’m going to throw this %$@#! phone out the window!’ experience. I was on a business call and the phone cut out while I was talking. I redialled and the same thing happened again. It was the first occurrence of a daily ritual involving my Samsung phone that continued until I upgraded to my current phone: a Nokia 9300.
I’m blogging about it because, today, 3 and a half years later, I’ve been in back to back meetings the whole day. During the course of the day I’ve been checking my Nokia calendar, downloading email on the run, synchronising my appointments to my laptop, making notes on my Nokia desktop and updating my petrol account on my Nokia spreadsheets. Every now and then, I pause to make the odd phone call.
In between all of this, I heard a familiar ring nearby. It activated the nervous twitch that I used to get when my old phone would act up. I’m sure I saw a hint of resignation on the owner’s face as she pulled out her weather-beaten Samsung.
I walked away quickly, patting my pants pocket to ensure my Nokia was still there.
Fred Roed is the marketing guy in the Ideate crew. Fred is the CEO of web marketing company World Wide Creative and the co-founder of online learning portal Heavy Chef. Fred loves writing about people out there doing marketing right. Follow Fred on Twitter here. View more articles by Fred Roed.
David e
Nov 24th, 2006
I’m sorry, but when it comes to some things, especially food, some products are just better and higher quality than others. Kellogs being one of them.
Don’t buy Pick n Pay no-name-brand thingys. Argh, they fetch that stuff from the pits of low grade factories. Try it, I dare you
Seems like the big brands have the money because of the good sales because of the good products therefore can advertise more, therefore you think that it’s “just advertising” that is making you buy it. Or something like that.
Fred
Nov 27th, 2006
’some products are just better and higher quality than others’
This has never been more profoundly true than in the case of Samsung V200 vs Nokia 9300.
Rudi
Jul 7th, 2007
You must have been blessed with the only working phone in the range!
I have upgraded from other Nokia’s to 9300i exactly 13months to date and had nothing but #@*?ing sh*t . From phone switching off to frozen keypad(indiv. buttons) to it repeatedly dailing numbers without being prompted. and slow response time to allow acces to files and delayed messages sometimes up to 10hours ( sms and voice messages)
Been told need software upgrade. Been there done that! no improvement.
Needless to say that I am eagerly awaiting contract renewal time!!!!
ugo adudu
Jul 29th, 2007
i don’t know what the hell this guy is talking about as regards the nokia and samsung phones.not everybody has the time to waste looking for the slightlly better option,some people have very busy lives and can’t waste precious time doing that,i hope you understand what i mean? but anyway,if you’ve got the time, if you don’t work or something,then it’s just fine that you do that.
johan
Aug 12th, 2007
funny my Nokia 9300i still works perfectly. if u think its phone problem that sms takes 10 hours why u not test it by sending sms to urself or use another phone . hey everyone has that problem.
does phone dail numbers by itself? keylock on ?
redail if busy could be on.
slow acces yes agree, open pictures or any files takes long.
but i will never ever want a normal phone again.
Maybe a Jasjar or HTC X7500
if u want a phone go buy one. the 9300i is more a laptop than a phone.
johan