NACRO

People seem to be obsessed with mobile telephones, does anyone know why?

I'll give you an example, a friend of mine changes his mobile every time his contract comes up for renewal. So he stays with an uncompetitive service provider in order to get his "free" upgrade- meanwhile he pays through the nose for a monthly contract on a useless tarif and tries desperately to use up his "free" minutes on the most banal conversations(bearing in mind he is now paying through the nose month on month).

In return for his custom he gets a mobile with some fairly useless features, ie crap quality radio, crap quality camera and some 80's retro games. These features seem to be just as important to him as using the damn thing to actually talk to people. It's not just him either other friends and relatives seem to have been suckered into paying huge telecoms bills as well.

BTW I'm still using a seemingly indestructable 5110 with a £10 pay as you go SIM card that I bought yrs ago from the aforementioned sucker. I estimate that over the past few yrs I've spent a grand total of £30 on mobile communications.

FFS use a land line to talk to people and hang on to your phone until it is dies, people. Having new mobile phones isn't in any way cool, having no mobile at all is cool. If you need one then may I suggest hanging on to whichever old clunker you have ATM rather than lining the pockets of telecoms providers and phone manufacturers.

I've asked these people why they do this and they really have no answer other than, "well it's free innit"- no it isn't or the equally moronic "well I wouldn't want to be seen using an old phone"- ????? WTF are these people on?


On the other hand carry on being stupid, it gives me something to laugh at

Luke

Some find it gives them a "Place " in society.... Just like adding bits to their car and hoping we all notice "hey I'm still alive"


So sad...... A true man will only have a Nokia 6310i, the rest are just *****'s

Duck_Pond

I think I'll stick to the one I have had for the last year or so. It's pocket-sized, has a vibrate function, so I don't have to have a bl**dy silly and annoying ringtone, and the battery life seems pretty good.

Apart from the obvious calling and SMS functions on it, I rarely use much else. The GPRS internet access is occasionally handy for checking news, weather etc while out and about, and for cheating in the weekly pub quiz, of course!

TaviaRS

I swap mine at the end of the 12 month period.Why? Well, they are normally completely firetrucked by the end of 12 months The only one I haven't been able to kill is a Siemens ME45 one. Its been dropped, immersed in water, and generally abused, yet it still carries on working.

So I take it and trade it in and select a new tariff/provider depending on my usage.

What do I look for in a 'phone? Large buttons, full car kit available and reliability. All the other stuff is irrelevant. Who needs a camera? Radio? MP3 player? Videos? It's a phone, pure and simple that I'm after.

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Hmmm,

The reason why I upgrade is I don't like lugging a brick everywhere and normally by 14 months my phones are knackered (battries don't last as long, looking rather tatty etc.) And my tarrif works out cheaper than any pay as you go phone, which you pay through the nose in call charges (fine if you never use it - but I do). If you are with a contract and given an "upgrade" option every 12 months. You should take up the opertunity, as you gain nothing by sticking with your current phone

Currently have an 8310 still, which I suppose is "old hat" now. But I want a small phone, and all current models are bigger, or have less features (like no voice recognition or a calander/to do list). So for now, well, till the battery dies completely I'll stick with it. Even though I had them ringing me up the other day asking if I'd like a free 7250. Which is bigger and has less "useable" features, So I said no. Seems like I'm with you on this argument



[Edited by ALi-B - 12/15/2003 11:31:31 AM]

AdrianFRST

I've noiced people seem to be obsessed with performance cars, does anyone know why?

I'll give you an example, a friend of mine changes his Impreza every time the new model comes out. So he takes a massive hit in depreciation just to get the latest model - meanwhile he pays through the nose each month for finance, but tries not to drive too much as to rack up the miles and loose value.

To this purpose he gets a car that will do a lot more than the legal speed limit, accelerate faster than everyone else in the traffic jam and provide 4 wheel drive for those tricky gravel lanes that he never goes near for fear of stonechips. It's not just him as his friends are paying out huge costs for performance cars.

BTW I'm driving a seemingly indestructable Mini that costs me £100 a year to insure and next to nothing on servicing etc. I estimate in the past few years I've spent a grand total of £300 on the car, including fuel.

Why not drive a normal car? Having an Impreza isn't in any way cool, having no car at all is cool. If you need one then may I suggest hanging on to whichever old clunker you have ATM rather than lining the pockets of dealers and car manufacturers.

I've asked these people why they do this and they really have no answer other than, "well it's fast innit"- not usably it isn't or the equally moronic "well I wouldn't want to be seen driving an old car"- ????? WTF are these people on?

Some people might agree with the above (I don't). Each to his own perhaps?

TelBoy

**** me, if it didn't pain me so much, i'd agree that i aslo don't understand the fascination.

Still, the mobile phone companies love you all for it....

NACRO

So far all seem like sensible mobile phone owners actually looking for the best deal for them, apart from the tatty phone comment- after all you wouldn't get rid of a screwdriver because it looks tatty would you? A phone is exactly that, a tool, not a fashion accessory.

Maybe modern mobiles are designed to malfunction thus forcing people to "upgrade". As I say my 5110 is working as well now as it did 4yrs ago.

Luke

Adrian

Wish you would post more!!!! brillaint.

iDLe*

Mate you obviously don't know much about the mobile phone industry, its cool if you want to use PAYG and are only a low user but other people need more from a phone.

NACRO

Couldn't agree more Adrian. That's why I drive an old clunker I paid for with pocket change.


edited to add: don't know much about it PMSL- I used to be a consultant to BT Cellnet.

[Edited by NACRO - 12/15/2003 11:38:37 AM]

iDLe*

Yeah good post dude!

Jye

The new smaller ones are now far easier to ram up folks **** imo. And btw this would not be for pleasure on either their or my part before anyone makes that comment, I find sideways gives them more pain

NACRO

Jye last week it was ******* now its phone/anus interfaces that are on your mind. Care to enlighten us as to why?

Hobo_Jojo

ive had the same phone for ages i only got this one cuz my las one completely broke after dropping it on a road. my current phone cost £40 brand new from orange at the time, it does the job, (makes n receives calls and txts) which is all i need it for, oh and its not actually a brick infact its a lot smaller than some of the new ones out now. plus i only spend about £5 a month on calls

unclebuck

The new smaller ones are now far easier to ram up folks **** imo

How true. You can get a photograph of it at the same time. Brilliant.

UB

NACRO

But it will cost you at least 50P to send it.................

Fosters

you can get a cool phone and the best monthly contract - just get a pac code and transfer your old number! der

PAYG isn't good for me as I use about 600 mins a month - amongst other calls to speak to my children, who if I didn't call I wouldn't have contact with 12 days out of 14.



[Edited by Fosters - 12/15/2003 11:53:34 AM]

iDLe*

Mate you must accept different stokes for different folks, I just had a look at the call log on my phone and it's huge. Now the phone is private and work and is now 5 months old...already done 470 hours worth of calls, can you imaginje what shape my phone would be in after 4 years!! I have to get a new battery every 3 to 6 months so the cost of this alone justify's my upgrade.

Fosters

...and I don't own a land line

NACRO

You have to remember the point of posting this thread (like most others) is merely to foment debate on a topic I'm interested in.............

?


I'm fully aware that different users have different needs, I'm just interested in what justification "vanity" users have to give to themselves, so far it's made interesting reading.

mattstant

.

Spoken like a true man Luke

Just got one of these
Upgraded from an old 6210 e use mine for waork alot so i am on talk 30 with orange.

The ironic thing is i really could do with a decent convergence gizmo as i currently walk around with

M505 Palm Pilot
Olympus digital voice recorder
Sony dscp2 digital camera
Nokia 6310i

The day some one makes something as useable and capable as this little lot i will do cart wheels. LOL

ok AND portable

Edited for unclebucks benefit

[Edited by mattstant - 12/15/2003 12:53:17 PM]

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Perhaps I should explain the "tatty" comment (I realised its vain-ness when I typed it) So I'll attempt to gain back some pride

It's tatty...beleive me...dropped from the 1st foor of a building, and also dropped kicked by a so called friend. Obviously Include that daily useage dropping, it's fair to say it's "tatty"

Suppose I should buy a new set of covers for it. But I can't be bothered -so that should be enough to proove it's not a fashion accessory

I also don't text much either - the 8310 has a bug that causes to reset if I send too many texts (suits me - it's cheaper to ring up the sod who texted me)

unclebuck

i really could do with a decent convergence gizmo

You've got one. It's called a PC

UB

[Edited by unclebuck - 12/15/2003 12:22:00 PM]

ALi-B

iTrader: (1)

Thought I'd add...my dad at his pinnicle of trying to look cool bought a Ericsson T68. Solely because it was the first Colour phone with this and that and lardee dar....

To this day he still can't use the fecking thing!! LOL

mattstant

hmmm nice idea Unclebuck but some how climbing scaffolding with my pc connected to a long cable (and power converter) attached to my car battery doesnt fill me with confidence (yes i KNOW there are such things as laptops dont spoil the lame joke).

TaviaRS

I'm obviously vain

I swap mine every 12 months due to tattyness as well. Its not as if I'm a heavy user. I'm on Voda 1000 and still get a bill for £200+ per month.

Next time its Orange on the O2 max tariff to see if it saves some money.

Mice_Elf

Have a 6310i and basically have it because I do a lot of driving all over the place. When you're female and driving on your own it's that little bit of comfort factor, I guess.

Certainly worth it's weight in gold for that. Otherwise, it lets me communicate with people, although I don't upgrade it every 12 months unless necessary.

When this one's due for renewal, it will be upgraded as throughout all the abuse it's suffered, including being dropped on the floor many times and into a sink of water, the screen is stripey. However, it works for th emain part, so I'm not itching to get the latest pin-head sized phone with built in toaster.

Luke

My thoughts are this... The phone could be a life line. i want the best reception. the longest life battery and great reliability


6310i.

Jye

--Jye last week it was ******* now its phone/anus interfaces that are on your mind. Care to enlighten us as to why--

I just knew you would say this NACRO, hence why I put my other comments after my **** shoving line

BTW, you always seem to want to know 'why', is this so you can practice it yourself