H.A.N.D.P.H.O.N.E
Most working adult has, at least, one handphone for communication purposes. The era of fixed home telephone line is declining and rapidly being replaced with handphone. I believed handphone nowadays is a necessity rather than a luxury.
My handphone evolution :
Year : 1998
Brand : Nokia
Model : tak ingat la (refer picture)
My first handphone was a Nokia (tak ingat model). The phone doesn't use the sim card as at that time I am using the Mobikom 018 service in which the line was activated centrally by the mobile operator. At that time, most of my friend had some difficulty to accept that the phone does not use the sim card as the way theirs is. Mobikom 018 was not a popular choice at that time. I end up showing them the proof by switching off the handphone and let them have a closer look on the phone. There is an advantage by having this feature. One of it, the phone can be deactivated remotely by the mobile operator in the event it lost or got stolen and cannot be activated back.
The phone end of life occurs in tragedy! In one fine morning, while rushing for work I had unintentionally.. repeat.. unintentionally left the handphone on top of my car. And, you could imagine what had happened next. The handphone goes flying and never recovered.
Year : 2001
Brand : Motorola
Model : tak ingat la (refer picture)
In desperate need of new lease of life, I grab whatever handphone available at home. This handphone was not mine, of course, but I quickly proclaim the ownership once I got my hand onto it. As it is considered as a 'second hand' phone.. the condition also is bad. First, it is bulky. Second, the battery lock had broken and it need to be tied with a rubber band in order to put it in place!
As desperate people does desperate thing, I took the 'challenge' and use the handphone. I choose a DiGi 016 as the service operator. They are offering the prepaid services. The worse part of having DiGi 016 is, the signal is hardly at 2 bars (2 out of 5) at my workplace, a factory in Sg Choh, Rawang. The area was best served by Maxis 012.
Whenever I am in and around the factory building, the signal is as good as non-existence! If, I really need to make a phone call, I need to get outside of the factory building and searching for the signal manually! (go around the area until the phone register 3 bars signal). Just imagine the hassle
Year : 2001
Brand : Nokia
Model : 3310
Due to the hassle I am facing with the Motorola + DiGi 016, I had decided it is a good time to change to new handphone and subscribing to the Maxis 012 service. No hassle, no rubber band and most importantly.. no more manual signal searching! (go around the area until the phone register 3 bars signal)
Nokia 3310 was equipped with the latest technology at that time, the best newest feature in town.. the vibration! It vibrate when a call being made. They also said that 'it dance'! Place your Nokia 3310 upward and call. The vibration ringing will cause the handphone to twisting right and left as it is performing a dance.
Year : 2002
Brand : Panasonic
Model : tak ingat la (refer picture)
I found this handphone at home lying around 'without tuan'. It quickly put me into interest as the brand is a non-traditional handphone manufacturer unlike Nokia or Motorola. What ? Panasonic ? Are you sure you spell it right ? Well, that's what people may think of it. The handphone is light, robust (drop it so many time, but still 'performed') and it only cause me RM100, made payable to my brother.
Unfortunately, this handphone do have hiccup. It often display a 'No signal' and I had to reboot it when it does. Even with the hassle of rebooting, I still stick to it long enough due to its brand uniqueness.
Year : 2005
Brand : Samsung
Model : tak ingat la (one of the SGHxx model - flip type)
I had set my eyes firmly on Nokia N76 in which at that time price at approx. RM1,400. My wife had decided to trade-in her Samsung in favour of Nokia 6680. Unfortunately, the trade-in price was not satisfactorily enough to persuade her to trade-in. The shop offers RM200 for the Samsung which was purchased less than 1 year before! The market price at that time was somewhere around RM800 - RM900. After a lengthy persuasive discussion, I had decided to buy over the Samsung from my wife at RM450 on 0% interest RM50 per month installment.. haha. She got her new Nokia 6680, and in return I got the Samsung SGH instead of Nokia N76 that I had aimed for.
Honestly, I am never a fan of a 'two-pieces' handphone let alone a flip one. I view it as a hassle and not convenient to have to slide or flip a handphone just to answer a call.
The handphone is equipped with camera and a media playback feature which I like and find it useful. Unfortunately, the handphone don't support external storage card such as the MicroSD. Therefore, it limits the handphone storage capacity.
Year : 2007
Brand : HP (Hewlett Packard)
Model : IPAQ Voice Messenger
A smartphone from HP, again a non-traditional handphone manufacturer. I first heard of the handphone being a gift away for one of the courses conducted by my company.. for FREE! As soon as I heard that, I enrolled myself to the course straight away. It's a 4 days course. To be honest, I don't believed that anybody attending the course for the sake of gaining new knowledge, instead everybody is anxious and eager for the FREE Smartphone only. On the third day of the course, what had we been waiting for finally in our hand.. a FREE HP IPAQ Voice Messenger operating on Windows Mobile OS.
The smartphone got almost everything that suit any gadget hunters requirement out there, except for 3G capability.. That is the smartphone achilles heel! However, I love this smartphone for its uniqueness as not many people are actually think of HP when they considering buying a handphone.
Unfortunately, all good things do come to end. The smartphone accidentally CRASHED into a toilet bowl!! Although it was recovered but its performance was badly degraded in the form of faulty microfon. When I speak, the other person will hear me as if I was 'far, far, far' away. It has became more and more hassle to continue using the smartphone as it cause a frustration to those on the recieving end.
Year : 2010
Brand : Nokia
Model : E72
My new 'baby'. I think it suit my needs the most within my tied budget. Purchased at RM1245 about 2 weeks ago. It had almost every function that I would ever required, not that like I will use them all. It is 'one piece', 3G, Camera equipped, Media playback function etc
With the purchase, I did upgrade my Celcom 013 line to 3G all access which will enable me to sync with office outlook and able to read my office email on the go. What a pleasant convenient!
I am planning to stick to this one for considerable long period of time. Hopefully, no tragedy awaits..
In the end, I realised that My Handphone Evolution is based on the evolution of my personal and working environment needs. Some people may change their handphone out of convenient while some others are just for the sake of keeping up with the technology.
I, personally, think that the ultimate use of a handphone is for communication. What better way to communicate other than talking to each other as we grow old. All those fancy features are only meant to justify for price increment only!
P.L.E.A.S.E. K.E.E.P. I.N. T.O.U.C.H
