Nokia 3210: A tale of a forgotten giant.

Somewhere in the dusty warehouses of Amazon and Ebay rests the most enviable mobile phone of the late last century(1999). Breaking away with the common tradition of brick sized handheld cell phones with never ending antenna popping from top end and weighing at least a tonne(an apt exaggeration) was Nokia's 3210,a radical step forward in the world of wireless communication.Weighing less than 160 grams and packing an unbelievable battery time of several days,this phone enjoyed a phenomenal success with over 160 million units shipped, making it the second most popular cellphone of all time.

Nokia 3210

                                                                   
Fast forward ten years in time and we have capacitive high resolution touch screens,slick OS from the likes of Apple,Android and Microsoft which put the power of desktop in our hands.Increasingly mobile phone makers are luring customers with their ostentatiously constructed phones of glass and aluminium bodies which play an important role in decision of any potential cell phone buyer.Navigational and social networking applications from Google,Facebook and Twitter are seamlessly integrated in our "smart" phones which make everything from visiting a friend in an unknown locality to updating a status about our new possession easier than ever.

So why am I even bothered about Nokia's outdated device?A question which is quite well timed if you have read this post this long.Although it is true that my old pal has nothing to offer in order to compete with the versatility and functionality of the new phones but it excels where every good mobile phone should:making good quality phone calls without worrying about battery life.This is one golden lesson which our new phone designers could learn from Nokia 3210 when they take their ideas to the drawing table as very few of us have smartphones which last over a day.

Sometimes Innovation is not defined by creation of an unorthodox product but by refinement of an already successful one as seen in case of Nokia and more recently in form of early Iphones(I don't own any apple products so calling me an apple fan boy would be unfair=p ).

(Thanks to everyone who read my first post and your comments will be much appreciated.Do subscribe if you like it.)