Today FM's Alison Curtis goes back to the year 2000 - with her new Nokia 3310
We all remember it well and very very fondly, the Nokia 3310!
Most of us owned one, we cherished it, we thought it was the best thing since sliced bread but it wasn’t just a regular phone back in the day when it was released in September 2000. The reason it become so popular was it had a lot of features that were rare for phones in the year that we all worried the world was going to end.
The 3310 had, get this, a calculator, a stop watch and a reminder function! It also had the all important game of Snake, which went on to become a firm favourite of millions.
The 3310 became one of the biggest selling phones shifting 126 million units world wide and most definitely gained cult status. Which is probably why those who have great ideas, decided to re-introduce the phone back into the market with an announcement in February of this year that the famed Nokia 3310 was to return to shops and into our grubby paws this summer.
This got me thinking, like a lot of people, what would it be like to go back to the pre smart phone days? I fully acknowledge that I am entirely dependant and addicted to my iPhone.
To the point where I am worried that my 6 year old daughter will not have any memories of me without it.
But nonetheless I thought it would be an interesting, if not somewhat tedious, experiment to ditch my iPhone and go back to the 3310 for a week.
So first things first when I was sent the phone I went into Carphone Warehouse on Grafton Street to get a new sim. There I was greeted by four staff who all walked up enthusiastically and said “where did you get that??”
The phones aren’t in shops in Ireland until July and the staff said that they were being inundated with people asking for the handsets. One lovely woman who worked at the shop, I think she was a manager, was so young she didn’t even recognise the 3310 and therefor didn’t give a sh*t.
Next step once the sim was in was stepping out into the bustling streets of Dublin, holding my bright orange 3310 up proudly and me waiting for people to notice and melt with nostalgia. *Note that didn't happen.
Next was for me to actually switch off my iPhone and start using my “new” phone. It all felt very strange. It took me approximately 30 minutes just to transfer about 4 important contact numbers, which of course resulted in me panicking, as once I turned off my iPhone I immediately started imagining all these terrifying and stressful situations that would arise because I didn’t transfer all 400 million of my contacts over.
“Oh god what if I missed a call from work to tell me I got post.” “Someone will be desperate to have coffee with me!” “What did my husband have for lunch??” Crazy thoughts. This was quickly followed by my need to do something with the phone. I couldn't check Twitter, my go too, and the 3310 definitely existed before Instagram, so I thought I will text my husband! I got as far as individually typing out each letter of Hello (I forgot about the predictive feature) before I said “F*@K this I am going shopping!
I spent the rest of the day reaching into my bag, subconsciously and grabbing my switched off iPhone then taking out the 3310 and seeing, well nothing.
I realised that I can’t even kill 1.2 minutes in a queue without checking emails, twitter, snapchat… It really came as quite a shock how I seem to not absolutely ever think for myself anymore.
When I got home that first day I will fully admit I turned on my iPhone and spent about an hour jumping from all the social media platforms and digesting as much useless info as I could, before transferred a few more numbers over to the 3310 and then turning off the iPhone once again.
The next big jump was actually leaving the house and leaving the iPhone behind. Butterflys in my stomach I set off with my bright orange 3310 into the big bad world of 2017 with me having only access to stuff you could do in 2000. It did feel strange that first day. Not really the feeling of missing out but more the feeling of “what the hell can I do while waiting at the school, waiting in a queue, sitting in a parked car?” Nothing but play Snake.
By the second day it felt better, like the wide open gap of no internet access was getting smaller. I was less anxious and found myself reaching for the phone less and less. When I was out doing things, I did just that, those things and I didn’t interrupt absolutely everything by checking twitter, my emails or sending whatsapps.
By the third day I started to look loving at my nearly luminous 3310. It was so small and sleek and that ring tone, man it took me back.
So what if I am missing what all of Ireland’s social influences had for breakfast? So what if I don’t know what the new Snapchat filters are? I definitely was getting time back.
I actually finished reading the Sunday newspaper supplements and cracked the spine of the Alec Baldwin autobiography that was collecting dust. Instead of checking Twitter while waiting for a coffee I checked out people (who were mostly checking out their own phones.) I took in more of my surroundings and I found that a lot more relaxing than scrolling through endless feeds.
During the week I had access to my emails on my computer which I did have on while I was home. So I wasn’t entirely cut off. But the reality is that in this world we are so reachable in so many ways, I count 8 in my case including Facebook messenger and WhatsApp.
There really is an expectation and a responsibility that you are reachable. I did think about this a lot. We don’t have an excuse not to get back to people anymore. There is immense pressure that comes with this, especially with 24 hour access to emails. The flip side of this is it is so great that, as an example, if a parent is running late in our school there are 25 others waiting in a Whatsapp group to help out.
So in summary - would I ever ditch my iPhone and go back to something pre smart phone like a Nokia 3310?
The honest answer is absolutely not. I did however have a good few listeners who got in touch with Weekend Breakfast to say that they have done just that, that they are using Nokias etc and have never looked back. I know however that wouldn’t be for me.
But what I did take away from it is, I do spend too much time on my phone. I do think it can make you anxious, especially right before bed, I need to pick up a damn book!
So I have examined my relationship with my iPhone. Yes I love it, a lot, but I need to get a bit more independence from it. It is now away at meal times 100% and I am shortening the time I look at social media at night. But for all of you making the switch back to one of the most durable phones ever in existence and one loved by 126 million worldwide, enjoy your little ‘new’ Nokia 3310 and enjoy the freedom from an online life that it brings!
