The MOBStory !!! – Korangante kayyil poomaalagal.

I had this post saved and all ready to publish which unfortunately got stuck in my pc when I gave it for replacing the speakers. Honestly, the title was inspired from MJ’s HIStory and I had written this way before what had happened to him. Infact, I even mentioned the title of this post in one of my earlier post.

Warning : My longest post !
Edited to add after Sakhis comment : This isnt a technical post in any angle. Its very much my usual non-sense. Expecting a technical post from me would be like expecting Salman Khan to do a good film !!

Mobiles, I would say is one of the wonders of modern science. Imagine a world today without those devices! Taking away my mobile from me would be like literally tearing apart my arms. I am so addicted to them that if given a choice to save my life or my mobile, I would choose the latter. Its like, why do I even need this life without my mobile !!! and yes, if my mobiles had a voice of its own, it would have cried everyday; if it had a life, it would have tried killing me several times; if it had legs, it would have crossed the seven seas and would have never appeared in front of me.

Every time I get a new mobile, my folks at home would ask me as to when I would be buying the next one. My mom even compares my mobile usage to that old proverb of monkeys and garlands. Well, you cant blame anyone; 7 mobiles in 9 years, that’s one helluva record, isn’t it?

((going into flashback mode))

Nokia 3210 (Dec 2000 – Apr 2002)

My first mobile, got it way back in dec 2000 when I went to meet my dad who was in the ‘gelf’. I was doing my graduation then and was this kind of person who never bothered to inform my mom when late and so my dad got it for me so that I could be easily traced. I was so excited carrying a mobile because those days, having one was more like a status symbol; I was a total show off and carried it even to the roadside shops !

The handset was heavy, but sturdy and with the amount of times it fell from my hand, I could easily call it indestructible. Easily, one of the best handsets from Nokia and also one of the best handsets I ever had.

Nokia 9210 Communicator(May 2002 – Nov 2003)

My soooper dad had received this handset as a gift from his work place and passed it to me. Usually, my bro enjoys such privileges, but didn’t want to ‘carry’ this brick replica and was happy with his 8210. (But I now wonder what I did to that 3210?? Where or whom did I leave it with ???)

I began using this piece in 2002, it costed 50k during those days and I was easily the center of attraction during my post graduation. No one called it a communicator though, they were happy referring it as a ‘senkal’ (brick). It was so heavy and huge that while having in it my shirt pocket, my shirt used to look like one of those over crowded public buses slanting to a particular side. It had all the features of a notebook and this was probably one of the very few color phones those days. The applications in it were awesome, and it also had programs like word, excel and power point. And guess what, some of my classmates used the word application for cheating in the exams (psst psst… my brother would be reading this, so I cant mention my name). The brick was notoriously famous for one more reason. It had a game named Bounce (a game with a small ball that you are supposed to guide through to different levels) and most of them in my class were addicted to that. The best part is that they would want to play with it only during the lectures and each time, they asked me for the mobile they would say, “ Vimal, pass your mobile; we want to play with your balls”. I am not kidding, EVEN THE GIRLS !!!

Theres another incident that I can never forget. In 2003, the cricket world cup was going on, and I was in this hotel room trying to make my final check out when an attendant came in to help. I left the phone on the bed and just when I was about to leave the room, he said, “ Sir, you forgot your transistor !!! ” I looked at him not knowing if I should go through the pains of explaining him what it actually was.

The mobile started acting crazy after a while and in my attempts to make it work during crisis situations, I managed to break it into two. Though my dad got it repaired later on, it was never the same old brick…errr…communicator.

Nokia 8210 (Oct 2003 – Feb 2004)

This was my bros handset and I got it from him when he had to leave for one of his onsite. Used it for a few months and one fine day, while fiddling with the mobile inside a toilet, fell from my hands into a bucket (which was obviously filled). It did work after that, but in a few days time, it had issues with its display and later on the handset decided not to work anymore !

To be honest, I never liked this handset for the simple reason that it was too small for me to handle ( it was smaller than my palm) and I used it only for like 4 months or so.

Sony Ericsson T630 (Feb 2004 – Nov 2005)

Dad was still abroad and in Jan 2004, I had asked him to get a Nokia 6600, which was a craze back then or any other Nokia phone that had a large display. But my dad got me this handset of Sony Ericsson after a lot of research and you cant imagine how mad I was at him!! Sony mobiles didn’t have a good reputation then and no one even carried one. Moreover, I badly wanted that 6600 !

But to my surprise, this has remained my favourite handset till date. The sound output was too good, wonderful picture quality and I started composing songs with the Music DJ software that it had. It was handy, light and was a perfect entertainer in all sense. The only issue I had was with the backup of the battery. Sony Ericsson phones till date have this issue and I wonder why their engineers never rectified it. Anyway, I am still glad to have got introduced to the Sony Ericsson family; Thank you dad. You always knew whats best for me!! It was a forever bye bye to the Nokia and the other handsets. Its going to be only Sony Ericsson from now on.

Every good thing needs to end; Chennai received one of the heaviest rainfalls in Nov 2005 and my T630 got drenched completely on my way back home from office. It did work, but showed signs of discomfort. I had to get another mobile before I lose all my compositions and so……

Sony Ericsson W550 (Nov 2005 – Aug 2007)

I happened to witness the launch of this handset when I had been to Singapore for a short visit and ever since that I wanted to catch hold of it. My issues with S.E. T630 and the launch of this phone in India happened almost at the same time. Exchanged my older one and bought this which apparently is the first mobile that I had used my own wallet for. I still remember the excitement that I had while using this phone though a lot of my friends (and as usual family) commented on how much I spent on it. No other Sony phone till date has matched the sound clarity and output of this phone; the best ever in the Walkman series! Stayed with me for a very long period and I am indebted to this mobile for being the only source of relief during the worst phase of my life.

This phone too got wet and went haywire; the stupid that I am, picked up a call while taking a shower! Thaaaats right !! However, it was just a few keys that weren’t working and also the mobile would get charged only when it was switched off. I so loved this phone that I kept using it with the issues it had for nearly 6 months until I realized it was time to move on!

Sony Ericsson W610 (Aug 2007 – April 2009)

The silliest and the worst mobile I ever had. I admit, purchasing this was one of the biggest electronic mistake I ever did. Well, all those ‘Charging Alien Battery’ and automatic headset mode were from this phone! And this time, all that trouble it gave me was for no ‘wet’ fault of mine. The handset was an insult to the Walkman series as it had the worst sound output ! Theres nothing good to talk about this phone. Oh yeah, it was thin and that’s it !

((to the present scenario))

Sony Ericsson W595 (June 2009 )

Got this one just a few days back. The sound output is good and so are the features. The new version of the Walkman is cool and much more user friendly. So far so good and now lets see how long this garland is gonna last with the monkey :D. Also I hope to continue this series in a year or two. LOL!

PS : Literal translation of the title tagline – Garlands in the hand of a monkey !