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Phones get a beating. Yup. What’s your story?
By Charlie on 16 October 2008
ESPOO, Finland - I switch phones frequently. But it’s not because I get a new shiny-shiny every six months. Most of the time it’s because I am brutal with my phones. Dings, cracks, scratches, broken tines, and so on, accelerate the day I need to pass on to a new device.
I used to be careful, but upon scratching my N73 (when doing something stupid with it, of course), I thought the damage added distinction and personality, so I don’t mind, so long as the damage does not get in the way of using the device.
A story
Oh, I have loads. From getting my N95 crushed in the car door, to my N81 (pictured) constantly falling out of the hole in my back pocket (caused, indeed by the phones themselves), to watching how phones just don’t last with pre-teens.
I even got a story of a guy in Chandigarh, India who dropped his Nokia 3250 in a lake and patiently nursed it back to full working condition.
Wow.
Your story
I do not think I’ve seen all the possible ways people have mangled, damaged, modified, or added ‘character’ (on purpose or by accident) to their phone.
So, why don’t you tell me and amaze me. Try to avoid friend of a friend stories. I really want to hear from you, since I know that each one of us have at least one unbelievable story on how we abuse our little friends, our trusty mobile phones. And kudos to those of you who actually managed to resurrect your devices.
Shoot away!
By the way, I’ve retired the N81 (in the picture) and now am using an N85 that is trembling with fear of what I will do with it. What it doesn’t know is that I have a Nokia 1209 on order that I want to use, but that’s a story for another day.
Related posts:
- The story behind the Arte
- I have too many phones, identify and comment
- Why don’t they make phones like these?
Tags | damage, phone, story, wear and tear
October 16th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Egads Charlie you sure have heard a lot of things from India lol.
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October 16th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Mostly I have scratched screens, but you reminded me of a funny thing with my N95.
After having a 3250 for 2 yrs, I got a 2nd hand N95-1 in April this year (yes, late to the party, I know, but i’m an unemployed student, and the Blogger Relations program is USA-only, damn you!), anyhow, when I got it, the slider was wobbly as HELL but I didn’t do a thing about it.
So, 3rd day into the N95, I decide to try that tilt photography or shift photography or whatever concept (remember N82 urbanista diaries? the last guy introduced that method). So I stand next to the bed (we need protection in case of a fall) start the camera, press the shutter and throw my n95 in the air. 1st time, pic is too late. 2nd time, pic is too early. 3rd time, BANG, missed the bed, N95 falls on the floor, rolls over. It’s a HUGE fall, from almost 3m high, and considering that I had thrown it in the air, the fall acceleration was even more important than if I dropped it from 3m high. So I run to it with panic: keypad and the bottom of the slider is ok. But things get messy, everything else is detached and lying somewhere on the floor: screen, screen top cover, screen bottom cover, earpiece, front camera, d-pad area, battery, battery cover and 4 small screws. I was speechless. I took all the pieces, put them in front of me, and quickly tried to solve the puzzle. Each piece in its place, connected, battery, reboot. It WORKS! It’s a miracle! The slider though is still wobbly, I take some quick glue, remove the screws, glue the two parts of the top slider cover together, put back the screws just for security. Result: the slider is slightly better, but still too damn wobbly.
Conclusion: this is one of the reasons I loved Nokia in the first place, back in 2003. I don’t believe any other manufacturer knows how to make a device that would endure this fall and still rise from the dead. So thank you for not making me waste my 350$ investment
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October 16th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
This is a great story, and I think it is interesting what people do with their phones..
Heres my story:
I once had a guy come to me and ask me to repair his Nokia 3330(way back when).
This is not unusual, as it is part of my job.
The man said to me, in a english farmer accent, “My phone seems to have stopped working, the buttons no longer work and i cant hear anything through the speaker.”
I took the phone, looked at it and noticed the white cover had a strange colour to it, almost beige.
I asked the man when did he notice these problems, and he replied, “Well… It was after I removed it from a cow”
I was astonished..
It sounded unbelievable, as i’m sure it does now, but he assured me it was the truth.
He was a farmer, and a few nights before he appeared in front of me with his faulty handset, had been in the barn with one of his cows.
He was tending to the needs of his pregnant cow, but for some reason made a phone call and during this call the cow needed urgent attention and without thinking about it, plunged his hand in to assist the distressed cow, forgetting about his phone.
I got the phone working as good as new, and he was a happy farmer.
I will never forget that story.
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October 16th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Unbelievable stories you shared Rita, N Adam, that was hell of a story. Im sure you have more so spit them all here… lol
Hey Cj, tell us your story too. No leaving like this.
Here is My Story:
i had my n91 for sometime now and me any my buddy J were wrooming on a scooter. i was talking on my cell and after the call ended i kept it in my shirt pocket.
next there came a traffic signal in which was red, but J tried to squeeze through the traffic and jump the light, you know how young blood is.
unfortunately we banged into a rikshaw and i went straight to the ground and so did my fone in front of my eyes, which pop-corned disassembled onto the ground.
well we all were okay and we had a little verbal exchange of some hard words like ****** and **** **. i quickly went to pick the poor pieces praying please god no scratches… but DANG, the front panel was beautifully scratched and so was the corner bumped which had first hit the ground.
But as Nokias are known for their durability this too was exception and i saw the hands coming together when i switched it on.
… i still have the phone with me and it still is beautifully scratched and guess what i kind of like it. the scratch gave it a distinct look…(like charlie)
tachu..
Ani
PS.
we were not DRUNK….
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October 17th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Some abuse never shows. I never bashed, crashed, drowned any of my phones. They are well cared for, wel protected in full covering leather cases for the occasional bump or drop. All are nearly fully scratch free. Gently handled, regularly updated, polished and cared for. They are fed the finest software for betalabs. They are kept from all harm, only asked to performe their tasks diligently. so diligently
Still I sent already two N95 to the Nokia Care Center. They were overworked, overwrought, overplayed, overrecorded, overwebbrowsed and overnavigated. Imagine a phone requiring the equivalance of more than 5 battery charges from your battpack and carcharger each day during your vacation and each weekend.
At some point they give up, you know. They start showing pretty rainbowsprinkels on your display instead of the GUI. Still, I care so I try to revive them by caring. But at some point the screen stays dark, forever…
Now I am kindly awaiting for a third N95 IMEI number. I guess this time I’ll sell the replacement N95 to more caring people. People who only make superficial scratches… Scratches that don’t kill a phones soul
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October 17th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
The not so economical lifespan of a mobile smartphone
Nokia Conversations has a nice post about the beatings your phone gets, wear and tear of misuse and abuse. Sometimes ending the lifespan of your phone abruptly. Or remarkable stories of people reviving their phone through extraordinair care after it
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October 17th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I got mine run over by an APC while on national guard duty. Granted, it was in a sidepocket of a backpack that got run over, but still. Not much left of anything in that backpack. The phone was completly crushed, glass, plastic, circuitry.
‘Twas expensive, cause I had to replace both phone and gear…
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October 25th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I have a nokia phone (Nokia6280). Of which i’ve been using it with a 512MB memory card. I wanted to use a 4GB memory card, then i decided to buy a 1GB memory card first. When i bought the new memory card(1GB), it (the phone) doesn’t recognize the card. Does that mean that the phone can not carry up to 1GB or the memory card is bad? And i still want to know if it will carry up to 4GB. Thanks from Wisdom( Nigeria )
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