New mobile phones are awesome little machines. It has been surreal seeing them transform from portable landline to handheld computers that have shaped our world. The problem is that I’m poor so I’ve resisted buying one since they are so expensive to obtain but more importantly maintain.
My poverty has not changed for the better over the years but I did break down in July of this year (2024) and got one. The breaking point came for me when everything required having 2 factor authentication and that requires receiving a SMS text message (something a traditional landline is unable to do). I found myself unable to function normally and realized it was hurting me not having a mobile phone.
These concerns were voiced with my mom and she graciously gave me her disused and dust covered Nokia 3310 (2017). The battery was bloated and dead but an aftermarket one for $17 on Amazon gave it life anew. I coupled that with the cheapest prepaid/pay as you go plan I could find and thought I was finally done catching up to the modern world.
And as it turns out the Nokia 3310 (2017) is what is now referred to as a “Feature Phone”. My mom and I had been jokingly referring to it as a dumb phone for years but feature phone sounds much better to my pride. Feature phones for those that are unaware are phones considered basic or bare necessities. They can’t do any of the things that modern devices can but are simply there to receive phone calls and text messages. It turns out that all the features available to us today with modern smart phones can make people addicted or feel overwhelmed. As such a market has developed for simple devices that these people can use to help them conquer these problems. I think the Nokia 3310 (2017) is a fine phone in this regard and I plan on giving it a more thorough review later on.
The problem is that a Nokia 3310 (2017) is a 3G only device. Of course I had absolutely no idea what that meant at the time but there are apparently wireless bands that telecommunication companies use to provide service to their customers. 3G is considered the old standard whereas 5G is the one being used in Canada now (a newer and better standard apparently). Unbeknownst and unfortunately for me my carrier is sunsetting their 3G service in March of 2025 and will no longer be supporting devices in the 3G band by the end of that month. Nor will any other Canadian carriers be supporting it either.
That means in essence that in a few months time my new phone will basically be a brick. Wonderful.
CatsGamesWhatever 