According to an article in VentureBeat, the iconic Nokia 3310 is set to make a return. The 3310 is well known for its near indestructible design, so much so that it even became a meme. Here’s one example:
With growing concerns about digital privacy and security, perhaps the low-cost simplified mobile phone will see a resurgence? In any case, it would be a nice addition for collectors and would surely earn a place in the display cabinet alongside the Vectrex and bright yellow walkman.
If you have a favourite piece of electronic nostalgia, feel free to share it in the comments below.
It’ll be like a scene from one of those vampire movies - workers excavate a sealed crypt that’s been buried under thousands of tonnes of rubble for hundreds of years - they pry open the door, and are met with the blood curdling, ethereal beeping of a still fully charged 3310 that’s now freed from it’s tomb and has again started receiving SMSes.
In my collection of electronica, I still have my sister’s first mobile phone, a Motorola Micro TAC. It accepts a standard SIM card - the same size as a credit card. With the optional, higher capacity Talk-Pak battery fitted, it doubles as a mini dumbbell. It’s similar to the one in the top of the image below.
Excellent, what a gem! I remember the first ‘mobile phone’ I came across came in a briefcase much like a satellite phone. I think it was a Motorola 2950, but can’t be sure.
The 3310 was an all-time classic, arguably the best phone ever made. I regularly used to get 5 days out of a charge. I still have a couple that I bought for a trip to the UK before smartphones became de rigeur.
I worked in telecommunications, and started carrying mobile phones as soon as they became available, after the luggables. I remember carrying those Motorola brick sized phones that were so big they kept bruising my ribs.
I had a whole lot of old phones that took up space, and we’re trying to cut down on all the clutter we had. I wasn’t aware that they held any value
Hope it has a LI-ion battery rather than the Ni-Cd they originally came with. I had one for work but after frequent use the battery slowly died (from memory from about 9 months of discharge and charging).
It would be easier to make smart phones more robust and more like the old bricks.
I’ve got a nokia phone, have had it for years, it’s one of those one’s that the top slides up, I’v lost count on how many times I’v dropped it, and it’s still working, I don’t care if it looks old fashioned, it’s the best phone I’ve had.
It is cheap, but from the article it won’t be a smartphone. If I interpreted the paragraph below correctly, it will just be a basic phone with SMS, like the original.
“If you’re hoping the 3310 will get an updated look or smartphone-style capabilities, you’ll probably be disappointed. All reports surfacing seem to indicate that it will be a feature phone rather than any sort of smartphone. It might not even run Android.”
Speaking from a personal point of view here, I’d be pretty happy with it being ‘just a phone’ too. Rather than packing an expensive smartphone into the backpack when getting out and about, it would be nice to have $65 piece of nostalgia that could keep me in contact if needed (and without the social media updates).