


I have a very nostalgic memory of the Nokia 9210 Communicator. It was strange in many aspects: it was always referred to as a ‘brick’ for its size, with full Qwerty keyboard and the little foldable antenna. I hated it at first as it was huge for my hands but quickly got very fond of its functionalities, which was definitely a novelty at the time. When I started to work on a project to build a very first prototype of what had become later ‘Nokia Lifeblog’, Nokia 9210 Communicator became very close to me. As I was designing the prototype, I had to install numerous development versions of the prototype over a few months. When you work as designer for a prototype application as proof of concept, you get to know more than you ever want to know about the phone. Even as my Nokia 9210 Communicator was aging, it continued to serve as data collection centre for pilot studies I ran with various concept prototype applications for a couple of more years. I never tested the maximum limit, but the device stored at least five thousand text messages containing application usage log data. I am quite sure that device will survive the rubbles and tumbles over time, will eventually be discovered by future archaeologists excavating the world we live in today, and serve as important evidence of human life on earth. Nokia 9210 Communicator does have that kind of robustness around it, making its nickname ‘brick’ actually quite cute.

I have been often asked what my favourite Nokia phone is, but there is no easy answer. Symbian operating system came out in the world embodied in the Nokia 7650. Since then, I have been always using one of the contemporary Symbian phones with an average changing cycle of six months or so. I have a very vivid, enjoyable memory of Nokia 7650. It was one of the very first phones with an embedded camera and Bluetooth. For my work, it was really exciting to have a camera phone: it marked the start of an era when mobile phone was no longer just a communication device. I have handled and set up dozens of Nokia 7650s for running the pilot studies of experimental applications, including early concept prototypes of what later became Nokia Sensor application.

On my research trips, I get to see many Nokia phones living their lives with other people even though I personally never used their sibling models. Most impressive are our entry range phones, especially the Nokia 3310 and its family surviving years of use by their affectionate owners, regardless of the fact that their keypads may be completely worn out.
Younghee Jung works in Nokia’s design team. Check out Younghee’s blog.