(The name comes from a certain phrase uttered by Steve Jobs during his iPhone keynote, later remixed into a dance track. No, really.)

• Nokia 8860
• Nokia 8260 (2 different ones)
• Sony Ericsson T68
• Audiovox VOX 8610
• Panasonic TX320
• Motorola C337
• LG 1010
• LG LX325
• LG 1100
• LG LX1200
• Kyocera Slider
• Nokia 3586i
• RIM Blackberry 6710
• RIM Blackberry 7230
• Motorola RAZR V3 (2 different ones)
• Motorola ROKR
• LG 5225
• Nokia 6030
• Nokia 6682 (2 of these)
• Samsung SYNC
• Samsung Wafer
• Apple iPhone

This list sadly only covers an 8 year period, and while it represents all major bands (TDMA, CDMA, GSM) on all major national U.S. carriers (AT&T Wireless, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, T-Mobile, Cingular, Alltel, and AT&T Mobility), there are very few phones on this list that I enjoyed.

Of those 22 phone models, there were 3 I was excited to get: the original Nokia 8860, the original Moto RAZR V3, and Apple’s iPhone. The allure of the RAZR wore off after a few months of living with the software - the physical device was fine, but the software took a lot of getting used to. Power management issues were the nail in this phone’s coffin; you could put a perfectly fine battery in one of them and get only a few minutes of use. The shape and form of the RAZR remains great, however, which is why it’s still out there.

I have nothing but good things to say about the Nokia 8860, 8260, and 6030; these are all small bar phones with decent to great battery life and great reception. The 8860 was years ahead of its time (and had the price tag to match.) I loved it.

Surprisingly, the 6682 was a good smartphone (if somewhat unwieldy and cumbersome) but it had a nasty habit of rejecting SIM cards and failing in the middle of trips. It actually turned out to be one of the worst phones I’ve used for precisely this reason.

The ROKR holds the distinction of being the worst phone I’ve used. Poor interface, poor reception, poor battery life; oi. This poor, poor phone. (Maybe I got a lemon, but I don’t hear anyone raving about this phone.)

The Panasonic and LG 5225 were also good phones, and most of the rest were fair to middling: adequate tools for the job, but not something I’d say you must go out and buy. I don’t think I’ll reminisce about any of them like I do the Nokia 8860/8260s.

Why am I telling you all this? Two reasons.

First, I boxed up most of these today and am sending them off to a cell phone recycling center. It feels good to jettison the clutter.

Second, when I say that iPhone is the nicest, most well-designed phone that I’ve ever owned, you have the proper context.

Yes: I'm giving Twitter another try to see if I can figure out why it's become so damn popular. It doesn't make much sense to me when I'm at home, but the more I'm out and about I start to seewhy folks like it. I'm also trying to understand the appeal of many other mobile doodads, but this one seems like the best place to start.

Frankly, I don't get the appeal of a lot of the mobile services out there; I look at them and ask, "why do I need this in my life?" without ever getting a satisfactory answer. Perhaps I haven't found the right situation to let their utility shine through.

(Or, maybe, they're simply not useful. That remains a real possibility.)

Seriously. I can’t make this stuff up.

(Via this photo on Flickr.)

The more things change...

Cingular having US-wide network problems?

Taking the logo off the front:

1. create your replacement graphic file (96x80x8 gif).
2. download and install p2kman: http://anton.tbg.ru/files/p2kman.zip
3. unzip program
4. plug in the v3 via USB cable. open the flip.
5. install the drivers in the drv directory.
6. start p2kman.
7. backup the files in the system folder.
8. cl.gif is your target. replace it with your new graphic.

Once the connection is established with the phone, replacing the branded icons is pretty easy. Grab some replacement files and drop them in the system folder.

And there you have it.]]> 2874@http://brettpeters.org/log/ Brett Peters Wireless Log 2005-03-18T21:24:15-05:00 http://brettpeters.org/log/2005/03/17/new-shiny-phone.html#2873 New, shiny phone! You know what that means - time to hack the photos.

T-Mobile, which apparently knew of the intrusions by July of last year, has not issued any public warning. Under California's anti-identity theft law "SB1386," the company is obliged to notify any California customers of a security breach in which their personally identifiable information is "reasonably believed to have been" compromised. That notification must be made in "the most expedient time possible and without unreasonable delay," but may be postponed if a law enforcement agency determines that the disclosure would compromise an investigation.

Want to feel old? A survey of a middle, high school, and college students in South Korea found that over two-thirds of students there rarely or never use email and supposedly young people are starting to think of email as something overly formal that you use only for business purposes or to communicate with your less tech savvy parents or grandparents who are still stuck in the Nineties (when email was king). For them it's all about text and instant messaging, and by comparison, even email seems like an incredibly slow way to communicate. Do they even have postal service in Korea anymore?