Evolution of cellphones

When the cell phone was first released, despite its simplicity, it was considered a luxury. We all remember those days — pang mayaman lang. It came in a single color, thick and heavy as a brick with a size reaching from ear to collarbone. Nonetheless, it served its purpose, acting as a very convenient means for communication, replacing the now-extinct beeper in all its clunky glory.

But as people discovered its usefulness, the popularity of the cell phone began to soar. Soon enough, what used to be a minority in terms of owning such a fancy gadget soon became the majority, as people from all walks of life realized its transformation into a true necessity. Just look around and you’ll realize how dependent society is on text messaging.

Keeping up with the fast-paced modern industry, big-time technology moguls in Finland, Japan and Korea changed our perception of its practicality, transforming the cell phone into a fashion statement. With the implementation of multifunctional features such as a camera, an MP3 and video player and FM radio, to name a few, the cell phone became much more than a communication device, and transcended into something worth showing off to officemates and barkada.

The cell phone has surely gone a long way in its evolution. It seems that as the century progresses, phones are getting smaller and smaller, the features more complex, and the dimensions, sleeker. But naturally, the quirks come with a price. One that insists on becoming steeper and steeper, as long as it succeeds in wooing you.

Just the other day, while my visiting 19-year-old niece and I were watching TV, we came across a commercial that involved hip teens in a metropolitan setting, with the blare of rock music in the background. The silhouettes danced to the beat as the vibrant fusions of colors and patterns twisted and throbbed with zest. Pleasant to the senses, I thought it was an advertisement for a fashion line. It turned out to be an endorsement for a new string of mobile phones. It then  dawned on me that it’s all about branding. The cash we are willing to shed is put into the trademark, the thrill of being part of the trend. We are purchasing conformity. Distracted in this hopeless infatuation, we tend to forget the real reason we are buying the device in the first place.

My niece seemed to agree with me. I had always admired her spunky spontaneity. She has, after all, excellent leadership skills and an admirable uniqueness about her (probably runs in the family, hahaha). When her friends joined cheerleading, she did karate, eventually reaching black-belt status. And when she was told she had a mild case of dyslexia, she refused to be limited by it, and determinedly pushed through reading poetry and literature until her ailment subsided.

“Tita, let me show you our a cappella group,” she told me, pulling her cell phone out of her bag. Hay naku, I thought, this girl is a renaissance woman. I noticed she had a rather unique mobile unit which had an elegant, high-tech luster about it, with exceptional sound and display quality. I could not determine what brand it was. I later learned it was something called a Konka T808. 

Intrigued, I asked her how she had gone about choosing a relatively unknown (at least to me) brand amidst the variety of big-name phones in the market. After all, in the modern world, it’s easy to be swayed by the temptation of joining the bandwagon.

“Tita, it’s common sense: high technology for a low price,” she smiled. “And of course, I want something different from what everyone else has.” Somehow, I knew this would factor in.

The Konka T808, as I found, is a hidden gem. It’s made by China’s leading consumer electronics manufacturer, and was reportedly sold out in less than a month after it was first introduced.  PDA-like with its 3G and Bluetooth capable functions, this high-end gadget has an outstanding 3.0 inch QVGA screen, to fully appreciate the pictures taken with the 2.0 mega pixel built-in camera (Whew! Do I sound like a “techie” yet?).

More impressively, the unit receives crystal clear reception of free-TV channels, which is a service that comes free of network charges. Yes, on top of everything else, this affordable device also operates as a mini-portable television.

There are other newly released models by Konka, all aimed at catering to different tastes and personalities.

We could all take a lesson and step back from the chaos, be a little smarter, a little bolder with our choices. Technology may constantly be on upgrade, but that doesn’t mean we have to turn into robots, mechanically following what advertisements dictate on us. It’s probably about time we find ourselves in a society of non-conformists, at least as far as cell phones are concerned.