Okay, so there's being frugal, and then there's this guy. He's had his trusty Nokia since 2005, and apparently, has been kicking it just fine all these years; that is, until he got this message from AT&T:
"AT&T Free Msg: Thank you for choosing AT&T! We appreciate your business. Due to planned network upgrades your device will no longer work on the AT&T network after December 2016. To avoid service disruption upgrade to a 3G or 4G LTE device as soon as possible."
Marty Cooper is credited as one of the original inventors of the cell phone. Today we laugh at that relic held up to his face, but one day, we'll look back fondly on our iPhone and Galaxy smartphones and wonder how anyone suffered through with such archaic monstrosities.
In the meantime, imagine these words being spit and gummed by a gramps with no teeth:
I remember when cell phones made phone calls and you had to type text messages by tapping a number pad; you know, like this:
Tap-tap-tap..."F." Tap-tap..."U." Tap-tap-tap..."C." Tap-tap..."K." (space) Tap..."T." Tap-tap..."H." Tap-tap-tap..."I." Tap-tap-tap-tap..."S"
*Whew* Don't even get me started on how many taps it took to type lower case text or -- eek -- symbols!
Most of us upgrade and discard cell phones like they're disposable, populating our landfills with circuit boards, toxins and valuable copper.
But brainiacs like Professor John Rogers over at the University of Illinois are creating water soluble circuit boards that literally dissolve, which have both medical and consumer applications.
Ouch!
Nothing like being tech-shamed by a major carrier. They must have had a good laugh composing that message in the boardroom. I'd be curious to know how many other customers needed that gentle nudge. Personally, I think AT&T should just give the dude a free phone, I mean, he's more than earned the upgrade.Remember snake?
https://youtu.be/wr9r2_jVrHk?t=1 Yup, that old game. Jeez, it makes Space Invaders look cutting edge, and that arcade classic came out almost 30 years before Nokia's snake.One of the first cell phones
Marty Cooper is credited as one of the original inventors of the cell phone. Today we laugh at that relic held up to his face, but one day, we'll look back fondly on our iPhone and Galaxy smartphones and wonder how anyone suffered through with such archaic monstrosities.
In the meantime, imagine these words being spit and gummed by a gramps with no teeth:
I remember when cell phones made phone calls and you had to type text messages by tapping a number pad; you know, like this:
Tap-tap-tap..."F." Tap-tap..."U." Tap-tap-tap..."C." Tap-tap..."K." (space) Tap..."T." Tap-tap..."H." Tap-tap-tap..."I." Tap-tap-tap-tap..."S"
*Whew* Don't even get me started on how many taps it took to type lower case text or -- eek -- symbols!
What's Next: The land of misfit toys goes high tech
Most of us upgrade and discard cell phones like they're disposable, populating our landfills with circuit boards, toxins and valuable copper.
But brainiacs like Professor John Rogers over at the University of Illinois are creating water soluble circuit boards that literally dissolve, which have both medical and consumer applications.