Cell Collector
Do you keep your old cell phone? I never thought about my old handsets until just recently. A friend of mine who lives in Brooklyn hosted a party last weekend that broadened my view on what is and isn’t a collectible. I would never have thought of old cells as a collector’s item, yet my friend has a whole room devoted to the history of the cell in the past thirty years.
I’m a huge fan of the BBC and my experience in Brooklyn got me browsing on their news website – I would use Fox News, but considering their recent track record in phone hacking it’s harder to trust them then ever. One item caught my eye that was published just last year. In the UK alone 85 million cells have been discarded rather then traded in for cash! I dread to think how many more have been dumped across the US. With so many people just casually trashing their cell when they get a new one, my friend in Brooklyn may be onto something with his collection. What isn’t valuable now may be priceless in 20 years time.
The history of the cell phone is a lot more interesting then I would ever have given it credit for. From the first brick sized cells in the 80s all the way up to the latest Smartphone’s we use today, the cell has become inextricably linked to culture across the globe. I would go so far as to say it is the one thing more then anything else that humanity has in common. Politics, race, religion…none of it comes close to the impact of the cell phone.
My friend in Brooklyn says it was a couple of years ago when he started collecting old cells. When I asked him why, he said it just seemed a shame that not many people were tracking a piece of history that underneath the surface has been one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs. His collection ranges from the first commercial operators and handsets all the way up to the first use of sharing networks from country to country. He has even identified some of the best tariffs available for accessing the internet over your phone when at home and abroad. Websites from www.abroadband.com to www.nokia.com are all arranged neatly in both order of price and date first formed. He even has some of the very first cell ads saved on his computer as part of the collection.
A lot of people who have visited my friend’s apartment have generally viewed his cell collection as a little quirk that they can forgive. Personally I found their comments trite illustrating a lack of understanding. My friend may have his quirks, but so do many of us. Collecting cell phones isn’t as strange as it sounds and in another twenty years all those people who threw out their old phones may come to regret their decision. As always, what seems worthless now may be priceless in the future.
Similar Posts:
WOW – Why Popular? : I am a fan of the online game World of…
Social Gaming – Not So Attractive : My friends and relatives…
Comments are closed!