June 29, 2010
By Donovan Jackson

Whether you use one today or not, the chances are awfully good that at some stage in your cellular life, you had a Nokia phone. The first one could call my own was a Nokia 6110 given to me by my brother. He had already upgraded to a newer model, so even at that point, the phone was old.

However, it was perfect. Robust enough to take the knocks dished out to it by someone like me, who was constantly dropping it. Small enough to fit into my front pocket in a mostly comfortable way. And fashionable enough that it didn’t look like the hideous bricks of a few years previously.

Sadly, my 6110 went to the great cell phone factory in the sky when I dropped it once too often, the final time being into a rather deep puddle. Robust it may have been, but waterproof it was not.

Nonetheless, it was in my mind, the perfect combination of form and function. I have always likened it to the VW Beetle. Perhaps it is a subconscious thing, as my first ever car was a Beetle.

The thing about the 6110, just like the Beetle, is that it may not have been the prettiest or the coolest, but it never let you down. It always did the job required of it, with minimum fuss. It helped you out of tight spots on numerous occasions. And it could take the odd knock without needing a specialist to repair it.

Everyone who has ever owned or driven a Beetle will always remember it with fondness. For me, this selfsame level of nostalgia extends to the old 6110. It wouldn’t be suitable in our fast-paced, always connected world, just as a Beetle doesn’t hold up against modern vehicles. However, there will always be something wholesome and pure about it that today’s technology simply cannot match.

After that 6110, I’ve gone on to own many Nokia models down the years. Sure, there has been the occasional misfire (the 7110 springs to mind), but in general they have done all I have asked of them and more. Each model has remained in good working order, despite plummeting to the ground with annoying regularity.

Today I can impress my friends who delight in fancy gadgets with all the tricks on my latest greatest cellphone. Sometimes I even impress myself. But much like my first VW Beetle, nothing will ever come close to the simple, solid beauty and functionality of my old 6110.