Remember Nokia 3310? It was the most user friendly phone in India back in 1999. I had purchased one in 2000 (Rs 5500 then! About $115) and it’s still in service! It has never been repaired and I have replaced the battery just twice. What more can you expect from such a low end phone?
I was reading about China’s Electronic Waste Village from a Yahoo Group Ritemail when I realized that, by not throwing away the phone, I was helping the world stay Green. Here is a snap from the Waste Village.
Disassembling Old Mobiles @ China's Electronic Waste Village
The village is unclean and the living conditions are pathetic. The problem of e-waste is very relevant and mobile manufacturers have already started making fully degradable gadgets. But what do we do with those already existing phones? Before you think of throwing away that old phone of yours, here are some suggestions.
Putting Old Mobile Phones into Good Use
Mod the phone and give it a facelift!
This is what I did with my Nokia 3310. I managed to get a funky case for the phone (see image, it’s a real photo!). The best part is that, every time someone sees my phone, they want to know where I got the case. It gets more attention than the Nokia 7610 I have.
Low end Phones are Secure
No phishing, No Virus alert and nothing to worry about. If you don’t use your phone for on-the-move emails or tweeting, then get that low end model from your closet and stay away loss of data, and loss of peace-of-mind.
Who wish to steal my Nokia 3310?
The phone has no resale value, you can’t sell it to anyone, and then who will steal it? So if you are traveling in a fully packed train, you should consider that cheap phone instead of your BlackBerry.
Use it as a Standby Phone
Even an iPhone can stop working at some point of time. Think of missing that important Valentines Day call? You don’t have to throw away the old phone, keep it as a standby phone. Remember to charge the battery once in a while to keep it healthy. Do you have a second mobile connection? Then I bet your old phone is already in service.
Nokia 3310 is good in coverage
This has been successfully tested in comparison with my Nokia 7610. 3310 could catch network signals when 7610 showed nothing.
Old is Gold
I adore my 3310 because it was the first mobile in the family. Back in 2000, not everyone in my neighborhood had a mobile phone, so it was a star in those days. After 5 or 10 years, many people wouldn’t have seen a Nokia 3310. So preserve it for your kids. Let them play with it!
More Ideas?
Do you have an old phone? What have you done with it? Share it here and yes, if you have images, send them to me. I will post them here 
13 Comments
Hey,
Good to know that I’m not the only one who’s using a 3310 to save the world! That said, I do have problems with the battery. I can only get around 3 days’ standby time (It’s a new battery, not genuine as they’re hard to come by in Sri Lanka).
Nice mod, try changing the LED’s to a white or ice blue colour. Coupling it with a transparent case will kick any other new phone’s ass!!!
In my opinion, a 3 day standby time is good on that battery, btw I dont believe in a genuine battery anymore, the battery I had in my Nokia 7610 started growing in size and I had to replace it with a local made battery, after which everything is allright!
I havent touched the hardware because I am afraid I will mess up with it. its my first phone and I cant afford to loose it. But the idea is cool, and its easy to get another Nokia 3310, will try that out sometime
I used to get 7-8 days’ standby time (!) with the BMC-3 battery (the “fat” battery type; again not genuine). Now I have the BLC-2 Li Ion (the “slim” type) that has given me nothing but trouble (it didn’t charge at first; then I read on the internet about resetting the software, so after pulling that off it charges, but the charge stays for 4 days only). I don’t want to mess up the hardware & stuff because it’s my first phone as well.
BTW what’s the battery type you’re using?
About the 3315, it’s got more features than our trusty 3310… but I don’t like the design (you can fit a 3310 housing onto it, however)
I am using the BLC-2 battery. Never tried the BMC-3 for this phone, and 7-8 days of backup is awesome. Then I dont have to carry around the charger when I travel. Well, take it like a vintage car, it takes more fuel, but its something unique and valuable..
Regarding the 3315, it was supposed to be a successor of 3310, but I dont think it came any close.
Cheers
What I did with my Nokia 1100 is to give to my homely housewife sister, who doesnt know much about mobiles. Made her learn how to answer and end the calls, and thats it.. Increased communication, and easily available.. Increase relations, and increase the love!!!
Well, thats another valid point, dont throw away your old phones, give it to someone who doesnt have a mobile and spread the spirit of LOVE. Kudos…
Great. You talked about something, that’s never regarded worth talking, but, actually IS.
Well, I personally owned the good old Nokia 3315 till sometime back. I love it. Ultra-simple interface and does the job !
I remember the Nokia 3315, with connected keys on the keypad and similar looks to the 3310. I had a Nokia 1100 back in 2002, I had to loose it too, but this one, its still in my pocket…
Glad that you liked the post…
I loved my old Nokia for all the same reasons you give above! I had it for about 7 years, it died recently and though my new Samsung seems fancy I miss the strength and reliability of the Nokia. My boyfriend still uses his old 3310 and the other day when he answered his phone in the street I noticed two boys about 12 years old staring at the phone, I could see them thinking “old school” and to my surprise they looked really approving. I have a feeling they are about to get popular as a retro item, and just as mine is about to be recycled too.
And seriously thanks for suggesting a way to recycle old phones, no phone should end up in the bin when there are so many ways of putting them to good use.
So sorry, My heart felt condolenses to your old nokia!
The same thing happens with my phone too, its a rock star! Maybe after, say 10 years, we wont have phones with keypad. All of them would be with full touch screens and when kids see our old phones, i think they will go crazy.
You are right, the same way we have vintage cars, we will have vintage and ‘old school’ phones someday!
hi…who can give me a free mobile phone..i dont have any cellular phone..pls..
The 3310 was the best mobile ever made, there’s still a lot that could be done with it. The small B/W LCD screen meant the battery would last a long time. My latest PDA phone has a large colour display and the battery runs out every day. The 3310 needed charging only once every 5 days.
There’s loads of extras that could be added to the firmware.
Here is a link to the modding page.
http://www.petervis.co.cc/Nokia%203310%20Customisation/customisation.html
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