1 Sep: Nokia’s Beloved Brick
The Nokia 3310 – featuring Snake II, pop-on/off covers, and a discreetly concealed antenna – was launched on 1st September, 2000 at a boardsports event in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Popularly nicknamed ‘the brick’, the handset went on to shift 126 million units— more than 20 times as many as the first-generation iPhone.
In this episode, Olly, Rebecca and Arion marvel at a time when only 50% of people in the US had a phone in their pockets; rack their brains to recall OTHER games that were bundled on the handset alongside Snake II; and wonder if the nostalgia for this phone says more about the gadget itself, or the era it represents…
Further Reading:
• ‘The Indestructible Phone’ (LGR, 2017):
• Nokia’s press release for the launch (2000). Which doesn’t mention the phone at all: https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2000/08/16/1845367/0/en/Don-t-be-bored-Be-totally-board.html
• ‘The Nokia 3310 just turned 20 years old – here’s what made it special’ (TechRadar, 2020): https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/the-nokia-3310-just-turned-20-years-old-heres-what-made-it-special