I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. The world of technology is fast-paced, everything is evolving and if you blink, you’re left behind and I’m not talking just about consumers. There were times where the tech innovations themselves got left behind.
Early 2010s was the time technology started evolving rapidly like Pokemon. Those were the years where phones were changing from keypads to touch screens. Obviously not every creation would survive. Some thrived while others were forgotten. If you owned any of these, congratulations! you are qualified for veteran discounts.
LG smartphones
It’s not that they were not a household name for smartphones but LG never made it to the top in smartphones manufacturing. Why? Because they produced too many models at the same time with little to nothing in terms of upgrades.
In 2014 ONLY, LG produced 44 models in hopes for profitability. How would anyone make a choice out of 44 models released in the same year!? We can’t even think to order Sundae or McFlurry at McDonald’s!
Somehow, the company’s new CEO has high hopes that LG Mobile will be profitable in 2021. It’s a tech world and no one can tell if they will or not. If they do, well bravo!
Nokia
Now from the top, make it drop! No, you don’t want to drop your Nokia phone, that would hurt your foot, or your floor. If you were a teenager in the 2000s, this bad boy was a considerably must-have for you.
People will usually remember Nokia for its long-lasting battery (longer than my past relationship) and for their durability. However, due to the massive production and current innovation made by other tech giants, Nokia started to lose its flame.
In case you were born after the year 2000 and your parents did not educate you enough, I’m talking about the Nokia 3310.
HTC
Shamelessly, I owned this phone when I was 14 and I felt like a hotshot back then. Who knew that in 8 years, no one would remember this phone.
HTC was one of the smartphone brands to feature Android. The story of their downfall is so long so we’ll save that for another article but right now, long story short; they couldn’t keep up with Samsung and other tech giants at the time.
The technology they had in their phones been utilised thoroughly for them to come up with other devices after their prime gone. I wish they still produce though because I would love to have one (read: I’m ashamed for owning a forgotten phone myself).
Motorola
Again, I’ve had this phone when I was 8 before it was tragically left inside my pocket and went inside the washing machine. Press F to pay respect.
Motorola still produces good devices but it’s no longer a household name. Retaining to their old-fashioned models, Motorola somehow still keeps to the current needs of smartphones. They always include new innovations in their new releases but somehow struggling.
Their compact size was the hype back then but nowadays, if your phone is small, it means your phone is cheap and less intriguing. See, listen to your customers!
Sony Ericsson Walkman
Picture Spotify as a smartphone and you will have your own Sony Ericsson Walkman. I think owed one back then which I used it merely for songs and texting my girlfriend via 10 cent per SMS.
Short history lesson here is basically this phone is a product from a conjoined company; Sony and Ericsson. They made sales, became commercial success and then failed. Why so? Many reasons but to name few: stability of the company and the failed marketing strategy. Needless to say, no innovations as the R&D process took forever to them.
But this phone is basically a phone with an iPod (another forgotten device). The keypads are MP3-modeled which was new back then. Admit it, the model is pretty. Never mind, let bygones be bygones.
Blackberry
Before the iPhone, there was Blackberry. For me, personally, owning one of these back then is equivalent to owning an iPhone now.
Blackberry made keyboard-phone fancy! But fancy is not enough to survive in the tech world, which leads to Blackberry’s downfall. Blackberry did not adapt to the changes of the world (Full-screen by Apple) thus leaving them behind while others are thriving.
The news worsen when the TCL’s partnership with Blackberry ended this year which caused them to be discontinued. They did mentioned that any affairs regarding warranty and maintenance will be entertained until 2022 and that’s that.
Things come and go. We as consumers now just buy whatever is being released and best fits our needs. Who knows which phones today could be forgotten in another 10 years. You can’t easily predict these things. All I can say now is: May the best phone win!
