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The Nokia is dead: We look back at the best of the Finnish brand’s phones from the last 30 years
It's been a long time coming but Microsoft has today killed the Nokia brand.
The software giant, which bought the Finnish mobile phone group for around £4.4bn last year, unveiled its low-end Lumia 535 smartphone this morning. Those in the know claim that dropping the name is part of a “lofty” strategy that will enable it to corner the entry-level part of the market, rather than go head-to-head with Apple et al at the top end.
According to uSwitch.com's “mobiles expert” Rob Kerr, “Microsoft is sending the message there's no room for nostalgia in the fast-moving mobile market”.
But we disagree.
For many (or at least, for those of a certain age), Nokia will have been your first mobile phone – perhaps even your second, third and fourth.
It was the brand that brought us our first phone-based game, and yes the graphics might not quite match up with those you get today, but I'm yet to find anything quite so addictive as Snake.
Here's some of the City A.M team's favourite Nokias – as well as some of the most iconic
Beloved by progressive City workers, the Nokia Cityman scored a huge coup when Mikhail Gorbachev was filmed using it in 1987.
"What do you mean which one is glasnost and which one is perestroika?" (Source: YouTube/YLE Teema)
It may look dated now, but back in 1999 The Matrix was about as cool as it got. So, therefore, was the phone they used. The 8110 came with a slidey case and a free Keanu attached.
"Uh… these slidey bits are going to age really badly, Morpheus dude" (Source: WarnerBros)
My personal favourite: the 3210. Because it was my first mobile phone, which means it is the phone that all future phones are judged against and found to be lacking. Also because I virtually got RSI from playing Snake. Also the 8250, which was basically just a smaller version, back when it was a race to create increasingly tiny phones.
Just…one…more…game (Source: Flickr)
Nokia was also the master of putting huge keyboards inside small phones
Nokia's evil plan to introduce fat finger dismorphia to the population worked too well (Source: Wikipedia)
The 9000 Communicator was first introduced in 1996 and despite looking like a police walkie talkie was voted top Nokia by at least two members of the City A.M digital team (yes, the digital team).
Back up! Back up! (Source: Wikipedia)