Did You Do This Before Phones Were Boring?

[@skuly-dm2lp]

I miss the days when everyone tried to take a stock item and pimp it in some way from cars to game consoles.

[@greatestytcommentator]

@@skuly-dm2lp It happened with vapes 10 years ago too!

[@MartySulls]

I remember in the 90's. If your phone was next to the telly, you always know if there was a text message incoming a few seconds before the phone bleeped.

[@irreverend_]

I still have a phone which does that near the right kind of speaker, but I'm led to believe 2G and even 3G are going to be phased out. Now I find it difficult to believe 2G ever will be, it's surely a necessary longer range backup? But who knows

[@greatestytcommentator]

@@irreverend_ Already happened. I noticed when the WiFi on the bus stopped working.. and the car park meters stopped working.... That was 2 years ago at least.

[@irreverend_]

@@greatestytcommentator I guess they phased it out sooner in cities then? It seems like a bad idea not to leave a backup redundancy to me

[@greatestytcommentator]

@@irreverend_ yep, I agree. Our infrastructure is poor. I live out in the countryside.. 10 miles from a city though... One with a bent and bankrupt council 😂 (Aren't they all) But at least I got Cable installed out here in the middle of nowhere this year... First time I've had Fibre Optic internet in over 10 years!

[@irreverend_]

@@greatestytcommentator I live relatively remote, they just installed full fibre broadband here too, but I decided not to bother with it. I get 70mbps anyway. My 4G signal has diminished since mind you

[@MisterEightyFour]

SOMEBODY ANSWER THE PHONE. *RF interference on speakers*

[@sholtodepuma]

I have that on vinyl 😅

[@Matt.Willoughby]

You can still recreate that sound with a Bluetooth speaker and setting your phone network to 2G. If your phone doesn't have a 2G option try typing this *#***#4636**#*#* into your dialer and using the options to manually lock your phone onto 2G networks

[@timeflight]

Brilliant. I genuinely miss the 90s

[@greatestytcommentator]

I remember the joy of getting a phone with a CLOCK on it! LOL😅 Boy, I'm old

[@alexhajnal107]

That's about the time I stopped wearing a wrist watch.

[@bikeforever2016]

Or a torch! Oh the tech 🤣

[@Matt.Willoughby]

​@@alexhajnal107the OP had a wrist sundial 😂

[@AdamSWL]

It was just before everything got ruined and the music was just awesome. So much good music!

[@alexhajnal107]

@ There's is some good stuff coming out now, a lot of [hard] techno comes to mind. (Brutalismus 3000, a lot of the stuff on Hör, etc.)

[@ReallifeBambiDeerattheFarm1]

I had one of those. Got a antenna that lit up in all kinds of colors! So cool! I did customize it with white LEDs in the keypad. I miss those days.

[@volvo09]

@@ReallifeBambiDeerattheFarm1 i don't remember the model number, but the newer version of this Nokia "candy bar" phone with a color screen was my favorite phone. I remember buying one NOS on eBay and running it for a few years till I got a push to talk Nextel while I worked at a car dealer.

[@Scotscan]

And those were also the good old days of analogue voice channels. I remember scanning from 915mhz up to 940 or 950MHz in 12.5kHz steps. It was nuts

[@alexhajnal107]

Oddest one that I ran in to was some sort of POTS voicemail system that transmitted the voicemails via radio. Really odd.

[@bendeleted9155]

Phones were so small at one point, the mic was in the middle of your cheek. The awful low-resolution digital staccato was deafening!

[@54RKY]

Pre internet videos

[@greatestytcommentator]

@@bendeleted9155 I swallowed a tiny phone once... 😂

[@AdamSWL]

The 90's was such an awesome decade! The flashing antenna reminds me of when a co-worker got pulled over and fined for using his Ericsson GH-337 while driving. It happened at night so the flashing lit up the entire car interior and attracted the attention of the Police! I think the appeal of those antennas quickly diminished when people starting getting fined on the phone at the wheel. And who could forget those "anti radiation" patch stickers that were supposed to shield the user from the horrible cancers that the phones could cause 😂 Great collection Lewis!! (You need to get a clear cased AOR AR8000 receiver)

[@nuclearfox_]

I miss the personality of these 90's phones

[@DenisNolan]

I remember getting an operator logo and then everyone wanted one once they saw it. The Nokia 6210 was my favourite phone ever

[@loganstroganoff1284]

We called them Nokia bricks in the U.S. Mine was confiscated by a teacher between classes once bc phones were banned in school and mine rang in the hallway, I got in double trouble bc mine had a cannabis leaf cover! I got it back at the end of the week. I had one of the flashing antennas as well but the reception with it was terrible so I changed it back to the original after a week or so. Miss those days of the phone accessory mall kiosks that allowed one to personalize their phone!

[@TheOnjLouis]

Aah, my first ever Nokia phone. I remember it indeed. Preferred the 3210 and 3310 I got later due to the ringtone composers but this was still a good phone. I had Motorola phones before this, but after switching to Nokia I never went back. Snappy UI, easy to use, never failed.

[@volvo09]

@@TheOnjLouis I was a teen then, I can remember people showing each other their ringtones in the mall, or when waiting for a movie to start.

[@JaenEngineering]

I remember those flashing led aerials. I also remember figuring out that the little neon indicators on extension leads would light up if you connected the leads between both ends of the antenna "spring"

[@Teknofobe]

This took me back. Ahh, the good old days, lol. ❤

[@steveosshenanigans]

I had forgotten about those flashing antennas…..thanks for the memories

[@neilsheppard6673]

As a kid my dad was an engineer working at ITT (which later became Nortel) and he used to come home with all sorts of snazzy prototype landline house phones, as they used to let staff members take the phones to try out and test. The one I liked most was a clear, totally see through Trim phone. I often wonder what happened to it, it's probably worth a few bucks to collectors now. Back on topic, I used to work with a guy who had one of those yellow/lime green Nokia's which used to light up on an incoming call.

[@kenshinflyer]

Reminds me of the day when a very custom Nokia phone is the only way to go: holographic backgrounds, swapped backlights, custom casings (the term we used for the Xpress-on Covers), the fancy stickers that flash an LED light when an incoming call arrives, even custom firmware and ringtones, too (if you're handy at flashing and Logomanager)... I was even forced to buy a data cable for my 3210 and 3310 just to do custom FW and ringtones. Happy days.

[@dash8brj]

had the 8250 in a translucent case. The entire phone would light up like a christmas treee when it rang :)

[@jonp7377]

ohhh man thanks you that flashback. i needed this.

[@raymondmartin6737]

I miss auto patch on amateur repeaters from the 70's to near 2000 when that ended. So we as amateurs were ahead of the times. 😊

[@MRONETEN]

There was another thing you forgot to mention on customization of these retro phones getting converted to radio scanners

[@RingwayManchester]

The older analogue ones?

[@simplexicated]

Ahh Nostalgia, it's grief for the past but we still look back and sigh. So much innovation when an industry is budding, experimentation was so fun.

[@sandwichbar8226]

My new favourite video! Well done 👍

[@htopherollem649]

in 98 I worked on metalizing the inside of the cases for Ericson and Nokia phones for the American market. I remember these models very well!

[@SamithaSumedha]

Can you remember the cheap Chinese stickers that lit up When signals were present? some sold them in Sri Lanka where I live in claiming those stickers reduced the radiation of mobile phones and those illuminative stickers were sold in millions even in sri lanka....

[@hellsfirefreedomtube6984]

5:27 This trend needs to make a comeback especially on gaming consoles

[@tomlobos2871]

i always had spare covers and at one point i started painting them. so i ended up having the same colour like my first car.

[@MartySulls]

There used to be a service in the late 90's that would allow you to buy ringtones. You could access personalised ringtones of popular songs of the day for a quid or something. Can't recall the service but I think it began with a Y.

[@54RKY]

There was also free ones in magazines and what not that you wrote in yourself

[@fugelkusch3722]

I had a 6150. No covers available there. Only blue and red.

[@RichardT2112]

The best part, is unlike modern phones, they were made to last! No planned obsolescence!

[@aarong9378]

Yes, I had a 5110. It got nicked and I lost all my contacts. I'm glad my current phone is backed up to the cloud. I also had a blue, transparent cover and rainbow keypad colours. It was gaudy but I loved it.

[@itechflagstaff]

I did many of these things to my phones...

[@volvo09]

I was 16 in 00 and got my first car, my girlfriend and her friends LOVED to hang out at the mall and pretend to be punk rock, I distinctly remember all the displays of custom Nokia cases and even the flashing ones and multicolored LED keypads the shops could install. Those phones were everywhere! Then smaller flip phones came out and the Motorola Razr was the cool phone, but wasn't nearly as customizable as those Nokias. I always left mine stock, but got a few fresh case fronts from friends who changed theirs out.

[@KubedPixel]

++ Sad sigh ++ I miss the good/ better days of the yesteryear

[@Matt.Willoughby]

Simpler and happier times😊

[@greatestytcommentator]

This video has just made my 'junk' drawer very valuable ....?

[@danbrit9848]

this brings back memorys...when i was a teen i had a flip phone ...well first the pull out antenna broke so i got some tin foil and an old wifi antenna with a long wire that i put on a propeller hats bill gluing them in giving me incredible service ...then i got the clear case for it so i could see all the insides ...finally i got a light up battery with leds on it that danced ....then i got pulled over and the cops thought it was a bomb and almost called the bomb squad on me

[@EinkOLED]

Who remember WAP? Early form of internet using GPRS. My first tablet which resembles somewhat is todays smartphone, was a HP jornada pocket pc back in 2002.

[@sarkybugger5009]

My first mobile was a 2110, with the pull out aerial. It was replaced with a 5150, then a 6310i, which I still have, and still works. If nothing else, Nokia made great batteries, and most of them were removable. Remember those?

[@AJSSPACEPLACE]

I was born in 99, So I remember the very end of the standard cellular phone’s era. I was so amazed when my Mom bought an Iphone 3G, and showed me it could play youtube videos anywhere.

[@Kuutti_original]

That somehow reminds of the fact that Nokia had working touchscreen phone prototype in 2004. Similar to future iphones, but they deemed it doesnt have market and killed the project. Excellent business decision and so on...

[@Nick-ew2cb]

It does seem like the world has become a bit bland and boring. All tech now seems to look the same.

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

Nokia 6310 had a great battery life and would link via infra red to my laptop. It also had some impressive aerodynamic qualities maintaining a stable flight path ensuring it made contact with any irritating prat or other dens object without sustaining damage. The added advantage is that a call could be dropped by sliding the battery off and the other party would hear "Network not available" this is a feature which eliminated many nuisance calls without the need to explain oneself.

[@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt]

This makes me feel old.

[@deeiks12]

Besides swapping the cases there was a pretty big 'scene' in changing the LED's to different colours. Blue ones were ofcourse the most popular. That started with 5110 and was the most popular in the 3310 days.

[@RingwayManchester]

You’re gonna love my next vid ;)

[@KarlWitsman]

It was smoked and mahogany for mine. I didn't have the flashing antenna, but I did have something else. I won't mention it yet, since you might cover it in the next show and I don't want to spoil any surprises.

[@GeorgeLiquor]

I still have a 5120 and the updated 5165, extended battery, and several cases. I worked for Cingular Wireless from 2001-03, so we were selling them back then

[@mobilephonesandtech]

4:28 so surprised to see some American 5185i models there! Fantastic 5110 series collection!

[@mobilephonesandtech]

4:43 Did you mean the 6110?

[@Xiefux]

i remember there being led stickers that light up when you get a call

[@RingwayManchester]

Definitely. Next episode :)

[@98jonesd]

Used to spend my pocket money on phone covers from the bloke on Alty market on a Saturday, long before it became a trendy food hall!

[@RingwayManchester]

Alty market! Breakfast every Saturday with my Nan in the cafe

[@98jonesd]

@@RingwayManchester Happy days! Love the videos, keep them coming.

[@8BitAtari]

I had the blinking antenna that flashed red and blue. Pretty irritating to use in a dark room😂

[@Martin_Martin_Martin_1]

i remember having a flashing keypad when it rang

[@jmr]

Those light up antennas are still a thing for HT's.

[@blue_jm]

Never saw the 3D screen stickers sold here in Finland ironically, or the pretend flip covers.

[@jheinrichk]

I really enjoyed this episode. well done

[@alexhajnal107]

03:50 I had a holograph film on my Handspring Visor's (transflective) screen. Transparent when viewed straight on, green (IIRC) lock pattern when viewed off-axis. Nice for privacy on a crowded train.

[@budprepper3811]

How about the Motorola phone back in the late nineties that you can put into test mode. You could then hop on to other people's calls. Listen and or talk. Sure had a lot of good times with that when calls were analog.

[@RingwayManchester]

I’ve got 2 ;) I should do a video

[@Poorgeniu5]

I remember back in the iPhone 4/5 days where there were factory making custom shells with many options like this Nokia then later clear glass back mods in the late 2010s.... however disassembly and replacement adhesive is required.

[@markcoulson4182]

Used to love my old 5110 on orange payg. It had amazing call quality for a 2g phone and the battery would last a week on a single charge.

[@MaxBandwidth-rb1qx]

"Completely pointless flip phone?" Spoken like someone who never did a true butt dial lol

[@FlippDurch]

Just remember the 5110 was uncool very fast after the 3210 release. And the shops that more or less only sold theese covers and stuff. Using the phones for calling someone was way too expensive for us by the way. I rarely did that and also only sent a few sms per week.

[@TurboTimsWorld]

OMG its 10pm and I am wondering if I can go through all my draws in the man cave to find both of my see-through Swatch Watches without the wife wakes up before she go go's ... ! Bring back the black light I say!

[@rarity5865]

Loved seeing those epic phones man , !!!

[@KeystoneInvestigations]

I have never subscribed to cell phone service. My mother didn't raise no fool !

[@riaan7836]

the good old days

[@PenryMMJ]

This is what happens when you have a couple of Bacardi Breezers and then go on eBay. 😂

[@feelincrispy7053]

My family owned a 5110. Funny how it was a family mobile phone not just one person like it is now days. It was a light blue

[@zaprodk]

The flashing antenna/stickers are much, much more simple. They only have a LED and a anti-parallel rectifier diode. That's all it takes.

[@54RKY]

I had the 5110 with personalised cover, the flashing keys (when someone called) and the 8 bit style custom picture background and bleep bleep version of some rave song of the era

[@maximusg88]

It was the first phone I bought myself :) Had an old Bosch from my dad before. Great phone.

[@earwigging]

I despise mobile phones lol

[@rogerk6180]

Now i do. Back then i didn't though.

[@earwigging]

@@rogerk6180 Same

[@johnpublic6582]

I forgot that I had a red cover for my Nokia.

[@greatestytcommentator]

I used to sell those bad boys... I miss the MR20.. ran on AA batteries....... in a pinch... for about 12 seconds.

[@ebridgewater]

More commonly known as the '402' at the time (the Orange variant - presumably the most common?)

[@uksmudgesmith]

Does anyone remember the trance track that was made with the interference noise you got from phones?

[@RingwayManchester]

212 - The Phone Tune

[@dancoroian1]

I've also always had a thing for transparent electronics, to me it seems like the ideal blending of form and function...closest I ever got as a kid was my (translucent) Cybiko!

[@loganmacgyver2625]

The 2110 from 1994 could also be used as a Modem actually

[@OldSonyMan]

I bought a "Bosch" phone which was translucent Orange and was on the Orange network ! Unfortunately it got nicked (at work) but before that I had (as my first mobile) a Sony CMT-J5 which I had customised to say "You're in the arsehole of the world" when you turned it on and "The Horror The Horror" when you turned it off (both involved dubbing the soundtrack of Apocalypse Now from betamax to mobile) but once again it too got nicked at work ! Happy days ! The Bosch was replaced with my first (and only) ever Nokia, which I bought of a young girl (at a car bootsale for £3.50) who included about 6 extra covers inc. barbie, minnie mouse and Brittney spears ! Do you think that the covers could have put off the (circling) thieves ? well I certainly did at the time ! ! !

[@RingwayManchester]

Cool) I’ve got the orange and the transparent

[@greatestytcommentator]

Me Too! 🎉 It matched my translucent Orange iMac and Epson Printer and Scanner! I even had a matching Ikea lamp in the same plastic! 😂😂😂😅😅😅 cringe? 😂

[@vaughanwarburton9623]

😂 remember them didn't some people have flashing phone charms as well that attached to the phone via the wrist strap fixing and over the air ring tones and wallpapers 😂😂i had the blues brothers WP on my Nokia👍😂

[@waynemoate9401]

Now we all have black rectangles. Loved my Ericsson T28

[@54RKY]

Mines forest green..... But it does have a black builders case covering it 🤔😂

[@dafoex]

Who doesn't love blinkenlights? I wish smartphones had external, removable aerials because I'd have one of those flashing ones today, even if it did hamper the signal.

[@andykendall5171]

Them were the days 👍🏻 my first phone on "cellnet" was a Sony Marsbar..cool in the day for 😂

[@DimasFajar-ns4vb]

wow and peace be upon you sir from me

[@leaveempty5320]

Ah, the 90's when there was a desire to make phones smaller rather than ever bigger. My Nokia 8210 would drop in a shirt pocket (when we had those) without ripping it off!

[@ryank5tar]

I would love to have colored cases and blinking antennas for Fengs.

[@danbrit9848]

i never noticed the speaker looks like a clown smiling

[@RingwayManchester]

I meant to cover this and forgot… you just reminded me 😂

[@Coalrollinfurry]

Peacocking at its absolute WORST. Beep beep, YO WHERE U AT!

[@sputumtube]

Still got my Nokia 6310i and use it every day. It's my only phone. Never breaks down, always gets a signal, and the battery lasts three days without charging.

[@tocsa120ls]

I think this was the phone I replaced with an Ericsson and haven't looked back since. They had IrDA, easily flashed, liked the look better.

[@loganmacgyver2625]

I heard somewhere they made a clip on bill counter for the Motorola StarTac, it measured how long it was constantly transmitting. But it'd also probably tally up incoming calls too lol

[@2010craggy]

Yes I had an acrylic antenna with LEDs in it, and a Santa hat for my Nokia that the Pom Pom on the end would flash when folks rang, or if you recieved a text. Fun back then…… errr but a bit pointless with hindsight!

[@RingwayManchester]

I’ve got the Santa hat 😂😂

[@LordWalsallian]

Had a Nokia 5110. Still one of the best phones i ever had.

[@luisalmeida777]

Still have my Nokia 3330 with the clear plastic case, plus the original blue!

[@asicdathens]

Nokia 3330 was the most customizable of all. There was a website that had insane amount of mods for these phones. GSM(something) was the name

[@jorgepais2876]

Today all the phones look the same, and the costumization - apart from the cover - is virtual. I do not remember of any flashing antennas or covers being a thing here in Portugal back in the day. However, I clearly remember the hoax around the cell broadcast that spreadead like a virus around here. It said that if you entered channel 50 you could get warnings about speed cameras ahead on the road! 😅😅😅

[@pictometryofficial]

Yes, absolutel!

[@el_es]

To quote TechMoan liberally, the transparent/crystal clear tech might have been a product of need for them to be somewhere, where someone could smuggle something inside of them :)

[@AVAVsystemsUK]

Ah, those damn flashing aerials. Knocked the signal by at least 6dB, the really shit one, 10dB. Which made a huge difference to dropped calls. Especially in the early day of 1800 PCN There were changeable front & back covers for the 3310. The shiny metal look ones, again, killed the signal. Endless phones kept coming in the door “got no signal mate” Pop the cover off, oh look, full signal

[@greatestytcommentator]

Has anyone got a Nokia charger!? NO! THE OTHER ONE! LOL😅😂

[@Savagetechie]

I did modify my A1018s lightly with a flashing antenna and orange cover but when I went to a Nokia 3410 it got blue led mods, black crystal keypad, carbon look case with a radiation hologram

[@sudhirnaik4751]

I still have accessories for some of these phones!!!