Ever looked at a fancy cell phone and thought, "mmmm, preetee," but then banished the thought because you thought you were too technically challenged? Me too. Until now. Fear didn't build an empire, people. With a goal of at least one new cell phone or personal gadget per month, I'm going to blog about how to use swanky phones. The only rule? This is a "techno-geek speak" free zone.
Wondering how I get to try out all these gadgets without going bankrupt? Because I borrow them instead of buying them. Go to my sponsor's page to check out how you can try out the latest gadgets the smart way.
Well, if I’m saying it then it must be true. I’m not talking about when you let your six year old rummage through the recycling bin and tape together a sculpture out of empty milk jugs and bottle caps. As monumental as those structures can be, I’d like to direct your attention to the gadgets you’ve come to love but sadly need to put to pasture. From the old Nokia brick phones you’ve started to use as door stops, to the things that just don’t go bling in the night for you anymore, there’s a place where good phones can go to die. That’s where our sponsor crazytoe.com can help. Click here and find out how you can put that old phone away with the dignity it deserves (and get an applied discount to your crazytoe account).
Still not convinced? Well, let’s picture where that phone came from. If it’s a Nokia, then it must have come from one of the 10 factories around the world Nokia has that converts 100 billion small parts into functional gadgets of communication. What are some of the main components of that gadget in your hand? You’ll find mostly electronic components such as resistors and capacitors, but you can’t forget the highly-integrated circuit boards which are laid over by a tin-copper-silver alloy paste. Further along the assembly line, you can’t forget the hand added liquid-crystal display screens or the digital camera modules either. Depending on when your phone was made, mercury, cadmium, nickel, lead, and other metals can be released as toxic chemicals since electronic devices don’t degrade easily in landfills. Discarded phones account for nearly 65,000 tons of toxic waste a year! Along with these metals, circuit board components and the plastics can be reused as parts for future phones, cutting down dramatically on the environmental cost of production.
What’s that? Your phone still works and you’re saving it as a backup in case something happens to your current? While I applaud your planning ability, I would like to point out that a working phone can also be recycled into programs that don’t just scrap the phone, but take advantage of the 911 emergency features instead of an activated plan. In 1999, the FCC adopted a policy called E911 which made the manufacture of phones with GPS tracking of emergency calls mandatory. So if you have a post-1999 phone, by donating your phone you could not only help save the environment, but could potentially save someone’s life.
All around the world we’ve seen the benefits of recycling paper, plastic, glass, and other discarded items from our daily lives. So why are cell phones among the least recycled object in our homes? Visit our sponsor now to find out how you can recycle your old and used mobile phones. They don’t have to be shiny to make a difference.
It seems that Vertu (a subsidiary of Nokia) found a way to steal my latest get rich quick scheme.
The idea is simple enough, to make a cell phone that is the digital clone of either Britney Spears or Paris Hilton. Check out the Vertu Signature Cobra, priced at $310,000, it is actually a regular girl, I mean, phone with an exquisite set of jewels lining its case. The cobra is itself made up of 439 rubies, with two emerald eyes, a pear-cut diamond (for the tongue), and one round white diamond at its base. Pricing depends either on the personality of the phone, or the $12 pink paint job (I’ll leave that up to you to decide).
But in all seriousness, the phone is really more of a well put together piece of art than a communications device. As far as functionality goes, you would be better off buying a phone with a color LCD screen with similar functionality to the iPhone or HTC Diamond. And if you must spend a quarter of a million dollars on your phone, there are certainly better phones on the market for the desired price range.
Vertu has a limit of of only 8 slated for commercial purchase. Trust fund babies waiting on their allowances need not worry, though, you can always spring for the cheaper, ruby-free Cobra for a mere $115,000.
But c’mon, you know you want the rubies.
Blog Contributor: S. H. K.
