Owning an unlocked phone is in a way, declaring that you’ll be taking care of a pet for the next couple of years. There’s a lot you have to do when you aren’t just leasing a phone from a carrier. Things like firmware upgrades, and swapping SIM cards and installing apps and setting up preferences that you’ve never seen before.
This is a lot of work.
That said, it’s kind of liberating to be able to use a phone and have access to all the hardware on it. The GPS isn’t loaded with carrier specific apps, there’s a QR code reader preinstalled, the mail client isn’t crippled, and overall the phone is how the manufacturer wanted it to be.
Although, I can see why providers want to make things easier.
Fortunately, the E71 plays well with iSync. Which was great when I decided to upgrade the firmware, which wiped out the information on the phone. I didn’t brick it, although I was damn sure I was going to.
I had panicky thoughts about the following hypothetical situations:
- Power goes out in my condo during firmware upgrade.
- USB Failure on front port of PC during firmware upgrade.
- Failure to follow the exact instructions given to me by Nokia during firmware upgrade.
- Bird flies through window and pulls out USB cable from phone during firmware upgrade.
Of the three, option one is pretty likely. I still need to get an electrician into the condo and ground all of the outlets.
I’ve been using the work phone as the primary for the last decade year or so and have decided to commit to the personal phone.
So, if you get a call from some strange number you don’t recognize, it might be me.