Here's A Blast from the Past

[Rutabaga]

This afternoon, while sorting through a bunch of stuff I had in storage, I came across my old BlackBerry Bold 9000 and the Quick Start Guide that came with the next one I got (model 9900).  Brought back memories.

This was probably about the third BlackBerry I had had, starting back in about 2004 or 2005, when BlackBerry ruled the world.  My first one was issued by the company I was ten working for.  After I left that company, I bought another one from AT&T and used it until the charging point died.  I then got the newer Bold 9900, probably in about 2009.

I still like the "real" keys on the keyboard rather than pictures of keys on a screen.  That part of the Blackberry worked fairly well.  However, the charging port (a micro-USB connector) and the little trackball in the middle both had a terrible failure rate.  The 9900 was on its last legs by 2012, and the question was, what should I get to replace it?  BlackBerry was still available, but it was clearly falling out of favor.

The clincher came with the fact that more and more mainstream companies announced that they were no longer going to offer or support BlackBerry apps (my bank, the phone company, etc.).  So I took the plunge and got an iPhone 6.  It served me well for about 8 years.  Then I replaced it with an iPhone SE, which I still have.  

Apparently when Apple came out with its first iPhone in 2007, the BlackBerry folks up in Canada did not take it seriously.  After all, they had created kind of an industry standard.  But as Apple made dramatic improvements in their phone, and with the bigger screen and other popular features that Apple offered, BlackBerry was left behind.  

So this old friend will be heading for the landfill.

R

 

[Jason Rimbaud]

I need to dig out my old phones, I have every phone I've ever had started with my Erickson Flip Phone that could actually take pictures, if I were to turn it on I could see the very first video I ever saw on a phone, one of my boyfriend taking things in hand as it were. What a wonderful invention, a device that I could snap a picture of my junk and share it with the world.

I have every other generation I-phone beginning with the very first one, all of them are in pristine order except one, which was dropped as I changed the case. I am very attached to my phones, plus I paid for them, so I kept them. My husband wants me to throw them out but I refuse. Oh, I also have the original packaging and everything each one came with. It's really the only thing I collect. 

J

[Rutabaga]

Unfortunately my old iPhone 6 developed some kind of internal hemorrhage and puffed open like this:

Curiously enough, however, it still works.  I can play back music from the music app.  But it's very weird.

R

 

 

[Rutabaga]

It occurred to me as I thought about it that the only explanation for this bulge is something happening with the battery.  It's been like this for quite a while, but after reading about fires caused by Lithium Ion batteries, I decided this should head to the landfill.

R

[Cole Parker]

Or you could remove the battery.  Just saying.

 

C

[Rutabaga]

10 minutes ago, Cole Parker said:

Or you could remove the battery.  Just saying.

 

C

The iPhone battery is sealed inside.  

R

[Cole Parker]

15 hours ago, Rutabaga said:

The iPhone battery is sealed inside.  

R

So, melt the wax:

 

The time has come,' the Walrus said,

      To talk of many things:

Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —

      Of cabbages — and kings —

And why the sea is boiling hot —

      And whether pigs have wings.'

[Merkin]

On 7/14/2024 at 7:28 PM, Rutabaga said:

It occurred to me as I thought about it that the only explanation for this bulge is something happening with the battery.  It's been like this for quite a while, but after reading about fires caused by Lithium Ion batteries, I decided this should head to the landfill.

R

Definitely the battery.  I hope this phone isn't stored near anything valuable to you.  Put it into a metal bucket until you decide where in your garden to bury it.  Keep your phone out of the landfill--that festering site has enough spontaneous fires as it is.
 

[Camy]

On 7/12/2024 at 11:18 PM, Rutabaga said:

 

So this old friend will be heading for the landfill.

R

 

Don't trash it. There's a market for them on Ebay.