Am I ashamed of my mobile phone?

I was reading Mind Your Body this morning and came across this article written by Mr. Gary Hayden. The article was titled “Modern Trappings” and the gist of it was about our full-blown consumer society and how we, as consumers are most probably “conned” by the advertisers and manufacturers to think that we want or need certain products/services, although seriously speaking, those aren’t genuine needs.

The author also mentioned about a mobile phone operator in Britain that ran a series of advertisements with the tagline “Ashamed of your mobile?” The ads portrayed situations in which people are shamed ‘cos of their mobile phones were not up-to-date models.

Now, that sounds a little familiar.

I am one of the dinosaurs out there who is NOT carrying an iphone or any versions of Smartphones. My current phone is Sony Ericsson, Cybershot C902. Of course, when it was first launched almost 2.5 years ago, it was a cool and hip phone with a built-in camera of 5 mega pixels (a very big deal at that time), a radio-&-MP3 function and could also surf the net, as long as I pay for it.

Then the iphone came along and the rest was history.

Since then on, almost everyone I know owns an iphone. Well, except Hub. Both of us are gadget-idiots, and just somehow not really interested in any entertainment electronic devices, such as Wii, Xbox, PSP, ipods, iphones, imacs, ipads … etc.

So many people have commented on how “lao-yah”, ie: old and lousy, my current phone is, and some of them had even commented in distaste “OMG, how can anyone NOT carry an iphone”…

And up to now, I still have no desire to own one. I have checked it out and was previously considering of getting the iphone4 once it hits Singapore. But then, I’ll look at my trusty-and-never-say-die-no-matter-how-many-times-I’ve-dropped Sony Ericsson, which is still in good working condition. I just don’t see the need of a new phone.

“Don’t you wana play all the cool games?”
“You can watch youtube and other videos while commuting”
“There are so many cool aps!”
“You can use it as an ipod”

Yup, I know that but I do not play games nor do I want to. When I’m commuting, I usually catch up on my readings. Be it books or more often the case, financial reports or magazines that I usually do not have the time to read in office. If I do not have any reading materials, I’ll usually just quietly think or reflect upon certain topics/recipes/issues that I want to ponder about. I actually enjoy the 20 mins of free time to let my mind wonder, or simply observing people in the train.

I do not need the iphone, ipod or i-whatever. Of course, I want all these cool gadgets and will most gladly welcome any gifts or donations! HAHA. But seriously, I do not need these items.

The day when my current phone died on me, maybe I’ll consider getting one. But as of now, I am happy (although still slightly embarrassed) with my Sony Ericsson.