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Does anyone else have sentimental value for their iPhone?
- Thread starter Hieveryone
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to date, through many phones, no. i do however, have massive sentimental value for certain cars.
As do I about cars. However, cars are a completely different entity and can be considered collector or hold more of a unique status depending on what type of car it is and/or based on the model. An iPhone is nothing more than a commodity.
A phone holds as much sentimental value until your next upgrade before you dispose that one that you just said was the love of your life a day prior.
This is a forum where people upgrade every year. Sell last year's iPhone to finance this year's. It's a never ending cycle of capitalism and to stimulate the economy. After watching videos of e-waste getting dumped in third world countries like Ghana, maybe it is a good idea for them to have some sentimental value.
I watched videos of them trying to recycle gold and copper from our old phones. It's sad first world problems become third world ones. If you remember Futurama's "Attack Of The Killer App", it wasn't just about EyePhone and Twitter. It started a commentary about e-waste.
Better off to keep our phones for as long as we can but greed, wanting something new, and complacency with old phones conquers consumers. We end up buying new phones every single year based off cosmetic gimmicks.
This is a forum where people upgrade every year. Sell last year's iPhone to finance this year's. It's a never ending cycle of capitalism and to stimulate the economy. After watching videos of e-waste getting dumped in third world countries like Ghana, maybe it is a good idea for them to have some sentimental value.
I watched videos of them trying to recycle gold and copper from our old phones. It's sad first world problems become third world ones. If you remember Futurama's "Attack Of The Killer App", it wasn't just about EyePhone and Twitter. It started a commentary about e-waste.
Better off to keep our phones for as long as we can but greed, wanting something new, and complacency with old phones conquers consumers. We end up buying new phones every single year based off cosmetic gimmicks.
Here's another example of sentimentality......When I get a new iPhone, one of the things I do early-on when checking out all the functions is to watch a video. The one I always choose as the first? David Pogue's wonderfully funny and creative "iPhone: The Musical" video that he did at the time that the very first iPhone was being released. It's a gem!
https://www.nytimes.com/video/technology/1194817121833/iphone-the-musical.html
https://www.nytimes.com/video/technology/1194817121833/iphone-the-musical.html
I hope you still active. I have this exact same attachment and i have it really bad. I got an ipad back when i was 6 i was so happy and treated it like my child. I only dropped it once in 8 years of owning it. I need someone to talk to about this if you still active. Currently it's an ipad air 2 and it overheats and the battery health is low. It has basically become kind of unusable from the overheating and the battery health is bad. It was on its last legs a few months back so i put it into retirement which was me turning it off for 3 months and keeping it in my cupboard. During this time i had nightmares of it breaking really badly and it becoming a complete wreck. I need someone who has went through this to talk to. If you still online pls dm me.
Edit: Also wanted to add this ipad was around during my childhood so it is the last piece of childhood i have left.
None..
I've been on board with iPhones since they first came out and at first I was trying to rationalize hanging onto a a previous model due to sentimental reasons when I upgraded but realized it's dumb.
I have a few keepsake/collection phones:
- my mom’s first cell phone. An old huge brick with a pull out antenna. It’s funny.
- my first cell phone, an Ericsson, I think before it became Sony. I still love the design (looks like it was from the Matrix movie), and it reminds me of some really really good times in my youth. I think it would be really fun to bust it out and show my friends from that era so we can reminisce, if I ever see them again.
- my Motorola Razr, my last “dumb” cell phone, and probably the most classic cell phone before smart phones. I still dig the design. And I’ll always miss the clamshell form factor.
- my iPhone 4S. It was my first iPhone but I don’t keep it for that reason. I just think it was the best designed smartphone ever, both in form and function, still to this day.
- my iPhone SE1. I still use this, but will likely keep it too once it dies. Design-wise, I think it’s a close second to the 4S.
- my mom’s first cell phone. An old huge brick with a pull out antenna. It’s funny.
- my first cell phone, an Ericsson, I think before it became Sony. I still love the design (looks like it was from the Matrix movie), and it reminds me of some really really good times in my youth. I think it would be really fun to bust it out and show my friends from that era so we can reminisce, if I ever see them again.
- my Motorola Razr, my last “dumb” cell phone, and probably the most classic cell phone before smart phones. I still dig the design. And I’ll always miss the clamshell form factor.
- my iPhone 4S. It was my first iPhone but I don’t keep it for that reason. I just think it was the best designed smartphone ever, both in form and function, still to this day.
- my iPhone SE1. I still use this, but will likely keep it too once it dies. Design-wise, I think it’s a close second to the 4S.
A little bit for the 6s plus I had. Wish I hadn’t given it to my neice for her kids. They lost it pretty quick.
I still own all my old iPhones. I don’t really feel any great sentimentality towards them but I do value them as a collector. I guess I have some sentimentality for them because they were my phones and I used them for a period of time. For instance, I wouldn’t sell my iPhone 8 and then later replace it with a random second hand one.
I'm quite attached to my 1st gen (2016) SE, partly because it was such a good phone & form factor, partly because I happened to do a lot of travelling while I was using it and so I spent a lot of time with it, taking photos etc. I still have it and keep my travel sim in it, even though the battery controller has become dodgy.
By contrast, I bought my 2nd gen SE during the 2020 lockdown, and only because of the battery issue with no Apple stores open. I also ended up with black 64 GB when I don't like black and should have bought more storage. I've never felt affection for it, and indeed I've just replaced it with a starlight 128gb 2022 SE. I'm already more fond of the new phone. I need to work out what to do with the old one, as I want to keep the 2016 SE and I don't need an archive of old SE models!
Most of my other phones have become hand-me-downs.
By contrast, I bought my 2nd gen SE during the 2020 lockdown, and only because of the battery issue with no Apple stores open. I also ended up with black 64 GB when I don't like black and should have bought more storage. I've never felt affection for it, and indeed I've just replaced it with a starlight 128gb 2022 SE. I'm already more fond of the new phone. I need to work out what to do with the old one, as I want to keep the 2016 SE and I don't need an archive of old SE models!
Most of my other phones have become hand-me-downs.
If you are that attached to a device, you should really talk to someone. It's not healthy to form such strong bonds to a possession.
Traded in my X at the Apple store and they said they were going to shred it.....never again. I will try and sell it before I see it turned into paper clips.
People get attached to all kinds of crap like ornaments, jewellery, cars, clothing, and accessories, furniture, computers/consoles along with other technology and collectibles.
I don’t think it’s overly unhealthy unless you’re one of those hoarder types who can’t let anything go.
I completely understand. I participate in an Acoustic Guitar forum where this very thing is discussed frequently - we have "emotional attachment" people and "it's just a tool" folks. I tend towards the Emotional Attachment end of the spectrum, especially if the item (guitar, phone, car etc.) has been with me a long time. I even give my guitars names - but haven't named one of my phones. Yet.
What are you even doing in an Apple enthusiast/fan forum? How is it more unhealthy to be into a thing that’s with you 24/7; your trusted companion for a lot of things, than, say, Star Wars or games or anything else? There are fan forums for literary anything. I don’t see how having an emotional attachment to a smartphone is any different than having an emotional attachment to, say, your car or your favourite sports team, or whatever. In my mind it actually makes more sense to be attached to your phone these days. Granted some people take it too far and are on their phones constantly, which I find annoying, yet it shows that people nowadays are emotionally connected to their devices because said devices have become such a major part of our day-to-day lives.
Personally, I’ve been into mobile phones since -95, and smartphones since 2001. I’ve published reviews; I’ve tested software; I’ve programmed in C++ and done software translations etc. Of course I have some sort of an emotional attachment to my smartphones when they’ve been my hobby for two decades, lol. There’s nothing unnatural about having a hobby that you care about. Step off your high horse.