40+ Things I do with my Mobile Phone

The focus for the 22nd week (May 29 – June 04) of the 52 Weeks of Gratitude Challenge was:

Something You Use Everyday

There are many things that I use every day which I would like to write about. But for this week’s focus, I have to write about just one thing, and it has to be epic.

I would like to say that I use my brain every day, because not everyone really uses their brains. Most people run on autopilot, that is, they leave their brains in charge most of the time. Then they step in every once in a while, take control, then step right back out. Yes, I’m talking about mindfulness.

But nope, this post isn’t about how I use my brain every day. But on a side note, I try to use more of it every time as I have become more mindful over the past 2 years.

Technology

One thing that I can give so much credit to and appreciation for, is a little piece of technology. The first time I expressed gratitude for the versatility of this little device, was back in the year 2006.

I had just moved to the northern part of Cyprus to study computer engineering at the Eastern Mediterranean University. My hostel (named Rebecca), was located in the outskirts of Gazi Mağusa (Famagusta), as you head towards Boğaz. It was while I was preparing supper one evening that I realized how well I utilized that little piece of technology.

Mobile Phone

My first ever mobile phone was the Alcatel 311. I loved that phone so much because of its portability, the game it had and the complete list of country codes built into it.

However, shortly before I moved to Cyprus, I was gifted a Sony-Ericson phone by my elder brother who was already in the south of Cyprus. I forgot the model of the phone, but I used it for a few months before travelling abroad.

Shortly after I got to Cyprus, I “obtained” another phone from my elder brother, a sliding Samsung phone. I used this phone for the next couple of months in Cyprus, from Famagusta to Lefke.

Utility

While most people just “use” their mobile phones, I really utilize mine. In fact, most people use less than 25% of the entire capabilities of the technological devices they posses. And as far back as 2006, before Android phones became popular, here’s a list of what I used my simple Samsung sliding phone to do:

As a timer, when cooking
As a stopwatch when tracking myself
As an music player (mp3 wasn’t very common back then)
As a radio (I used to love radio a lot)
As a torch light
As a camera
As a camcorder
As a voice recorder
As a calculator
To send and receive text messages
To make and receive phone calls
As a calendar
As a time table (I had all my class schedules saved in my phone’s calendar)
As a notepad
As a phone book (obviously)
Tell the time
As a reminder
As an alarm
Play games

Remember, this was before Android was popular, and Java-based phones (or Symbian phones) were in vogue. Even at this time, the most people did with their phones was to send/receive text messages, store phone numbers, take photos/videos and make/receive phone calls (about 33% of my list above).

Tecno A7

Now fast forward to the year 2016, 10 years after my Samsung phone of wonders, and what do I have? I have Tecno’s 2014 flagship phone, the Tecno Phantom Z. Before this phone, I used a Samsung Galaxy Quattro, and despite having 4 processors, the phone was slow AF! A friend heard me lament about the phone, and he suggested that I get the Phantom Z.

So upon returning to Nigeria in the year 2015, I quickly bought the Phantom Z, and I have had no regrets about it. There are a few things I do not like about the phone though, but in terms of performance, the phone is the best I have used yet! I have 60+ apps installed on the phone, and it does not drag!!! Can you beat that!?

Anyway, thanks to Android, now you can expand the capabilities of your simple mobile phone, withing the limits set by the devices manufacturer (like RAM, processor speed, etc). Even so, this phone does far more than my Java-based Samsung sliding phone could do 10 years ago, obviously. So here’s a current list of all that I do with my Tecno Phantom Z… Enjoy!

Listen to music (I don’t listen to radio much these days, but I could if I wanted to)
Watch videos (offline)
Stream videos (online)
Instant messaging
Send/receive text messages
Make/receive (and block) phone calls
Record phone conversations
Manage my contacts
Take photos
Edit photos
Record videos
Edit videos
As a touch light
As a sleep (and snor) tracker
Track my walks, runs and other workouts
Edit and monitor my blogs
Social media
Internet banking
Surf the internet
Play games
As a calculator
Voice recorder
Keep track of goals
Keep track of time
Take notes
As a map
As a Bible
As an ebook reader
As a meditation guide
To book flight/bus tickets
As a secondary login (security) device
As a calendar
To keep and track my schedules and to-do lists
As a timer
As a reminder
As an alarm
To track my income and expenses
Schedule text messages to be sent at a certain time (like birthday messages, etc)
As an internet modem
As an external storage device
Sometimes, as a word processor
To send/receive emails

While I can go on about my day without this device, it might not be a “normal” day for me. So I am grateful for this little piece of technology that I utilize every day.

Now it’s your turn… What do you use everyday, that life would be so different without it?

Please share in the comments section below.

7 things I was grateful for during the 22nd week of this 52 weeks of gratitude challenge:

I’m grateful to God for all disappointments, everything I lack and all the things I don’t have
Thank God I was able to obtain my Diamond Bank template, without stress
Finished the 1st draft of the Oldster Foundation project, then went to see the new Captain America movie today
Thank God for the garlic and green tea remedy that reduced my cough overnight
Despite being tired from inadequate sleep last night, I didn’t crash today!
I’m thankful that I was able to get considerable work done on the Oldster Foundation project
I had an accident about 5 years ago, that could have been bloodier than it was, or even fatal. I remain grateful to God that it was painless, and bloodless, and that today, not many people would know about the accident, if I do not tell them