HOOKED ON MOBILE

A few days ago I couldn’t help noticing a woman at Maximilianstrasse in Munich (the street with expensive fashion labels) using her mobile phone. The device was covered in pink leather, flashing a GUCCI logo on the back of it. My first reaction was: “Oh, GUCCI has also a phone just like PRADA… Of course!…” Later I realized it was just a leather case for a regular mobile phone. However, that kept me thinking about how we tend to turn simple electronic devices into symbols of status or simply customize them so that they can somehow reflect our personalities.

Phones for Fashionistas
Fashion labels like Prada, DG, Gucci, Armani and even ELLE Magazine are well into the mobile game already. Producing their own “Glamphones” together with companies like LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Nokia and Motorola. Don’t be surprised if you find Kate Moss and the likes chatting away in style with their phones flashing some well-known fashion logos.

This fashion fever is been around ever since the now deceased Xelibri series from Siemens came out in 2003. The design of the Xelibri series broke every standard there was at the time, treating the phone purely as a sophisticated fashion accessory. From that point on the mobile phone evolved from a communication tool to an accessory, to a fashion statement to finally, a status symbol.

Pimp my phone
Fortunately there are options for the Fashion victims of the world. The company Fashion Cell Shop for example specializes in getting you a glamorized spark for your phone, offering a wide collection of covers, cases and accessories to choose from. If this is not enough, with Sparks by Stella is possible to add the extra “Bling” some people crave for.

But personalizing and customizing mobiles phones is nothing new (remember back in the day the a Nokia 2100 with interchangeable covers?) what I am still trying to understand is to why carriers and mobile phone companies refuse to pick up on it even more. Other companies like Reebok, Nike or Converse, let you design your trainers, share your design and later on buy it. All according to your specifications. What’s stopping mobile phone companies from letting us do the same with our phones?

Seasonal phones
I recently found a Nokia phone selling here in Munich, referencing the super hit series of Sex and the City. Probably, the latest marketing trick to get rid of the left over models that didn’t sale.

Funny enough, I don’t personally like any type of customization other than the way it comes from the factory. I don’t own a case, or a skin or even tried to customize the interface. Then again, I own an iPhone, which is a model from a company very conscious about industrial design, user experience and “Kansei” (japanese word for engineering our senses and perception into objects).

Our phones are so dear to us that the level of “Aichaku” (japanese word for love to objects and your relationship with them) towards them is getting stronger every day. It is then easy to understand and empathize with people who want to treat their phones like something special knowing that the lifecycle of the device won’t be longer than a year or two. But fashion is about the latest, the hottest and the trendiest. What is “in” today is “out” tomorrow. I guess that in the mobile arena there are no “old timers” worth keeping around.