this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2024
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Nostalgia

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nostalgia noun nos·tal·gia nä-ˈstal-jə nə-, also nȯ-, nō-; nə-ˈstäl- 1: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition also : something that evokes nostalgia

Rules for Nostalgia Lemmy Community

1. Respectful Nostalgia Share nostalgic content and memories respectfully. Avoid offensive or insensitive references that may be hurtful to others.

2. Relevant Nostalgia Posts should focus on nostalgic content, including memories, media, and cultural references from the past. Stay on topic to preserve the nostalgic theme of the community.

3. Source Verification If you share nostalgic media or content, provide accurate sources or background information when possible.

4. No Spamming Avoid excessive posting of similar nostalgic topics to keep content diverse and engaging for all members.

5. Positive Discussions Encourage positive discussions and interactions related to nostalgic topics. Respect different viewpoints and memories shared by community members.

6. Quality Content Strive to post high-quality content that sparks nostalgia and meaningful conversations among members.

7. Moderation Guidelines

By adhering to these rules and guidelines, we can create a welcoming and enjoyable space to relive nostalgic moments together. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to reach out to the moderators. Thank you for sharing your nostalgia responsibly!

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[–] hollyberries@programming.dev 2 points 8 months ago

It was waaay ahead of its time in so many ways. Where I lived, it was the first device to come with a truly unlimited data plan. It was most popular in my friend group (all Deaf) for that reason. It was one of the first devices that I used that had OTA updates, and one of the first that had its data entirely on a cloud. The latter was important, as I would frequently need new devices due to broken OTA updates that would self-destruct the radio (the dreaded NET5 error). The insurance plan was great for that as they eventually upgraded me to the Sidekick Color.

It wasn't always rainbows and unicorns, the data loss incident in 2009 is when I started my anti-cloud crusade. I was one of the unlucky T-Mobile customers that lost everything. I didn't even know there was a tool to transfer data to a PC until reading that Wikipedia article, that's how terribly the situation was handled. What I did get was a reduction in my bill for a few months and a gift-card for a device upgrade. That was hardly enough compensation for losing my business contacts and emails. From that day, I got a gmail account and setup forwarding to the Sidekick, and set the reply-to to the gmail. It was a whole thing lmao

Before the Sidekick, I used a Motorola two-way pager that had spotty connection at best, and my friend group mostly had pagers from RIM which were the first Blackberry devices! After the data loss incident, I bought a Sidekick 3 like a mug and eventually moved to the HTC G1/HTC Dream, which was the very first Android device. That one was pretty cool, and also came with a trackball like the Sidekick 3 had. That was cooool.