Knock, knock Nokia. It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to buy anything from you. Remember back in the late 90s when Nokia phones were *it*? The pinnacle of Nokia’s hipness was probably the 8110, aka the _Matrix phone_.

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Since successfully hacking into the Matrix, Nokia has come up with some design doozies. Let’s review a couple of Nokia’s greatest misses of the 21st century beamed directly to us from deep, deep within the Matrix.

How about the famous “side-talking”:1, first-generation N-Gage?

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Or how about this one… the Nokia 3600? Works great — just as long as you don’t actually use any of the buttons. Who needs SMS anyway?

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And there’s a bunch of others, but no need to pile on. Recently however, it looks like Nokia just might just be regaining a clue regarding design. For example, there’s the Nokia 8800… a phone that actually looks, dare I say, _kewl_.

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Oh, and then there is the “much-hyped”:2, up-coming N91. The N91 is rumored to have a 4GB hard drive, an industry-standard 3.5mm headphone jack, support for of MP3, M4A, AAC, and WMA audio files, USB 2.0, 3G (WCDMA) and both built-in WiFi and Bluetooth. All for the low, low price of $900.

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I’m still really happy with my Audiovox “SMT5600″:3, so it’s going to take a lot to get me to switch phones. However, in a year and a half when my contract is up, I just might consider buying a Nokia. Hey, even being considered is a big step up for Nokia in my book. Welcome back from the Matrix.

[3(Zoinger mini-review of the Audiovox SMT5600)]http://www.zoinger.com/archives/2005/03/15/10.05.52/index.html

[2(Engadget hype on the N91)]http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000683041511/

[1(See what side-talking is... or was)]http://cellphones.engadget.com/entry/8817137592535560/