You've Lost That Loving [Smartphone] Feeling?

Me too. Very unintrested by most new models. The E61 just seems to do most everything & with style.

The only phone I can imagine replacing the E61 for, is if Nokia ever release one with a megapixel camera. I'm convinced the E61 design is the phone format for the future but it'll never conquer the youth market without a camera.

Very good points.

I am afraid the days of feeling like a kid on Christmas morning when it comes to new smartphones are over. Sad really. I can remember few years back waiting impatiently for my shiny new Nokia 3650 to arrive, that was my very first smarthphone (never mind the circular keypad). Recently I purchased an E61 and while I obviously love it, that same feeling of excitment just wasn't there when the package was delivered to my house.

The smartphone has become a common tool for the masses, no longer reserved only for the "geeks".

Agree with all the above. I would add, though, that the increased complexity of the phones makes it difficult to get the immediate gratification of a new acquisition. There is so much to learn (and unlearn) as one switches from one phone to another. I've mistakenly assumed in the past that new features were additive. Now I realize that some erstwhile components get removed and that the net new addition is not that worthwhile.

I'm less interested in new models than I was, but I've always focussed more on the convergence of functionality. My N80 pulls duty as phone, camera, MP3 player and satnav - all my function-specific devices have made their way on to eBay now.

Still looking forward to a couple of features though: GPS chips and increased storage space.

I guess now my focus is on new ranges rather than models now

There's also another thing endemic to technology: as it becomes ubiquitous and essential to everyone's life, it becomes by definition everyday and nothing special any more.

There was a really good piece written a few years ago called "IT doesn't matter" which pointed out that any particular technology only really reaches its peak once it becomes universal and dirt cheap, for example light bulbs, or phone lines, or analogue radios. The period when a technology is fashionable and exciting and highly profitable always ends once the technology gains its highest level of acceptance, when almost everyone has it.

Does anyone care where they get their electricity? Have you drooled over what model of FM radio to buy? Probably not, but you'd probably never live without these two things either. They're more used than ever, but they're nowhere near as exciting as they were around the period of their introduction.

In fifty years time people will find it hard to understand the world's obsession with mobile phones, they'll be so mundane and an obvious part of life, it would be like getting excited over landline phone models now.