Throwback Thursday: My Sony Ericsson W550i

If I remember it correctly, my first ever phone was the Sony Ericsson W550i, the iconic swivel Walkman phone. I was 14 years old when I got it, and it was a gift from my late father. I still remember the excitement of finally having a phone that was also an MP3 player and a camera. Back then, it felt so dope, and I was probably one of the very few students at school walking around with a camera phone in my pocket.

But as much as I loved that phone, my time with it was short-lived. Just three months later, it was snatched while I was on the KTM Komuter, heading home from Mid Valley. I knew instantly when I grabbed my bag that it was gone, but I stayed in denial until the next day when I told my father what had happened.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t angry. He simply told me, “It was never meant to be yours, that’s why it was stolen.” Those words have stuck with me ever since. I felt guilty, especially since I had begged for that phone only to lose it so soon. Still, I’ll never forget how happy I was when I first held it, and how it marked a special memory with my dad. 💙

Sometimes it’s not about how long we have something, but the story it leaves behind. And that Sony Ericsson W550i will always be my first taste of having a smartphone and a reminder of my father’s wisdom.