I have been using my Nokia N97 Mini exclusively for 2 months, but recently the Nokia 6700 Slide and C5 were dropped by the house and I have found myself tempted by the C5′s small form factor and non-touch OS. My SIM Card is suffering the most from this situation as it’s hopping back and forth between several devices. This has lead me to notice a very recurring trend: my Symbian phones seem “jealous” to me. Every time I put my SIM card in them after having removed it for a couple of days, they go crazy. Let me explain.
When I first got the C5, I switched my SIM card from my N97 Mini to it for 3-4 days. It worked like a charm and I was back in love with S60 3rd Edition. Then on the 4th day, the C5′s battery went dead before the end of the day and I had to switch to the N97 Mini. The N97 Mini had been working flawlessly before but as soon as I put my SIM in it, it was unresponsive, lagging and killing me. I rebooted it once or twice and eventually it came back to its senses and I was back in action. I then used it for a couple of days but today I was tempted to switch back to the C5, I put my SIM card in it, and the device just plain froze on Ovi Contacts as soon as I opened it. Obviously, it was working flawlessly before. I then decided there was some bad spirit inhabiting my phones and decided not to bother and switch back to the N97 Mini. Lo-and-behold, less than 10 minutes after I had removed my SIM card from it in a perfect condition, as soon as I put it back, it went gaga. Reboot, and everything was perfect.
This isn’t the first time it has happened. Every single Symbian device I have ever had works flawlessly, but as soon as I remove my SIM card from it and switch to Offline mode it starts acting up a bit, then it just goes bananas when I put my SIM back in. Usually, a reboot fixes that. I asked the question on Twitter and several people confirmed the same observation.
Now I wonder why is that? The possible explanation is that there are certain radios and antennas that weren’t working in Offline mode or when the phone was off, that have to start over from a cold state as soon as I reinsert my SIM card and that having them all boot together is a strain on the OS when it also has to launch the apps that are set to autostart, and provide me with my own customized homescreen and apps.
It could also be that Symbian is a jealous OS and that it knows when you remove your SIM card, how long you removed it for and that as you probably can’t live without being available for contact, you probably put it in some other device. And like a spoiled little kid, it’s terribly jealous and can’t fathom the idea of being neglected even for a while. So when you come back to it, it just wants to show you how mad it is, and how much of a grudge it’s holding against you.
Just a theory ;) Your thoughts?
