In a time where smartphones were non-existent and placing your mobile phone near a speaker would make the ‘doo-doo-doo’ interference noise, you still needed instructions on how to use the new technology.
In 1996, Finnish brand Nokia released the 1610 mobile phone, with the unit a step away from the standard messaging service – but that came down to the mobile courier. With a pull-out antenna and a 2 line monocromatic display, the Nokia 1610 was a very popular model, until the Nokia 5110 came out with the Snake game. BOOM! There goes the popularity.
To help promote the 1610, each phone received a ‘how to’ manual, as well as a VHS tape of an instructional video – hosted by TV and radio personality Amanda Keller.
Known for hosting the informative technology TV series Beyond 2000, Keller takes you through operating your newly purchased Nokia, but with a twist. Paying homage to Alfred Hitchcock‘s Dial M For Murder, the 25 minute instructional movie ‘Dial N For Nokia’ shows Keller at the front and centre of a ‘murder’ scene, which tells the story on how she recruits a mobile team bonding around a Nokia 1610. Through this recruitment of shady characters, she demonstrates on how to use the said phone, especially in complex scenarios.
Gold Logie winning performance, right there!
