My very first mobile phone was a Nokia 5110. It was quite expensive at the time, at least for a college student. Now a second-hand unit on the gray market goes for less than $5.

What I really remember about my first phone was that it was built like a tank. No, it wasn't ruggedized nor designed for rough use, but the build quality of the 5110 was solid. It easily survived the many times I accidentally dropped it. A friend who used the same phone even reported accidentally pinning the phone on a rock, when he had to put his hand down to stay balanced.

Of course, his unit also survived. Granted, some parts became loose, particularly the battery, but it always felt like that the Nokia 5110 would break a window when used as a projectile.

Now I see smartphones and PDAs packing so many features into increasingly smaller casings. Which is all well and good, since it lets me surf on-the-go, keeps track of my contacts, and of course provides new and better ways of communicating.

I just wish solidness wasn't so expensive. Manufacturers, discovered that they could keep prices low if they placed less emphasis on the structural integrity of their products (you're not supposed to drop them, right?). As a result, today's high-tech gadgets are wimped compared to their ancestors.

It makes me wonder: what happened to the tanks?