This small company in Tripoli, Libya, has only just received the Nokia phone order that they made 16 years ago, and the old iconic ‘unbreakable’ mobiles show just how much technology has changed.
The world has changed so much in the last 16 years.
AI robots are now commonplace in some industries, social media personalities are now the biggest celebrities, and the Chicago Cubs no longer suck.
But some of the biggest noticeable changes in technology since 2010 come in the way of how our mobile phones look, highlighted by the time capsule delivery that has just coughed up a bag-full of Nokia 3110 phones.
VISIT SBX CARS – View live supercar auctions powered by Supercar Blondie
Libyan man only just gets his phone order 16 years after placing it
Thanks to services like Amazon Prime, if you place an order nowadays, your latest haul could be on your doorstep by tomorrow morning.
But that hasn’t always been the case, and in the time between placing this order of Nokia phones to redistribute from his shop in Tripoli, Apple has sold over three billion units of advanced tech.
That’s the case for this story shared on X, as one man bought these old brick-looking mobiles in 2010, and they have only just arrived.
Recorded on a video (presumably with a modern-day phone), the man unboxed his order and was left in hysterics at the ‘artifacts’ he was left with.
“Are these phones or artifacts?” he allegedly said.
The phone order was reportedly put on hold due to the conflicts in Libya, which broke out in 2011 and saw thousands of warehouses come to a standstill.
Une commande de Nokia arrive avec 16 ans de retard
Un revendeur libyen, installé à Tripoli, avait commandé ces téléphones en 2010, mais n’a reçu sa livraison qu’en 2026. pic.twitter.com/0SoXaMCK7w
— Renard Jean-Michel (@Renardpaty) January 8, 2026
The fact that these old Nokia phones still work is a testament to the brand’s reputation for reliability.
How far has mobile technology come since the Nokia age
Nokia once dominated the mobile phone industry after its 8110 model launched in 1996 and normalized widespread handheld ownership.
But since the legend that was the unbreakable 3310, the Nokia phones have become so outdated that they appear archaic.
You only need to compare the old bricks to the new iPhone Air.
Despite being on the same side of the durability coin, when it comes to showing how far mobile technology has come, just ask Google Gemini to tell you what internet usage you got with a Nokia (1GB, if you were lucky).
But this fun phone order just goes to show that you can never rule out a Nokia from serving its purpose, even if 16 years of conflict and supply line breakdowns has prevented it from being in the right era.
A timeline of the best phones from each generation
1983 Motorola DynaTAC 8000X: The first commercially available mobile phone that introduced the world to portable cellular communication
1996 Nokia 8110: Early mass-market mobile that gained cultural fame and helped normalize phone ownership
2000 Nokia 3310: Legendary for durability and battery life, becoming one of the most recognizable phones ever made
2002 BlackBerry 5810: Business-focused smartphone that revolutionized mobile email and professional communication
2004 Motorola RAZR V3: Ultra-thin metal flip phone that turned mobiles into fashion and lifestyle products
2007 Apple iPhone: The first truly popular touchscreen smartphone that redefined how people interact with technology
2010 iPhone 4: Design and display breakthrough that set modern smartphone quality standards
2013 Samsung Galaxy S4: Android flagship that cemented large screens and global smartphone adoption
2016 iPhone 7: Marker of the modern smartphone era, emphasizing ecosystem, cameras, and wireless-first design
2026 iPhone 17: Mature smartphone icon focused on AI-driven features, advanced displays, and deep ecosystem intelligence
DISCOVER SBX CARS:
The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie
