How it feels to lose your phone

Image: Yeoh
Well, my one-month old Nexus 5 was stolen earlier today. Snatched right from my hands by a snatch thief on a motorcycle. I was gutted, understandably. It all happened so fast it was like I was in shock for a few seconds. Once it finally set it what had happened, I quickly got on my laptop (luckily I had it with me) and got on Android Device Manager. I tried locating it first, but no luck. Not sure why though, had tested it before with the phone and it worked. Anyway, after that I set a remote lock on the device and called my carrier to disable my sim card. Unfortunately they couldn't deactivate the phone with the IMEI number, so that's that. I'm resigned to the fact that I will most likely never see the phone again, so I sent a remote wipe via ADM to remove all my data from the phone. Also changed all my passwords just in case. So after having a few hours to think about what happened, here's my thoughts after losing my first phone in more than 10 years.

It's just a phone
After the initial depression of losing my phone, I told myself, "it's just a phone". It could've been worse. I could've lost my laptop. I could've been hurt. Also thinking unselfishly, someone else could've been the victim instead of me. So I'm over being depressed about it. Crap happens in life. You just gotta pick yourself up and move on. We fight all the time on Google+ about which phone is better as though our lives depend on it. But in the end, it's just a phone.

Android Device Manager - use it
I am so glad I setup ADM for my account and devices. Being able to wipe the device sure helped me feel calm (relatively) about losing my phone. I still wish I could've located it, but I don't think I would've been able to do anything anyway. It's not like I could've walked up to the guy and asked him politely for my phone. At least I know the device was wiped, and none of my accounts or data is on the device anymore, so I can rest easy with that.
If you haven't set this up, do it now. Image: CNET
I didn't lose any of my data thanks to the cloud
Contacts, camera photos, documents, game progress, music and what not. It's all in the cloud. When I finally get a new phone, all I will need to do is login to my respective accounts, and all my data will be there waiting for me. If you ever doubted the usefulness of using any cloud service, I hope this changes your mind.

Don't lose yourself in technology
When you are out in public, be out in public, not immersed in your smartphones and tablets. If I was more aware of my surroundings instead of staring at my phone, I could've avoided this whole mishap. I can't do anything about it now, but in the future you can bet I won't be using my phone in public unless I am certain of what (and who) is around me. We hear stories all the time about snatch thefts, and we never think it can happen to us, until it does.
I won't be walking around with my phone in my hand ever again. Image: zhangschmidt
The world is a dangerous place
Just a general piece of advice before I end - we live in dangerous times. Just this morning, one of my friends was telling us in our WhatsApp group that his house was almost broken into. I can't remember the whole story, but in a nutshell, his house was almost burgled, but it wasn't. And wouldn't you know it, later that day I end up being a victim of a snatch thief. We read about horror stories all the time on the web, kids being rapped, kidnapped and killed. People being shot/stabbed in public. Car windows being broken and handbags on the seats being grabbed. It's a dangerous world, so take care. 

Until I get a replacement phone, I'll be using my sister's old SII, which thankfully has AOSP on it lol. I'll definitely be getting the Nexus 5 again. The local retailer I bought my previous one from has all models in stock, so I should be able to make the purchase in a few days, after settling my finances. I hope all my readers take note of what I said. Take all necessary precautions with your devices, and be aware of your surroundings at all times. Stay safe.
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