This is what owning a mobile phone as an Australian kid in the 2000s was like

More than 15 years ago, life Down Under was made up of horrible ringtones, Crazy John's and 2G. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. 

Asking your parents for a mobile phone was like bidding for the Olympics. You'd spend weeks and months trying to convince them that you were responsible enough to have one. You'd promise you wouldn't run up crazy bills. You'd promise it was going to be useful.

SEE ALSO: Some people are still using 2G phones, and not for the reasons you'd expect

Deep down though, having a mobile was actually just a way to look cool in front of everyone else in your class who already had one. Some spoiled kids even had two. 

Owning a phone as an Australian kid in the 2000s was not an easy feat, there were ringtone and wallpaper ads everywhere you looked and apps weren't even a thing. It was a time when you didn't have to track your insane data use or waste hours face swapping. Things were simple then. 

Let's take a walk down memory lane. A time when life was pure and clunky. 

You owned a Nokia 3315 at some stage, the 2G phone everyone had

As strange as it seems, the Nokia 3315 was kind of like the iPhone of its day. Not because it was the phone company's main product, but rather that everyone — you, your sister, your aunt, your best friend — had a 3315 at some stage. 

It's not like the 3315 was that much different to other phones available at the time, anyway. It made calls, sent texts and had the game Snake. All of life's essentials in one plastic package. 

You owned a phone on a now-defunct network and bought it from a store that no longer exists

Image: PHILIPPE HUGUEN/GETTY IMAGES

Orange, Three, GRL Mobile, Soul, B Digital. They're the names of Australian mobile carriers long gone, now a distant memory, resigned to the short book of mobile phone history. 

The risk of signing up to these no-name carriers would be offset by the fact that some of these carriers gave away knick-knacks like headphones or cases with your pre-paid phones. If you signed up to Three you could even attempt to video call someone like it was The Jetsons, even though there were only about 5 pixels in the entire picture.

You bought these phones from now-defunct phone retailers such as Crazy John's, who had a long-running naming dispute with Crazy Ron's. The battle over selling $200 pre-paid Nokia phones to parents of grumpy teens really got intense. 

You bought ridiculously expensive wallpapers, games and ringtones

If you wanted to be hipper than young Jimmy whose parents had given him a new Nokia for his birthday, there was only one way to do it: buying obscenely overpriced ringtones, plus some sick games and wallpapers.

For playground fame, you'd have to stump up $5 of your credit for a 10-second monophonic or polyphonic melody of some Eminem song or an hilarious fart sound. If you felt like splurging, you could buy a crummy Java game, or get yourself a Playboy wallpaper because it was totally a good idea at the time.

One thing that sucked during these blissful days were the "FREE RINGTONE" ads, which actually turned out to be an unsavoury subscription service that would charge you $10 a week. Ouch. Yes, the 2000s was the best time to be a company selling ringtones.

The horror of Crazy Frog

Who could forget that little monster, Crazy Frog? Surely, that was the most despicable thing that's ever graced popular culture in the 2000s. Relive the agony, right here.

Running out of credit was the absolute worst

Image: MARK KOLBE/GETTY IMAGES

A time before apps and Wi-Fi, the days and weeks of having no credit would be like utter hell — because you couldn't text your friends. Trying to beg your parents for more credit would rarely end well, so you had to get pretty good at your manipulation skills or do an extra shift at the local Woolies. 

Your accessories were incredibly tacky

Don't you miss the days of these sexy phone cases? The best ones were plastered with your teen idols such as Christina Aguilera or Blink 182, or perhaps even Betty Boop or a Ferrari logo, because you were heaps classy like that. You might have even had phone charms attached, or an LED keypad that would light up when someone rang. You stylish thing. 

They just don't make phone accessories like they used to.

Snake II was the go-to game

Before Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja, Snake II was the game that you could distract yourself with in class. Those magical blips were a sound to behold, as your pixel snake grew ridiculously long before you pressed 2 instead of 4 and crashed into a wall and died. 

The Motorola RAZR was so freaking cool

Remember when the Motorola RAZR came out? In the commercial breaks during The O.C. you'd be hoping, wishing, waiting that you could get yourself an ultra-slim and very expensive Motorola RAZR. 

Then Apple's iPhone came out, and everyone suddenly forgot why they wanted one. Goodbye Moto.