Picture this: you are in a commuter omnibus heading home. The day has been hectic, you are tired to your hairs; you can almost smell that warm supper, a bath maybe and a cuddle in your blankets, iwaya ma two-in-one. You are almost home in your thoughts and thank goodness this kombi doesnt have a radio- the loud noise gets to you sometimes. Then enter the G-Tide and everything changes…
There is this guy sitting next to you fiddling, changing his sitting position and you can tell he is quite uncomfortable for one reason or another. Restless, perhaps.
He takes out his G-Tide phone, maybe to make a call? No, he tunes in to Radio Zimbabwe FM to listen to his favourite programme Chakafukidza Dzimba Matenga. He has no ear phones and seems to think he is doing everyone a service.
You try to shut the sounds out, but the conversations are coming like a torrent. Despite yourself, suppressed laughter escapes from the corners of your frowning mouth at times, from the hilarious-but-serious social matters being discussed.
Guy number two sitting behind you is probably annoyed by the noise. He doesnt complain.
To feed your neighbour his own medicine. He brings out his own G-Tide to blast off yester year reggae tunes from his MP3 collection. Suddenly the whole commuter omnibus is filled with the high pitched sound of what could have been good music if listened to from a proper device.
At this point you cant help but laugh at the irony when this one commercial comes flowing into your head. Yangu inoririsa kupfura yako favourite tone (Mine rings louder than your favourite tone), sings Hip Hop artist Stunner in a musical endorsement of the G-Tide phone.
The phone has a HI-FI stereo, if not a woofer, the sound system is so powerful but is not really built for high volumes. If you can not afford a radio and feel comfortable with the cellphone as a listening device, G-Tide does the all-in-one trick. Thats if you dont listen to it in public or if you do please use that headset, its your music.
The G-tide, being a low budget phone that looks really expensive with some coming as cheap as US$25, has become a household name in Zimbabwe in a short space of time. Other features for this low price include dual sim card, support for micro sd memory cards, a spare battery, and the knack of looking like a Nokia- before you buy it.
Its popularity has nothing to do with gender or age. I like this phone because it has a good and powerful sound system, kana ndi chifamba muroad ndichitsemura Macheso ndi nononakirwa (when I walk down the road playing Macheso I enjoy it), said the 39 year old Tapfumaneyi Muchemwa from Warren Park.
G- Tide inemawatts, it is a substitute of a radio and television when I am outdoors, a member of the Presidential guard told us.
The company that sells these phones goes by the same name – G-Tide – and they are just as good as their phones at making noise about themselves – thats meant in a nice way.
They have adverts everywhere- on radio, in the papers, on the streets and have even sponsored an award for the girl voted to have the prettiest face at Miss Tourism Zimbabwe.
They pay her a monthly salary to appear at their events and to promote their phone. They call her Miss G-Tide Face of Zimbabwe and currently the title belongs to the lovely Michelle Gonah.
They have gone further and- as we have alluded to above- signed on Zimbabwes hottest urban act of the moment, Stunner, to do some jingles for them and to be their ambassador to the youth.
The thing though is that most of these G-tide owners have one thing in common; they seem to be allergic to low volume or earphones especially in public. Perhaps, because of all the fancy features, there is no room for volume control on this phone?
Its the mysterious curse, sorry – case – of the G-Tide. – Onesisa Mkandla & Shepherd Chabata for The Zimbo Jam
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