The OnePlus One had people excited well before the announcement and unveiling of the device, but once it was actually shown off to the world with high end specs and a beautiful design, suffice it to say many had their excitement levels steadily increased. The phone overall plus the low cost to snag one just seems like too good to pass up. OnePlus has even been holding a contest to let 100 lucky winners pay $1 to get themselves a brand new OnePlus One. The catch was that it was thought the winners would have to smash their old devices to be able to pay the $1 amount. The winners were chosen at random by OnePlus which will actually be announcing the winners and notifying them later on now that the contest is over.
Not too many people were happy about the action of having to smash their old devices in OnePlus’s Smash The Past contest to pay a buck for the new device, luckily it looks like OnePlus has chosen to offer the 100 lucky winners another option to grab their new phone. What could be a decision made due to the overwhelming negative responses that created a shock wave throughout social media, OnePlus is now also giving those who they are selecting as winners the choice to either smash their old phone, or donate the device to a non-profit group called Medic Mobile. The idea behind Medic Mobile is to take people’s old, unused and unwanted devices and recycle them for use by healthcare workers in under-served communities. It’s a vastly more thoughtful thing to do then to just smash the crap out of your old phone. We wonder what happened to those unlucky individuals who were over eager and smashed their old devices well before the contest even began? Probably nothing, they more than likely just feel a little embarrassed.
So did you enter the contest? If you did you may have done so with a heavy heart and a little bit of shame for really wanting this new device that bad, the good news is that now you can do the admirable thing and donate the device if OnePlus picks you as one of the lucky 100. As for me, I was tempted to enter but decided I wouldn’t have it in me to smash my Nexus 4 so it looks like i’ll be patiently waiting till the end of June to try and buy one. We’re glad that OnePlus has chosen to turn the contest around into something much more positive and helpful.