Shaibu Ibrahim Shus Techs 1

Okay so, hi there. The name is Shaibu Ibrahim (pronounced Sha-ee-boo, Ee-bra-him). I was born on the 2nd of September in 1993. Which makes me 26, at the time of writing this.

I believe I started using the internet in late 2003 and early 2004. At that time, it was amazing, I spent all my money on internet cafes just so I could check out random stuff online.

Honestly, I wasn’t really learning anything online at that time, I just loved the fact that I could see things on a computer. Even though the speed then was horrible. Man, I used to be so patient.

Yeah, I still remember those computers having a really big TV as a monitor.

As a kid, I fell in love with computers just because I could play games on them. Back then, computers were really expensive, and although I didn’t have one for myself, I had a friend who did.

Every day, I’d try to finish up my chores just so I could go play games on my friend’s computer all day.

It got so bad that I left home one day without telling anyone and lost track of time.

I played until it was around 9 PM and that was when my friend’s oldest brother told me it was about time I went home. When I got home, I saw my dad standing outside ready to go look for me.

Right now, I’m thinking “where was he going to look first?” Anyways, because of all that, I had my “better be indoors” time.

I think I was around 8 years old when that happened.

After a while, we moved. And I had no means of playing games on my friend’s computer anymore.

Fast forward a few years later, after I got over the fact that I couldn’t play games and I didn’t have a computer, mobile phones started getting popular.

Everyone had a Nokia… including my dad.

And what did I do? I played games on it. I remember playing Spaceship (I think that’s what it was called), I wasn’t really a fan of the popular Snake game.

At that point, I was dying to have a phone for myself, which I never did… they were too expensive.

Well, eventually, those kinds of phones got less popular and then the Java phones started rolling out (man, I love technology).

This time, phones didn’t just have black and green (or blue, orange, depends on the phone) screen. They had multicolored screens… and cameras too.

I had to own one. Honestly, the only phones I had used belonged to family, friends, or neighbors. Eventually, my wish came true.

My first phone was the Motorola L6. It was black and beautiful and it was the first phone I ever downloaded a game on. I still remember being so happy.

Motorola L6 black

I can recall the game was Fast and Furious. I stayed up all night playing.

The only problem I had with the phone was its battery, I had to stay connected to an outlet if I wanted to game for long.

For a while though, that wasn’t a problem, but then as phones started to improve, I had to switch to something better as well.

I used some Chinese phones. They had antennas, and TV (yes, real TV!) but I never really liked them because I couldn’t download any games on them. So, yeah, that never worked out.

Eventually, it was time to switch, the lack of games was getting out of hand. I did some research about the next phone to go for that wouldn’t cost much but still give me what I wanted.

Then I got the Nokia X2. Honestly, that phone was perfect. I believe the phone is one of the reasons why Black and Red are my favorite colors.

Nokia X2
My Nokia X2

I could listen to music, download games, take really good pictures (5 Megapixels for a camera was awesome at that time), connect to a pair of Bluetooth headphones, all kinds of stuff.

But the best part is, even though the phone only supported 2G, the internet was quite fast, and then that was where it all began.

Now, due to the fact that I was testing out the Chinese phones I had with different games that failed to install, I kept all the games stored on an SD card.

I had faith that I would someday get a good phone to play them on.

My dad finally got me a computer (a desktop, with Windows XP). I had the X2 and I felt complete.

I started browsing with the computer using the phone and the Nokia Suite. If you know Samsung Kies, then imagine an outdated version of it, that’s the Nokia Suite.

I had everything I needed, a phone, a computer, internet, games, music, movies, thepirateba… umm, something is wrong with my keyboard.

I started downloading the games I wanted on my phone to my computer. I hate limitations and I wanted to have as many games as possible since my computer had enough space compared to my phone.

So, it was like complete a game, delete it, play another. The cycle continued for a long time.

Well, like every great invention (in other words, the Nokia X2), a time came when something better came around… the Symbian phones.

Now I never owned a Symbian phone because I was okay with what I had, Symbian phones also ran Java games so I really didn’t see the need to switch.

Only thing those phones had that my phone didn’t have was the ability to multitask.

I wasn’t too worried. Eventually, I got a Blackberry, but I was very dissatisfied with it, got rid of it, and stuck to my X2.

Even made a bet with my friend that if Blackberry continued making crappy phones, they’d be out of business in 5 years.

Do you guys think I was right? You be the judge of that.  Made that bet in 2012.

So, time flew, and my Nokia X2 could barely keep up.

Hearing things like 3G, front-facing cameras, and phones without buttons became common and well, I had to get me one of those.

I mean fast internet? 50KB/s was great but now there’s the possibility of getting 10 times that? Wow, sign me up.

It was time to switch. Knowing I didn’t want to make the same mistake I made with the Chinese phones, I did my research.

And well, what I needed was a phone that had good performance (because I wanted to play mobile games and experience 3G, to download games faster), and at a very good price.

So, I got the Tecno P5, it was my first Android device. I learned a lot of stuff from that phone.

Once I rooted it, it was like I also rooted my mind. Rooting isn’t as popular as it used to be, possibly cause it’s not as easy as it was before.

So, if you don’t understand what it means, don’t worry, it’s the same as not understanding that people said things like “get off the internet, I need to use the phone.”

Anyways, the P5 was a really low-end device, I had friends who owned Samsung phones and other cool phones that I can’t remember right now.

But everyone was coming to me just to get some really nice features on their phones.

In my head, I always thought “how do these people not know how easy this is?” but my friend (the one I made the bet with) made me understand that things that may seem very easy to me can be very difficult for someone else.

I still remember myself as a kid using my neighbors’ phones to play games and understanding how their devices worked, they always came to me when they needed help with some minor settings.

I remember they’d come to me when they were looking for ways to do things like set alarms, save a number, change ringtones, etc. I never really saw myself as someone people would come to for help in the long run.

Back to when I started using an Android device… friends found it cool that I could change their ROM. You could have the same phone as someone else but yours would operate and look entirely different because you changed the ROM.

My computer was also involved because the process of flashing a ROM needs a computer. Unless you already have a backup of the ROM, in this case, you can just flash it with the phone itself from Recovery.

Okay, not to get sidetracked, after a few months of getting so interested in working with Android phones and computers (running on Windows), it was time to go to college.

I applied for a Diploma in Computer Science at the Institute of Computing and ICT, ABU Zaria, in 2015. I got accepted and the life of Computer Science began.

One of the courses I was really good at was web design.

I did understand the basics of programming, but I just studied it to pass exams. Everyone expects you to be good at programming as a Computer Science student.

With web design, I didn’t mind working for days on a project. I could finally be the reason why someone looks at a website and be impressed… just like me as a kid.

So, yeah, I was still helping people out with their phones and computers. Fixing operating systems, getting rid of viruses, mostly software related problems.

And I made a lot of friends, possibly because I was doing it for free lol. But I didn’t mind, the looks on their faces when their dead phones or computers finally worked again was good enough for me.

Well, after my Diploma, I got accepted to get a BSc. in Computer Science. At that time, I really didn’t know what to do with my life. I was just looking for a degree.

So, in my third year of school (and one year left), I really needed to decide what I wanted to do. That was when I decided I would start this website.

It actually wasn’t planned, it just sort of happened. I remember looking for things I know I’m good at and Android phones and web design were the only things I knew I could do better than the other things I saw.

That is how Shu’s Techs started, which I hope will be a brand someday.

The reason it’s called Shu’s Techs is that my nickname is Shushu. I’ve had many nicknames in the past, but this one stuck.

Everyone was calling me that, and one of the reasons why I liked it was because of the way their mouths looked when they said it. 

It made me laugh in the beginning, but now I’m so used to it.

So Shu’s Techs is just Shaibu’s Tech website. Not shoes techs, although we’re still waiting for the time when shoes will have the technology to tie themselves like in Back to the Future.

Don’t worry, I’ll try to review the shoes when that happens, and expect tips and tricks articles too.

Well, due to the fact that I was in school, there wasn’t enough going on here, and yes, it really had a negative impact on the website.

But I’m done with school now, and I will be updating the website as much as I can.

My life now revolves around

  • Research, on how to improve my site for users in every possible aspect and how to reach out to you guys faster.
  • Video editing.
  • Daydreaming about the day I’ll be able to employ people and reduce unemployment in my country.
  • Appreciating the ups and downs of this journey.
  • Finally, looking at memes on Facebook.

I’ll be making a separate page where I talk more about this website, but one of the reasons why I created it, is because I really just want to review phones in the most detailed way possible.

Thinking about the days when I had to research a phone before buying, I wasn’t really getting all the information I needed.

I’m sure there are a lot of 15 to 26-year-old me’s out there that just love reading about phones. I’ll try to make this website a place where you can read and just fall in love with the phone you’re reading about.

Games are also very important as well. For the phones I personally review, I’ll show how good they play games.

For the phones I don’t personally test out, I’ll find out all I can about them from different sources and put it in a single article for you guys.

I really enjoy doing this, and I really don’t see myself doing anything else.

Well, that’s all I can say about me for now. If you have any questions, you can email me: shustechs@gmail.com.

You can also message me on Facebook or Twitter. I’m more active on Facebook, so expect replies faster there.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.