When the developers thought of the plot and storyline, I don't think they thought about the year it was set.
The first thing that always pops into my mind is the
Nokia 3200!
Which was released, "January 2004" for a whooping "AU$579".
And was a part of the Nokia Expression (youth) series obviously targeting yesterdays youth and I'm sure a majority of those playing driv3r were between 14 - 24 so I figure it was good marketing for Nokia.
But we cannot let marketing get in the way of the year it was set in.
Hell, it could have been set in early 90s, Nokia isn't going to put the Nokia 2110 there.
or even earlier.
Then there won't reach the target audience of DRIV3R. Maybe there grandparents. But you could only buy these phones second-hand and Nokia doesn't want that.
So they put the Nokia 3200 there
Honestly, I figured they never planned the year the game was set.
It seems like a big collarge of different times.