My Phone – The Saga part three

Let me just tell you…

You see… back in my day…

Hold on. I’m having trouble not dating myself here. I feel like anything I say is going to reveal my true age and everyone is going to laugh really hard. Not that they aren’t already, but I feel like there’s going to be enough laughter as it is without that tidbit helping out.

I finally got my phone. I was so paranoid about missing the delivery that I didn’t really sleep. It was sort of like Christmas, if on Christmas you smoked a lot of crack and then watched cartoons for 10 hours straight. That should give you a good idea of how the rest of my day has felt. Not that I smoked crack. I just feel like I did. The guy came about 2:30, and I didn’t need to sign for my box. In fact, he didn’t even knock on the goddamned door. That shit could have been sitting out there for hours. Or gone. Luckily I was sitting, awake, eyes burning, with the front door open (screen closed) when he got here.

The last time I got a phone, the box it came in was huge. HUGE. For just a little thing. So, apparently, companies have gotten better with their waste. Cause all my shit was crammed into this little box that fit into one hand. I also feel like there used to be a lot more in said boxes. But who am I to say? The last time I bought a new phone was 4 years ago.

Also a lot different? Setting up a phone is exactly like setting up a new computer. For obvious reasons. But it took me a really long time to get everything perfect. I’m sure a lot of people just run with the way things are right out of the box, but not me. Oh, no. Of course not. I have OCD to cater to. Bastard. So I had to have everything perfect. Not a single mistake could be made. So of course I made some.

Putting in all my contacts by hand was a bitch. Again, it’s been four years since I’ve done anything of the sort. And I keep my list pretty damn clean. Even so, I had about 30 minutes of sitting and typing information. I can’t even imagine how long it would have taken if I’d had to input all the people I actually know and should have numbers for.

The keyboard for my new phone, the Samsung Epic, is a hell of a lot bigger than what I’m used to. I’m coming off of a LG Lotus keyboard, and my hands aren’t used to having so much space. The virtual keyboard is fun, but I can’t rely on it, since the screens on these things routinely decide to ignore me. (There’s a rumor going around that I might be dead. Or a robot. Possibly reptilian. Or a dead reptilian robot.) I’m going to have to get used to having keys that actually work properly, as well. Instinctively, I’ve been not pushing hard on buttons that on the Lotus would have multiplied their letters, but on this one it means that I’m leaving letters out entirely.

The screen is super pretty. All the shit I can do on this phone is astounding. I’m blown away by how much more functional this thing is than my Lotus, and I’m thinking back to before it started to shit out on me.

I haven’t played much with the camera yet. But I have received a couple of videos, and now their contents don’t look like blobs. I called my mom to see how it sounds, and it’s pretty clear. Not having a flip cover is throwing me off a little, but I’ll get used to that pretty quick. I have an action to substitute for it anyway – screen unlock.

Oh! And I’ve already dropped it. Actually, I dropped it within the first 30 minutes of having it. It might be a new record, I’m not sure. But luckily it was on carpet, and there was no harm done. It does go to show that I’m really good at dropping my phone (or prove, probably prove, since I’ve mentioned this previously), and I really wish my case was getting here before Saturday.

Also, I need a screen protector.

Also, maybe a safe. And some guards. Barbed wire. Dogs. Big, mean dogs with rabies.

Technology

I love technology. I do. Very much. I love little gadgets, I love the way that over the past couple years we’ve gotten new things in leaps and bounds. I love learning about everything, figuring out how it works.

You could say that I’m pretty technologically inclined. Very often I can figure out how things work without having to look at manuals. This isn’t a hard-headedness on my part. Thinking I know everything and then getting confused or lost. I’m just in tune with certain things. I will look at a manual if I need to, I’m not opposed to it.

BUT.

And you knew it was coming, didn’t you.

I like my technology separate. I don’t want my phone to play music, go on the internet and take video.

I like my internet on my computer, which is a laptop that sits on my desk. I like my camera in a different hand from my phone. I like my video games to be on a computer or on my consoles. And I’d like my music nicely tucked away on my Zune in my pocket or bag.

All these little devices that merge everything into one thing really bother me. Not only because of the idea that if one thing breaks on it, you lose it all. But also because, why? What’s the point? What does it really matter? Why have all of these things in one place? Because it’s easier to carry? It’s not really all that hard to carry what I carry. Plus, I can keep listening to music if a friend wants to take a few photos. Or I can keep taking pictures and listening to music if said friend wants to listen to a song or borrow my phone for a call. Fancy that.

I feel like it’s really limiting. How many pictures can you take and store on a camera phone? Not many. And they aren’t very good quality. But, I fancy myself a photographer, even if I am just an amature. All the pictures I take are taken for a reason, so I don’t want the quality to be that poor.

And if I’m going to tote around music, I want to tote around a lot of music. A phone with music capabilities will never hold the amount of music that satisfies me. I suppose you could go through the process of changing out your music every single day to hope that you will pick the right thing. But personally, I never know if I’m going to be in the mood for that particular sound later in the day. So guess what? I have an MP3 player that can hold a hell of a lot and I don’t have to choose.

Yeah, I know my Zune holds other things along side it’s music. And I do use those features, carrying with me photos that I like and videos for long trips, but I sure can hold a lot more of that than a phone can, can’t I?

I know my point of view on this isn’t a popular one at all. People like their fancy phones that hold a lot of things and do a lot of shit.

But I don’t. I want my phone to be a phone. I don’t even particularly like texting. I really think that if you want to talk to somebody on the phone, you should call them. Texting to me is good for sending short, and I do mean short, notes. Not for whole conversations. It’s too impersonal. It’s also spawned a whole breed of idiotic spelling.

Wow. This turned a little ranty, didn’t it? Certainly not what I had intended when I started. Oh well.