Today’s news is filled with Verizon and the iPhone and the fact that Verizon is no longer taking orders for the popular phone and there are many conspiracy theories about the story. There are gadgets everywhere you look. And I love gadgets – why else would I have been super-thrilled to get a document scanner for my birthday last year to replace my filing cabinet. Thanks Dad!
So this might just surprise some of you. For all of my love of blogging, being on Facebook, communicating with others, being extremely organized, etc. I am surviving with old technology. Just check out the picture below. Yep, I still use a paper planner and my cell phone is archaic and my iPod Nano is only 2GB (I won it during a work contest in late 2005 and it was really cool until it became outdated a few months later in 2006 when the Nano came out with 6 colors and new features – why must technology change so quickly).
There are many reasons I am somewhat living in the dark ages.
First, and foremost, I am frugal…most of the time. I cannot fathom leaving my $35/month cell phone plan. Oddly (in today’s age), talking minutes are critical to me. (Stay tuned for another post this week about my voicemail-only relationship I have with one of my bestest friends.) I’ve checked out new plans and they are data/text-focused. Not to say I won’t eventually get there, but $35/month…how can I leave that!!
I have started texting…but very rarely. And it does cost me 20 cents per text. However, even at 20 cents/text I’m still coming out ahead. My bill may go up to $40-$50 that month, but it’s still not the $69.99 plus taxes (which we all know means add $15) I’d have to pay if I upgraded. I’m not much into texting because you should see what I have to do on that ancient phone to type out a simple message. NO KEYBOARD. It’s quite amusing. Letters are difficult enough…texting any punctuation is an act of God. So that’s why if you text me, I usually just call you back…I want to return your message during this century. And don’t bother sending pictures to my phone…can’t view them.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy texting…it’s the NO KEYBOARD thing that gets me down. I once borrowed my mom’s cell phone for an hour to run errands (had left my phone at home) and ended up texting my brother during my entire trip in the store because it was a whole new experience on a keyboard…I LOVED it. (Or maybe I just loved pretending to be my mom and harassing him…hehehehe…no worries, I finally divulged my true identity.)
I also know I would probably have an addiction to whatever gadget I owned. Andy often jokes about my phone or makes comments like, “You would love an iPad”. It’s not that I don’t think I’d like it. In fact, I think I’d like it too much! I’d never want to put it down. My kids would become neglected. I even purposely chose a desktop for at home so it would be an inconvenience to use it. I just love communicating with others and keeping up on what’s going on with my friends and family. I knew if we had a laptop again, I’d be dragging it all around the house just to stay informed at every moment.
I will admit it. I have gadget envy at times (ok, most of the time). But I also have buyer’s remorse a lot. I’ll buy something and then wish I’d waited for one reason or another. So I’ve held strong on this one. There are so many items/gadgets I wanted a year ago that now I am so glad I didn’t purchase because the updated models are even cooler and cheaper! I know I will eventually bite the bullet and get a new mobile device with all the bells and whistles. I will probably even get some sort of tablet computer to multi-task in front of the TV or take with me on-the-go. But for now, I’m loving the ability to open my planner and view a full week without a magnifying glass.
Dude, you will TOTALLY become addicted! Blanche Deveroe is keeping me up at nights with Drop7… it’s bad!
Kara
Howie talked me into my blackberry because it was hard to physically handle all of the kids plus a planner, and their appointments were multiplying. I now call it my “crackberry” and could never go back…same with my DVR. We would live without fresh produce before I could give these up 🙂
Krista
I now text like a 13-year-old cheerleader (except with proper grammar). I have a full keyboard on my touch-screen but I actually default back to the alpha-neumeric setting and use the predictive texting setting. You should try it – its amazing once you get the hang of it!
“Predictive Texting” – what? I guess I’ll need a tutorial. And K – I do have envy of Blanche. Kidd-o – I wasn’t going to use you as an example…I wasn’t going to comment on the time we went to the movie and I thought you were texting home and then realized you were on FB…on our date! No, I wasn’t going to bring that up until you called it your Crackberry!