- They both can't do anything fancier than calls.
- I'm embarrassed to take them out in public.
- And the service is just... terrible.
I never thought it mattered what kinda phone I had as long as I could call out and keep up payments, but I dunno. Nowadays you have to own a "smart phone." My family and friends have blackberries mostly and just love the buttons off those things. They take it out at dinner and create little convo-walls with them before the food comes. It's isolating. It's even harder to answer calls around a blackberry. I keep it on vibrate and excuse myself out of the room. I bet I look like I have an overactive bladder 'cause I freeze, check my pocket and dash out. Not sure if I'll ever upgrade through. It lets me be more present while everyone else tetrises and bbms their way through life. I say that now of course, but I think I mean it. My phone has served me well since I've come back and I don't feel the need to always have it on me. As long as no one else ever sees it, I think I'll be fine.
Yaaay, a comrade in shitty phone-ness!
ReplyDeleteMy current phone is the one my parents always kept on hand for my return visits from Japan, so it's old as all hell and pretty much the same deal as yours. It's like, a pre-Razr flipphone. I even taped a crack in the front glass panel. RADNESS.
I agree with you on a lot of the stuff you said Re: smartphones. I don't know if this is just me, but when I was younger, I went through a period where I would take my Gameboy/DS/whatever everywhere (younger = high school and part of college). If there was any kind of wait time, I'd bust it out, often undeterred by my friends who were sitting along with me.
My friends would usually call me out on it, and playtime would be brief before I closed up shop and actually joined the conversation.
I've actually shifted to the other end of the spectrum, where, if possible, I will eschew digital isolation in favor of analog socialization (see what I did there?). I can't pinpoint where my values changed, but I feel like all the phone zombies running around could do with the same lesson.
The problem now, of course, is another point you brought up - chilling 1-on-1 with your phone is becoming less and less rude, or at least its rudeness is increasingly tolerated. With kids picking up phones at earlier ages and the baseline model jumping by increments every year, I'm curious as to where it's all going to end.
yeah, i'm all about analog socialization. But if i DO get a fancier phone in the future it'll only be to stop the taunts. which are many. I really don't wanna be one of those people who navigate their days through their cellphones. typing with my thumbs and ignoring my friends. cells are going the way of the toothbrush. promoting all sortsa add ons and convincing you you can't live without them. I remember when i didn't even HAVE phone. I bought my first phone when I was 19. maybe even 20. I didnt even start text messaging until i was 23. I think i'll be fine for a while if i have a phone that doesn't stream books or whatever these smart phones are capable of. at least for now.
ReplyDelete:D I didn't get my first phone until around the same time, I think - freshman year of college? Mostly got it so I could call home for freeeee~~
ReplyDeleteReally, my friends haven't really poked fun at me for my phone. It could be just because they know my employment situation isn't exactly making smart-phone money, or that I'm tech-savvy enough in other areas to get a pass in one, but I make fun of my phone more than my friends do (That could actually be another reason, really - self-deprecation for the win!).
I probably will get a smart phone some day, but like you, I hope I can keep my bidnis under control.