I’m not an Apple fan boy.
I did run out and buy an iPhone though in 2007. When they first came out they were fantastic. The iPhone was the first phone I had that allowed me to pick and choose which voicemail to listen to after a long day of meetings. I could even delete them without listening. Getting to pick listening to a customer saying that they wanted to order a bunch of stuff rather than listen to my mom ask when I was going to come home next again because she missed me was awesome. It is actually the only reason I popped for an $800 phone back then.
I have had to a few of the phones since then. I had the 3G, the 3Gs. I’m not entirely sure what happened but the 3G phone slipped out of my hand and broke when it dropped off a second floor balcony. Busted phone equals upgrade. That worked out well for me. Yes I paid for the phone as a cash purchase and yes it was expensive, and yes I thought it justified because not having a phone was not an option.
Later, I switched to Verizon and missed having the iPhone 4 because AT&T had irritated me enough to give up the phone. This was before Verizon carried the iPhone. During that time I used a Motorola Droid phone. The one with the great commercials that made the Andriod operating system look cool. This period of my life still marks one of the lowest points for me and my use of modern technology. So when Verizon started carrying the iPhone I took the day off and went to get the iPhone 4s.
Then I moved.
Something happened here in Southwest Iowa. I am not sure what it was or how it happened. It might have something to do with not being able to pay for something with a debit card. But I’m not sure. But the world spins at a different speed here. The bottom line is that I had to give up my iPhone again. And seriously, that was just to get cell service. By a weird chance of legal and economic injustice Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint only work in the towns and across the entire town. Verizon happens to work on 30% of the hill tops in this area too. It might be improving but when we moved coverage was literally crappy. I couldn’t make a call from inside the house. Have you ever tried making a call for work, standing outside, when its 13 degrees and using heavy winter gloves to make a call on an iPhone?
Hint, it doesn’t happen easily.
This time I opted for a “feature” phone. The only feature seemed to be that the phone was smaller than phones with the same features in the mid 90’s. I didn’t even use these features back then. But it did what I needed. It made calls when my Verizon phone wouldn’t get signal. It kind of sucked but was a necessity to work. Based on my use of the Android phone in the past I just couldn’t see using an Android phone again. So I took a basic phone off the shelf with no data plan and only SMS messages. For almost a year I survived using 10 year old technology and it still wasn't as bad as using the Droid. It didn’t even have multimedia messaging. I checked my voicemail once a month just so that people didn’t get a voicemail full message. If I got a text message it was eleven key strokes to get to the message to read it. Responding was also a pain so I didn’t do it often.
And then my new carrier picked up the iPhone. I opted for the iPhone 5c when they started carrying them. I went, waited in line, picked a new plan, and traded up all while my loving wife stood there waiting (and laughing at me) so that she could sign the forms. It turns out that while
- I paid for her phone,
- I paid all the phone bills all out of my accounts
- and I provide basic support for her devices at home and help when the phone isn’t working properly, etc
That
- She signed the original agreements for the phone contracts
- and my carrier will only let me change phones on our family plan unless she personally signs the forms.
Did I mention the forms are on paper and not on a basic signature pad like everyone else? At least the phone carrier accepts debit cards even if the utility company won’t.
I use my phone for a couple of things. The first is making and receiving phone calls. That’s awesome when it works. The “visual voicemail” is really important to me. I’ve grown to like the maps features because you can search for something and then call them. It’s like having a 411 service in your pocket. Texting and email have become a necessity for me for work so that is a must as well. I use it to entertain my kids from time to time by playing a music video here and there a couple times a week. That’s my must have list. And all those features must be easy to get to and manage. My iPhone does that for me better than other devices I have used. It also connects to my Apple computers, iPads, iPods and Apple TVs easily.
My carrier wont let me upgrade any earlier than allowed anyway. So my plan is not to upgrade any time in the near future. I am still under contract on the phone I have so I’m stuck with it. I also no longer live on a second floor apartment for what its worth.
I am making plans for how to spend the weekend knowing that regardless of how much Apple wants to market to me that I do not need a new phone. I’m going skeet shooting with some friends on their farm tomorrow morning. It turns out in Iowa that you can shoot things with guns on a farm whenever you want. You cannot do that in the city.
We are all supposed to bring our own clay pigeons and I forgot to buy any. I think I can get by a few days without a phone.
PULL!