Dumb Phone Update
So, it has been quite a while since you have heard from me. I’ve got a lot going on, but I’ve been having a difficult time typing any of it out.
Anyhow, here is a quick one, partly because somebody asked recently what happened with the experiment where I gave up my smart phone for a month. I am into my tenth month without a smart phone. Some people see that as a success, but most of my very techie friends see it as a massive fail. People who knew me prior to the experiment, and haven’t seen me since, probably find the idea of me sitting there without a phone near constantly in my hands, a surprising thing. I have so little to use my opposable thumbs for now.
In many ways it is great, however there have been drawbacks, and I am about to embark on a very busy several months that might be helped by a smart phone, so I’ve been looking again. As I explained before, I really want certain things in a phone. What I most want is a 5 row physical QWERTY keyboard, with defined keys, in a wide format, and I want the phone to work. Also, I want the plan to not be offensively expensive, and I want the provider to only piss me off mildly. I am asking way too much.
Anyhow, I am researching phones, and one of the friends who has been most frustrated by my more restricted communication availability happens to have an iPhone that is on a plan, but isn’t in use. It is just sitting there. The phone was offered to me, and I turned it down, because I don’t get along well with touch screens, so I need (first world problems) want something with a physical keyboard.
A few days later, I realized that was asinine. I should at least give it a try. So, I am currently borrowing an iPhone. Only two people have the number, the friend whose phone it is, and my kid.
The kid texted me to find out if I needed anything from the store. I tried and tried and tried to reply to her, and it wasn’t going well. Finally I sent her 3 messages. She responded by calling me.
Here are the three messages:
- Ing xanod dupe on thhos thigh
- Oh gps cannot atop laiidnff
- Halo
You can submit what you think I am trying to type in comments. It’s like the crappiest contest ever. Maybe I’ll text the winner.
She texts, “Turn on auto-correct and then type. That would be fun.”
I replied, “Aiyocotrdcy I’d on”
“Perfect.” She responds.
I did a screen cap of this exchange, and I would post that, but this is an original iPhone which did not allow the sending of photos via MMS, and I haven’t been able to set up my own email through the phone because I cannot get my password typed into it correctly.
It’s awesome, right?
Tags conversations - Dumb Phone - dumb phone - experiment - family - the little things - tori unplugged - ungeeking
butbutbut…. they Just Work, right?!?!?!
Your criteria for a phone sounds pretty much EXACTLY like E’s – hes been half-heartedly looking lately. I’ll see if he has any suggestions. Right now, nothing is jumping out and grabbing him with excitement, though.
If only the phones cost $20 and the plans were $10 a month, then I would be less picky about it all, but it really does work out to be a pretty big annual expense.
I did leave out one other preference for the phone. I’d like an Android phone. Although I am half considering a Blackberry at this point.
Basically, for me it looks like this:
Droid 4 – looks like the most likely candidate for not hating the phone, but Verizon is so expensive for their plans, there is no way. I don’t consider having a cell phone worth anywhere near that amount.
LG DoublePlay – looks like it might be pretty good for me, but I strongly prefer the 5th row. Also, I can’t even consider getting another T-Mobile phone unless I can find an employee who is totally functional to help me make sure my plan will not get horrifically messed up. It is in a very precarious state right now.
Sidekick 4G – perfect keyboard-wise, same T-Mobile problem as above, but there are a large number of reports from people that it crashes ALL THE TIME. I have very limited tolerance for that.
Xperia Pro – Appealing, if only it had that 5th row. Also, while it comes unlocked, which is nice, it doesn’t get 3G on T-Mobile, so it leaves AT&T, which was my most aggravating previous cell phone provider. They provided me with the worst service and the worst customer service and constant billing errors.
Samsung Captivate Glide – 4 rows, and again, AT&T
Samsung Epic 4G – 5 rows, but I really don’t like the way it feels in my hands. Sprint pricing is not excellent, boy I remember when they used to be the cheapest by far. This one is most frustrating because Ting resells Sprint service and can only offer Sprint devices, but cannot offer all the Sprint devices. I think if Ting had this phone available, I’d give it, and Ting, a try.
As Eain said on the RSS at LJ, he is aiming for the Motorola Admiral http://mstori-feed.livejournal.com/20477.html – he is also a fan of the Android.
I’ll probably give that one a serious consideration before I actually really contemplate going the Blackberry route, but I am hoping to keep to the wide format keyboard (although I know Android isn’t always that great flipped on the side.
#3 is a piece of Ikea furniture. You’re just missing the umlats (they’re tough to find whilst texting.)
What do I win?
😀
Typed on my iPad.
:p