Better living through technology.
Feb. 15th, 2011 05:35 pmToday I learned I need a new phone. Which more or less writes off today as being a good day. I knew this was coming eventually, but I was hoping I'd have a few more months before having to break down and buy a new phone, since by then maybe something retro would come onto the market and I wouldn't have to fight my way through smartphones and touchscreens to get something that sends and receives calls and text messages.
For context, I've got a Nokia 3510. No, it's not listed on the Nokia website. It was manufactured in 2002, and I've had the same phone since high school. This thing's been with me through college, grad school, overseas travel, moving to New York, drops onto concrete and into snow and until last night it worked, dammit. It had games but I didn't care, it had calculator and calendar functions I barely knew about, it could do things I didn't even know about because I didn't ever consider using it as anything but a cell phone. It made and received calls and text messages. Unless I was traveling or needed to coordinate meeting someone I'd almost always leave it in my room and use it in place of a landline. But sometime last night it dropped another call, and this morning couldn't get a dial tone. I tried calling other phones, and no luck. I can't even get to the voicemail inbox. I don't like phones all that much, but I know how useful they are, so I know I'll need to get a new one.
I know there are phones out there without touch screens and hinges that don't have keyboards, and it's just a matter of finding one. So most of the irritation's coming from the expected barrage of products I won't have any interest in with features I don't want that others think I might like. Say, iPhones. Which I've tried, and never got the hang of, since they don't like my fingers. Or phones that double as MP3 players and cameras. If I wanted something that did that I'd get a damn MP3 player or a damn camera.
Given that the phone sitting on my desk worked just fine for nine years, I'll probably get another one by the same company. This one looks like a reasonable replacement, and so does this one. Even if it's got a camera built into it somehow - what's the deal with that, anyway?
Also, if anyone has any phone recommendations that aren't iPhones - seriously, I will punch you in the face - I'd be grateful to hear them, since the only reasons I know where to start looking are that the company's name is printed on the phone and it got a namecheck in the first Transformers movie.
For context, I've got a Nokia 3510. No, it's not listed on the Nokia website. It was manufactured in 2002, and I've had the same phone since high school. This thing's been with me through college, grad school, overseas travel, moving to New York, drops onto concrete and into snow and until last night it worked, dammit. It had games but I didn't care, it had calculator and calendar functions I barely knew about, it could do things I didn't even know about because I didn't ever consider using it as anything but a cell phone. It made and received calls and text messages. Unless I was traveling or needed to coordinate meeting someone I'd almost always leave it in my room and use it in place of a landline. But sometime last night it dropped another call, and this morning couldn't get a dial tone. I tried calling other phones, and no luck. I can't even get to the voicemail inbox. I don't like phones all that much, but I know how useful they are, so I know I'll need to get a new one.
I know there are phones out there without touch screens and hinges that don't have keyboards, and it's just a matter of finding one. So most of the irritation's coming from the expected barrage of products I won't have any interest in with features I don't want that others think I might like. Say, iPhones. Which I've tried, and never got the hang of, since they don't like my fingers. Or phones that double as MP3 players and cameras. If I wanted something that did that I'd get a damn MP3 player or a damn camera.
Given that the phone sitting on my desk worked just fine for nine years, I'll probably get another one by the same company. This one looks like a reasonable replacement, and so does this one. Even if it's got a camera built into it somehow - what's the deal with that, anyway?
Also, if anyone has any phone recommendations that aren't iPhones - seriously, I will punch you in the face - I'd be grateful to hear them, since the only reasons I know where to start looking are that the company's name is printed on the phone and it got a namecheck in the first Transformers movie.
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