OUTSMARTED BY A SMARTPHONE???

Heidy-Ho, Blogging Buddies!!

The Title clearly lets you know how I am feeling right now.

I have had everything in the world of cellular from my very first "brick" phone, which probably weighed about three pounds, to my latest little pocket-sized guy on which I can not only talk, but communicate in writing via text.  Things have come a long way.

The little pocket-sized guy, however, has been dropped, hit by the sprinkler, and suffered a number of injustices over the years with me.  It was really time to think about an upgrade.

My friend, Susan S., believes her iPhone is the ultimate in cellular+ service!  She was kind enough to sit down with me over a cuppa' Joe to discuss her phone.  Hmmmmm.  Maybe I should consider one of these new-fangled phones?  Looks like it can really do a whole lotta' stuff.  Do I really NEED to do that much stuff?  Don't know.  I'll need to think about it.  Oh... and I will need to research the actual units themselves.  Gotta' use that Consumer Reports online subscription, after all!!

Have you ever bounced something around for so long that you finally reach the point of not even being interested anymore?  Sure  you have!  That's where I landed after Consumer Reports online along with Googling and reading a TON of consumer reviews on the top three phones.  I was pretty much over it and completely believed I could get a few more years out of that last "free" upgrade phone!  Sigh.  That didn't happen.

So... once I made the decision on WHICH phone, the challenge was to find the best price.  Lord help me.  That became another mired-down exercise!  I actually went to a nearby wireless store to see the proposed unit and check on pricing.  I checked online with the same firm.  I checked the manufacturer site for more information.  Again... I am really losing interest in this whole deal.  This is far too time-consuming and I KNOW there is going to be even more time involved as I scale the learning curve.  Am I up for that commitment?  Really?

The new SmartPhone was retrieved Monday the 19th.  If any of you have called me and not received an answer, it's likely because I am still trying to achieve the fine art of answering the darned thing without just simply pushing a button.  Nope.  That would be FAR too easy!!  What have I gotten myself into?!?!?  I won't bore you with the number of hours spent just trying to achieve some VERY simple things with the phone.  Suffice it to say I rarely spent this amount of time with any device to do something as simple as make a phone call.

I have commited a certain amount of time each day for the next couple of weeks to figure out all of the things this equipment does and how to do it without costing myself any additional money.  I realize that the MBA prepared me for running household finances but is insignificant in the quest to use the SmartPhone.  Sigh.  Will I ever be an accomplished user?  Probably not.  Will I ever be able to do the basic things I generally need to do with a mobile phone?  Sure.  Eventually.  Maybe before 2012.

I will keep you posted on the progress (or lack thereof!) made with my learning and using.  In the meantime, if you call and I don't answer, leave a voicemail.  As soon as I figure out how to retrieve it, I promise I will call you back.  Really.

Until next post...