Tuesday, April 04, 2006

when bells and whistles make you deaf

i had my new phone for five days.

i wasn't feeling it. it was a different brand than my last two phones have been. it was hard to navigate. it seemed counterintuitive. the keys to work the text-message-guess-the-word thing were opposite what i tended to hit. it didn't tell me how long i'd been talking. all my contacts entries were in backwards order. the buttons were one flat panel and easy to misdial. and i couldn't charge it and talk on the headset at the same time. i was terrified that i was becoming one of those old people who can't adapt to new technology and spend all their time moaning about it instead of learning it. that prospect really scared me, so i hung onto the thing four days too long. (mostly because it was so very pretty.)

but today when i finally took it back and got a smaller, cheaper model with much fewer fancypants features-- one i could navigate easily and dial with one hand-- i felt right at home from the get go.

i know, i'm a quitter. but i'm happy. and $75 dollars richer.

12 comments:

  1. What phone was it? Was it one of those RAZR phones? The phone sucks and people keep it about just because it's pretty.

    And the wording of the last sentence I typed is thoroughly amusing.

    ---X

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  2. told you so! :)

    oh, and you should totally MENTION the BRAND of the phone, because i think they're sick in the head bastards for making such phones that are specifically "designed" if we can even use such language to really deminish your cellphone experience! its like going to a really nice fancy expensive restaurant and them bringing you out a fancy plate with a rusty can of kidney beans on it.

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  3. Phone ownership is a complex cow. What looks pretty is most often utter shite. Kind of like people. The beautiful ones never have to develop their personalities because they are loved implicitly. Similarly, phones that are slim line and come with supersonic ring tones will always outsell the plainer, more reliable models. Ah the cruel irony of life.

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  4. welcome, audrey. :)

    you guys were right, esp you, ale. you had warned me; it was a Motorola PEBL. i should have known from the name. there's a kickback on it that makes it flip out of your hand when you open it, if you're not careful. i just have always been a satisfied Samsung customer and i don't know why i thought i could change and be happy. the can't-charge-while-using-headset thing was really annoying, i found it to be a subtle push to make users get a bluetooth. from about an hour and a half after i got my new samsung slide phone, i knew it was the right choice.

    yeah X, that is pretty amusing, coming from you.

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  5. Adapting to new technology is one thing. Adapting to stupid technology is another. You should be proud, a lot of people wouldn't have had the courage to take it back.

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  6. $75 is great! Plus now you don't have to worry about multi tasking with the charging and talking. Pat on the back good decision.

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  7. you do know why its called the PEBL? cus all you want to do with it is chuk it reallll hart into the ocean and watch it skip all the way to the horizon!

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  8. I'm with X. I've got a RAZR, and frankly it has turned me off the brand. I'll be going back to Nokia.

    However, everyone who sees me using it is insanely jealous for some reason. I'd happily change it for a nokia 8800.

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  9. Phew, I thought this was only me: "i was becoming one of those old people who can't adapt to new technology and spend all their time moaning about it instead of learning it."

    But then I see the others' comments and feel better too!

    AAAAAH PHEWWWWWW.

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  10. I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself. I HATE Motorola phones. I always take the free one that comes with a new plan, so I've never really had an exciting fancy phone, and my last plan came with a Motorola. I suffered for a year - those stupid side buttons that I hit by accident while I'm on the phone, suddenly doing all sorts of strange things. My current plan didn't come with a phone (well, it was a choice between a new phone or a $200 rebate - you pick), so I bought the cheapest model I could, and it's not a Motorola, and I'm happy.

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  11. Frugality wins in the end, anyway. Good for you.

    You could save yourself even more by not having a cell phone at all.

    I'm just saying...

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  12. oh dear. I was acxtually planning to buy the PEBL. I was actually impressed by the fact that it could flip by itself. yeah, me and my love of shiny things.

    I'm used to Motorola since I've been using it for 2 years now but I know its not very user friendly when you start out.

    food for thought....

    in any case, glad you stuck to your guns. what good is a phone if you can't even use it?

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