Somehow this year I’ve managed to have four cell phones fail. Adding insult to injury I managed to not only lose one phone’s data, but the backup I made a week before it died. I’m not sure what I’m doing to destroy a cell phone every three months but it’s anything but convenient.
A couple nights ago I phoned my carrier and ordered the latest and greatest for the third time this year. Last time I owned the latest model it fizzled out in Chicago. Because it was only a month old the local service center gave me a no-charge replacement which also gave up the ghost.
When I bought my first latest and greatest in March I was miffed that within three months the company introduced a replacement. When it deep sixed I resurrected an older phone from my arsenal and reactivated it with the carrier. Shortly after its demise I bought yet another.
Every new phone I get is better than the last. Even though it may have looked the same as the one it was replacing, the guts or operating system are more up-to-date. My second phone this year was identical to the first except it was twice as fast. It survived three months before it started flashing on and off in St. Louis.
I’ve stopped getting excited about new phones. Even though I should be giddy in anticipation of the delivery, I’m foreseeing a time in the not so distant future when I’ll be ordering its replacement. After all, who would expect an $800.00 phone to not only last but not be displaced by newer technology months after making the purchase.
According to the manufacturer’s website my new phone has almost twice the screen size as my current phone and more than three times the resolution. I’m not a huge fan of the giant square that’s worn into my front jeans pocket. Now I’ll be schlepping around a device that’s nearly twice the size of my old phone.
Not that it’s a typical topic of conversation, but it was easy dialogue during Friday evening’s date. I couldn’t help but notice my date was texting on the phone I purchased hours before. Her response to my passive aggressive comment about her phone use gave me a new perspective.
Turns out my date is someone who purchases a new phone every time one is released. Not that the old phone necessarily breaks, but it’s apparently vogue to have the newest phone. “It’s important to be on the cutting edge,” was probably the deepest thing she said all night. Perhaps this is the answer to new phones being introduced every few months.
Mobile phone technology is a necessary evil. While I was holding for the sales department from my carrier I briefly considered life with just a landline. Then it hit me, not having a cell phone would make managing my business very difficult if not impossible.
I measure phone use in hours not minutes, so I’m not a typical user who may be able to squeeze two years from a phone. But because I’m forced to buy a new phone every few months I see the constant jumps in new phone technology and am always baffled. Phone manufacturers can get away with this partly because people like my date are going to make the purchase. Buying the new phone gives me a convenient excuse for why I may have lost my date’s phone number.
(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner. You can call him at (978) 919-8059 or visit www.LocalComputerWiz.com.)