Help! I’ve been brainwashed!
June 23, 2010
Remember how I needed a new phone? I’m still eking out as much life out of my current phone and plan as possible but it’s clearly geriatric and the simplest commands take as much as 25 seconds to start working. It’s time for a contingency plan. But ….
After 5 years of working on a Powerbook, I still went with a PC for my primary use laptop at home. It took me two and a half months to activate my iPhone (2G) from Christmas 2007. Heck, I refused to activate it until my phone actually stopped working. To this day, I’m still grumpy about paying $65/month instead of $40 for cell phone service though admittedly, am addicted to having email and Twitter almost all the time. The shortcomings, quirks and many many dropped calls or freezing up incidents could fill up a phone book.
So … why is it that I’m having the worst time imagining life with a different phone? No, that’s not what I mean. I would looove a phone that functioned fully. I would love to have reasonably good performance and reasonably low pricing. T-mobile has a fantastic deal right now with, get this:
No Activation Fee
2 Free Smartphones
Free Shipping
750 Anytime Minutes
Unlimited texting
Unlimited web service
Unlimited mobile to mobile
All for $100/month.
$100!! For two phones! (I’m considering a family plan with PiC.) After taxes, even, let’s say, 20% in taxes and fees, that’s still less than I’m paying now. My budget rules my decisions when it comes to phones, so why does my not-budget now chime in with a reluctant “Mehhhhhh…”?
That’s it. Apple has brainwashed me into believing that their interface is right and all others are wrong.
I can’t even remember where half my apps are, I hate Apple’s business practices (good for them, oh-so-bad for me) but I viscerally can’t accept a different interface.
Well played, Steve Jobs.
I had trouble breaking up with my iPhone as well. I just gave up and ended up loving it even more. There’s no other phone for me! And the fact that i’ve had my iPhone 3G for 2 years means a lot…I used to get the newest Nokia every year before iPhone. And I won’t be getting the iPhone 4 until the end of the year 🙂
By the way, I am back on twitter, as polonewbie. I’ll look you up!
Some of it, I think, is that changing is so difficult. If you move to T-Mobile and hate it and their phone, you’re stuck there for two years. And you lose your unlimited data plan from AT&T. In that context, it makes sense to stick with a known good, even if an alternative might be slightly cheaper.
You’re comfortable. It’s hard to change once you’re comfortable. Hubby and I have been with Sprint for 8 years and now I never want to change…I have yet to have internet on a phone, but I’m sure it’s in my future somewhere…
Kind of like this?
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple
I will nevah, NEVAH get an iPhone. I just don’t see the appeal, because I’m not a fan of playing with my phone….
I even forget my cell half the time
Don’t ever buy a Mac computer. Then you really will never go back to the cheaper alternative! (PC)
i think it is one of those lifestyle upgrades people talk about. Until 2004, i’d never had a cell phone. i couldn’t imagine ever needing one…now I can’t live without one. i can’t imagine wanting to check my email when out and about on my phone, but i bet when i finally fork out for the pleasure, i will never look back. (that’s kindof why i’m putting it off…not to mention the crazy cost for that sort of thing here in NZ.)
The thing is, we are all trapped because we are so deeply ‘connected’ to all our communication devices. I am stuck with comcast because of all the hassle of switching my email that is attached to everything. Phones can be the same. Plus, you would be giving up something you know works, for the unknown. Sometimes the savings isn’t worth it.
I keep having to remind myself that work pays for my Blackberry and free trumps iPhone. It sure is a clever little device, though.
Wow! A hundred bucks a month for phone service and that’s LESS than you’re paying now??? Now wonder we dinosaurs went extinct!
I pay $75 a month for DSL plus phone service and I think that’s too darned much.
This is why I decided not to upgrade my cell phone yet! I tried out some apps on my iTouch, and it already made me a little spoiled! If I had access to everything all the time, I’m not sure I could go back either!
How is it no one is slapping some sense into me? Except FB? 🙂
@L.A.Daze: It’s so crackin’ addictive and it’s making me cranky.
@The Lost Goat: That’s true, I am a little fed up with change. And drat, you pointed out something I didn’t even think of before.
@BFS: It’s best not to get started with the internet on the phone lest ye never come back.
@FB: Kind of! But … no, I’m staying away from Apple products as best I can. It’s just frustrating that I can’t drool over anything new.
@Red: I actually used a Mac for years at work but I am having the hardest time shaking this phone thing.
@Sense: *sigh* I know …
@Everyday Tips: Ugh, that’s so true.
@frugal zeitgeist: free absolutely trumps iPhone!
@FaM: Oh dear, no, PiC would split the total cost. My current phone bill is $65ish, and splitting the family plan would bring my share down to $55ish.
@paranoidasteroid: Stay strong, sister!
Oh my goodness. I just hopped on the Apple bandwagon last night. I’ve had an Itouch since Dec 2007 and have just been sour apples because I was craving the Iphone. Now that I have one, I’m not sure I can even go back. And its been less than 24 hours. :/