Thursday, October 4, 2012

Cell phones...

First of all, let me say right up front that this is not an advertisement...it's a grievance, pure and simple.  Or perhaps it's simply an Aesop fable turned on its' ear and then shaken like a snow globe.  I  never really wanted a cell phone.  It would irritate me no end to watch people walking around with those bluetooth (teeth?) contraptions glued in their ears and talking a mile a minute to someone I couldn't see.  I can't tell you how often I've nearly given myself whiplash jerking my head up to see who was talking to me only to discover them with a phone in hand or ear and not speaking to me at all.  And watching people driving down the highway with a phone in one hand and the steering wheel in another always gave  me the heebiejeebies.  Talk about a wreck looking for a place to happen!


But I bowed to convention and allowed my younger son and dil to give me my first and only cell phone.  It's a nice little Motorola with a few apps (  I later learned this meant applications,  not a sleep disorder).  It took me about a week to figure out how to answer it.  I still haven't mastered how to take a photo.  And the other day in a fit of boredom while Mac was in with the Doc I opened a music file to listen to some tunes...and then couldn't figure out how to turn it off.  I finally did learn to pause it so that the others in the room didn't have to be annoyed by Lady Gaga...I did tell you my son and dil gave me the phone?
So my older son got a new phone last week.  It's a Droid.  I think I have that right,  I know it's made by Verizon.  So, he's spent the week learning  about all it does.  It does plenty.  I keep hearing little shouts of "wow...look at what it does here!"  So, it does things like showing fast food  restaurant menus and nutrition values of each item; you can scan a bar code in a store and it tells you the price...but wait a minute...then it tells you where you can get it cheaper!  It takes pictures that rival his professional camera and can find obscure music (complete with song name and artist) and then it plays  it for you.  You take your finger and move over to new pages and its GPS will show you where you are and a satelite picture of the exact spot. It gives you the weather and the temperature where you are standing. It plays a game with you when you are out walking.  I think he said it was Escape the Zombies.  It shows where zombies might be lurking and which route to take to avoid them.    This is not something I would do, I don't do dark walking.  This phone even hooks up to the internet and does things my computer can't do.  Who knew?
I'm sure that when I next see him, I'll be hearing about yet another thing that his  phone can do that my own phone  can't.  I hear from a reliable source that I have a wienie phone that I need to learn to master before considering a new model.  But I'm telling you, when he comes in and tells me that there is a "load the dishwasher app"  I'm going to be suitably impressed.  Oh, and headed for the Droid store.

12 comments:

Vee said...

Go boldly into that brave world... I'll just stay at home and be in awe of my old cell phone. The one that doesn't ring because I forgot to recharge it. My life is ever so much more quiet now. Those boys of yours are going to keep you in the 21st Century!

Sally said...

Girl, I've had the same cell phone for about 7 years, and still have to ask my granddaughter to input phone numbers. You're doing good!!

xoxo

the fly in the web said...

I loathe the telephone.
In childhood it was the harbinger of bad news..illness, death. Suitcase packed.
Working, it was increasingly the weay in which people would contact me, rather than writing a letter which would have given a more accurate account of their problem.
Retired...it kept ringing when I was in the garden.
I never wanted a mobile...but now that we have a house in the capital, I need to have conact with my husband who is there half the week..so the mobile it is.
The brute.
I wouldn't even pardon it if it could load the washing machine.

Akelamalu said...

LOL I've got a Droid (apparently) but have no idea about most of the things it can do. I can make/answer a call, send a text, use the camera and that's about it - it's enough for me. LOL

Lee said...

LOL! Well I'm proud of you and your son. You've learned to use a kindle and a laptop. I'm sure you could use a smart phone if you had one. Especially since they can provide you with directions to where you are going or call to let your friends know you are running late because of awful traffic.

Glad you posted about this. Maybe someday in the not to distant future we can play games with each other via our cell phones.

Love,
Lee

Kathy's Klothesline said...

I think of my cell phone as an emergency phone. I washed my old one and it died. It was a very basic one and I asked for another basic one. I got one with a slide out keyboard! Hate it! I don't text, don't want to, sort of refuse to. I am old, call me on the land line! Or better yet, sit down and write a letter and tell me what is going on in your world. Texting ..... bah!

Maggie May said...

You seem very *with it* when it comes to mobiles (as we call them here.)
I have a simple pay as you go for emergencies but I use it mainly for texting which is really good. I just wish more older folk new how to text!
Maggie X

Nuts in May

Donna said...

I think there's an App that when touched, money falls out...Hahaaaa
hughugs

Merisi said...

App, app, app we go! :-)

Debbie Lo said...

Sandi, you are too cute. You had me chuckling with that post! Hubby and I are slow on updating our techno gadgets too. Heck. We were excited earlier this year when we got sliding keyboards on our new phones!! Who knows how long we'll go before getting touch screens!! ( Your son's phone does sound REALLY cool though!)

Judy said...

Like Vee...I'm still in awe of my old cell phone...that doesn't do much. But the pressure is on!

Unknown said...

There's too many models to choose from. Be sure to buy wisely. Every cellphones have different features.

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