This is our phone: cell and landline in one.
As a flip-phone, no data plan, no text plan-user, I know that I'm a minority in my social circles. Maybe I should go with the flow and buy a smartphone and join what I've been missing these last few years. Maybe I should be more "connected". However, I just don't see the need. I like my flip phone. It does the job. I also don't have a GPS. I use a good (updated: 2015!) map of the area with an alphabetical listing of all the streets. The Weather App? I listen to the radio before leaving the house in the morning. I'm doing just fine.
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| in its original, now-tattered case |
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| closed with a pic of my foot |
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| open |
Simon just received a snazzy iPhone 6 for his work (to replace his Blackberry). It's so cool, slick and user-friendly! For a few minutes, after fiddling around with his wallpaper options and ring tones; taking a few Margot pics (which I had to delete because it's his work phone) ; checking out the Cineplex app, I wanted one! I was so tempted that I started justifying the monthly cost and planning all the apps I was going to get… "Why do you need a smartphone?" my practical Simon asked. Hum… Needless to say, this put on a damper on my short-lived enthusiasm. Why do I need one? I don't REALLY need one.
My pragmatic self took over: If I had an iPhone, I think it would take over my leisure time. For example, instead of chatting with Simon during Margot's swimming lessons, I'd be playing solitaire on my phone while he would check work emails on his; instead of bringing a book with me to a coffee shop while waiting for a friend, I would be checking my emails, my eyes transfixed on a screen; instead of just waiting for the bus, breathing in the fresh Spring air and noticing the buds on the trees, I would be reading the news for the 5th time (this last one is hypothetical as I don't take the bus, and I'm sure the air at a bus stop doesn't smell like fresh rain).
To be honest, I don't think a smartphone would add anything to my life. Quite the contrary, I think it would take away from my daily hobbies and rob me from my precious time. If I did have a device, I would need to monitor and control my daily dose of being "plugged in". I don't want to be a slave to technology.
End notes:
Sad:
- I find disheartening to see so many people with their spines hunched over, eyes glazing at a small screen and fingers scrolling, in search of….? ….
Happy:
- An interesting observation: when I'm rehearsing with my students, no one brings their phones onstage (they keep their phones in their bags on the seats of the auditorium). I was unaware of that until one evening when I asked someone for the time (and, as you probably know, no-one under the age of 25 wears a watch) and no-one knew. Then, one student exclaimed: "Wow! That's so rare! No one has their phone on them! This is probably the only place and time where/when this happens!"This is hopeful on how phones are being used.
Disclaimer: this blog post might be completely hypocritical in a year: perhaps I will join the 2010's and find great joy using my new iPhone 8 (!)
