Is Cell Phone Technology Changing Too Fast For You?
By dismalgrin
@dismalgrin (2604)
United States
April 18, 2011 10:57pm CST
I remember the first cell phone I ever saw. My dad had to have it for work. And it was as big as a TV remote... well the older TV remotes anyhow. It really didn't do anything but make calls out and receive them. Sometimes when he wasn't on call for work he would let my mom and I take it when we went to hang out with friends. I felt so on top of things back then. Like I had awesomeness in my hand! And that wasn't even one of the first cell phones. Just the first that I saw. Then I went into the Air Force and decided it was time to purchase one for myself. It was a lot smaller than that first cell phone... but it was still pretty big. It was the freebie phone when you buy the plan. All my friends could afford the awesome flip phones. The ones that still didn't do anything more than call or receive calls. Lol. Oh, but they did have different ringtones!
So then my grandma bought me a new cellphone when I got out of the Air Force. It was an adorable flip phone with a mirror in the front of it. She didn't get text packaging for it, but it could have if she would have paid for that too. About that time I became obsessed with cellphones and I had to figure out everything they could do. I read the manual forward and backward and played with it all the time. Two years later I got to upgrade to a phone that took pictures and recorded my voice, and had an alarm on it. Woohoo! Then I bought my own plan that had games I could play on the phone! And then my mom bought me a phone that had a full keyboard on it and I could finally text!
Now there is my new phone that I just bought. It took me a few days to figure out the android, but I LOVE it! I really can't imagine going back to one of the old phones I used to own. However, I just have one tiny problem... I'm too used to it. My Granny was having issues getting her pictures off her old phone onto her new phone. I've gotten so good at working cellphones she asked me to do it for her. So, I set about with her 'Blackjack' (ATT's 1st version of the blackberry) and I couldn't work it! I kept hitting the screen and sliding my finger and nothing was working! I got so fed up with it my boyfriend had to give it a go. He's so old-school with cellphone he is still sporting a razor! Lol But, he got it working and laughed his butt off and me because apparently the Blackjack is not a touchscreen phone. Lol But, it got me thinking, is anyone else stuck in the dark ages with their cellphone? Or are you so up to the minute with your new phone that you can't work the old ones anymore?
1 person likes this
6 responses
@misterMR (796)
• Philippines
19 Apr 11
It is really too fast. I had my first cellphone when I was first year high school. After a year, I lost my phone. I can remember the date, it was December 1. After I graduated high school, I bought myself a phone. I had no texting or calling experience during my high school life, which I think I'm kind of proud with. But somehow, I feel lagged behind my age group. But now, I have two phones with me and to think that I am interested in the other type of phones. I guess sooner or later I would have to buy a new one.
1 person likes this
@dismalgrin (2604)
• United States
12 Jul 11
Sooner or later go ahead and buy a new phone, but don't purchase one until you know you are ready. Because, yes, technology does be seeming to move very fast and you can't possibly keep up with it all, so when you are ready choose one that works well for you and don't worry about what your peers have.
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
19 Apr 11
Hi, dismalg...I know pretty much next to nothing about my cell phone. I do make and recieve calls, can check the voice mail and finally learned from trial and error how to put names and numbers in the address page. I think there is already a game or two on it but I don't know if I'm charged to play so I don't play. I don't have a plan. I use it so rarely that I'm charged per minute plus the $1 a day when used. I think I've sent one text in the two years I've had it. If I had the money I'd probaly try to use it more but I'm already paying for the ISP broadband so that's my limit.
1 person likes this
@dismalgrin (2604)
• United States
11 Jul 11
Hello, Yoyo! I understand how it is important to try to save money on the cellphone plan. That's why I have the plan I have. It is also prepaid, however I spend just a teensy bit more for unlimited everything. It still ends up being a better deal than others with regular plans pay. My boyfriend pays 70 dollars a month to have a limited amount of texting, unlimited data, and a limited amount of talk minutes. I pay 55 dollars a month to get unlimited everything. The biggest thing I have to worry about it charging my phone everyday because I use it so much I drain the battery!
My boyfriend's sister has a phone that she can't check the voicemail on after YEARS of having it. She doesn't even know how to figure out who her missed calls are from. She has to drive half an hour to my boyfriend's house to have him look through her phone and tell her who all she missed a call from.
@zralte (4178)
• India
19 Apr 11
Oh yeah, way too fast for me. I don't use many of the features. I have not really been keeping in touch with the developments.
I remember my first cellphone - a Motorola, and like you said, can only do text and make calls. I remember when I first met my husband, he bought a Nokia phone with camera, which was the first camera phone I ever owned and well, it created a big stir among my friends.
Remember the Nokia 3310? That baby was popular. I love that phone. Last very long and even tolerate swimming pool. lol....They don't make that kinds of phones anymore. All phones these days just cannot handle any rough handling, forget swimming pool.
@dismalgrin (2604)
• United States
20 Apr 11
I don't recall the Nokia 3310. Lol. But, I do know what you mean about phones not being made like they used to. My cousin has to have phone insurance because she is the clumsiest person I know with phones. She has run them through the clothes washer, dropped them in the dishwater, fell on them in a drunken stupor on the concrete out in the rain! Lol... you name it, she has done it. But, she has been having to have her phones replaced a lot more lately now than she did only a few years ago.
@marie2052 (3691)
• United States
19 Apr 11
I freak out every time I think about getting another phone. its not the phone as much as the prices. With everyone using a cell phone why cant they find a way to make them cheaper?
I am with T-Mobile and we know they are being sold out to AT&T. I have been on a very good plan with T-Mobile and the customer service says it is one of the cheapest and best plans I am on with my son.
So I am very worried on the next phone I buy because it will HAVE to have the internet to be able to do some basic things on your phone. I am on a limited income and cant afford my phone bill going up.
So I dont know what the solution will be. And as they say phones change so fast that when you do a two year contract, your phone is obsolete within 6 months or so.
And they dont let you trade up without paying a ridiculous price for a different phone.
I am seriously considering dropping my cell phone when the contract is up. Just depends on what At&T does to us.
I have the Gravity 2.
@njamoroso (76)
• Philippines
19 Apr 11
cellphone nowadays are like tv series. after a few months new models are coming out, with new innovative functions and designs. almost all of us can enjoy now the leisure and comfort this technology brought to us. I bet for sue in the near future. the only thing that we need to bring wherever we may be are ourselves and of course our cellphones!
@ivane07 (76)
• Philippines
19 Apr 11
I had my first cell phone when I was in second year high school and by that time, my classmates' phones had cams while mine didn't have. I felt envious at first because they had the latest ones while I was stuck on the old model. However, as the years passed by, I eventually realized that the main purpose of cell phones is for communication and it doesn't matter whether you have the new trends. I have a phone with new features but sometimes I'd rather use the simple ones because it's easier to use.
@dismalgrin (2604)
• United States
19 Apr 11
Yes, we were talking about cellphones in class last week and the girl behind me showed us her old stick style phone and told us about how she had an Android but it was posting pictures to facebook while in her pocket! Lol, so she dialed her phone back a couple of years so that she wouldn't have to worry about that. I've never had that problem with mine though, but I lock my screen when I'm not using it.
@hotsummer (13837)
• Philippines
19 Apr 11
that's true cell phones before are more like fashion statements . but today cell phones are more like a necessity . It makes life more enjoyable, productive and easy. it does not really matter now if you use the old once or latest ones.
