Tuesday, November 25, 2008

needed a new phone. Bought the uncool one*


So I have been quiet once more. This time I have an excuse. I have been playing with my new phone. 

Now everyone out there knows I am not a "tech" guy or even a "gadget" guy. I have thought about pimping this blog many times and am yet to do it. I don't buy things when they come out and I am notoriously cheap. For me, this whole nonconsumerism thing is a bit easy and I have an unfair advantage. I can talk about it being about following Jesus, which it is. However, it helps when one is cheap and not into "stuff" as much as the next guy.

However, I needed a new phone. My last phone was almost 3 years old and falling apart, plus my wife was finally out of her contract and her phone was falling apart. So, it was time to figure out what to do. Do I join the cult and buy an iPhone?

Sure they are cooler than anything on the market. But, the ATT contract would cost us more than $70 per month for a family plan with data. So, I had to ask myself this question: is the iPhone worth over $300 per year for each 1? Is 1 less thing in my pocket worth that kind of outlay of funds?

No.

So, after initially flirting with the Blackberry Storm on Verizon (which is not out yet and won't have WiFi), I went for the other smart phone with cool aps and G3 networking. I bought a G1. I am very pleased. It cost a little less than the iPhone. T-Mobile (our provider for years) has great customer service and their service plan is very inexpensive. Plus, the interface with Google suits me well (I am a google guy, sorry Steve K) and the applications are amazing. Android is not there yet. But, it is a very good operating system with tons of potential. My prediction is that this OS will be as big as Blackberry soon and be the main competitor for Apple.

But, I am definitely not cool and not in the "In" crowd. But while I am not cool and in the Emergent Village iPhone cult, I am saving lots of money. And I like that.

I only mention this because I want to give others the permission to come out of the closet and say they are not ashamed to use a phone besides the iPhone.

*please excuse me for blogging about stuff so close to Advent

3 comments:

Steve K. said...

Well, Rick, I actually appreciated this blog post (unlike all the other drivel you usually write ;-) j/k).

Seriously, I too am a Google guy (despite my publicized misgivings - GoogleWatchers.org! *ahem*), and while I am a member of the cults of Mac and Emergent Village, I do not own an iPhone.

While I'm tempted to convert to iPhonianity right now because my contract with Verizon is actually up for renewal, I will probably re-up and go with the Blackberry Storm (although the Blackberry Bold looks attractive also,because it has wifi). Either way, I am probably, 99.9% not going to get an iPhone. So there. I defy all the stereotypes. OK, maybe not all, but some!

Michael said...

I'm hoping Google gets the phone thing figured out because the iPhone is NOT cool. It is so un-cool. Apple is in many ways an evil evil company who gets away with it because their stuff works better and because Microsoft is more evil.

A true open source phone would be cool beyond belief and I salute your moving towards to the true cool.

DJ Word said...

good to know I am not alone. I, too, love the idea of open source for the phone. It is pretty cool so far that people are making all kinds of things on their own for free and making them available for the community.

Steve- The Storm looks like a pretty rad machine. I am interesting in seeing what happens with it. I strongly considered it.