To Upgrade or to Downgrade - sunday 2009-10-11 2309 last modified 2009-10-11 2309
Categories: Daily Grind
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I was neutral about Blackberries before I got mine, but over time my distaste for RIM's Blackberry hardware and software has done nothing but grow. At long last, in a couple of days, I get to dispose of mine - which is technically my fifth, after all the problems and exchanges I've gone through - and now the question is whether to move to a different smart phone or back down to a phone phone. At first this wasn't even a question; I was ready to move on to an iPhone, but I've realized it's really just a matter of shedding the Blackberry when I have a replacement, any replacement will do.

Having a smart phone is enabling in several ways, enticing to me with the provision of geolocation services and email at any time. On the flip side, it also enables a degree of social remove, observationally and personally. It's not much fun going to a gathering where a large percentage of people are absorbed in whatever app or service is of more interest to them than their fellow attendees, and it's a guilty phone use for me to display the same behavior. Granted, a non-smart (dumb?) phone can still provide social distractions, but it's tough to pretend activity while staring at brief text messages.

I think I've ended up quite dependent on being able to access the web from anywhere with a signal, but I always imagined I could mitigate that on a dumb phone with a simple mail-to-web gateway.

Well. I think I'll end up with an iPhone this round. Maybe I'll be really and truly done with it all after another contract. Anybody want to join my family plan?

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