I've been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Say hello to my new phone.
Why, you might ask, would a confirmed Luddite like myself take such a drastic step? Well... it just finally got to the point where not having one was more inconvenient than the trouble of getting one.
Now, lest you think that I'm going to become one of those earbud wearing, app checking, texting zombies...
...here's my rationalization... I mean excuse... I mean reasoning...
First of all, since Google's "mobilegeddon" it's pretty much imperative that all web pages be mobile friendly. This is what I've been working on for the past few months. And while I've accomplished a great deal using simulators, there comes a point when you really need to understand the mobile experience to effectively design for it.
Secondly... while I don't spend much time away from home, there have been a few times recently when it would have been really nice to have had a smartphone out on the bike path.
CatMan is pretty good at reading the skies, but the weather this summer has been nothing short of crazy, and there have been several times that it's been sheer luck that kept us out of the tornadoes, hail and major street flooding. Having access to the weather radar while on the road is starting to feel like a genuine safety concern rather than just a luxury.
Plus, having GPS would be really nice in the event of another emergency like the time CatMan fell and broke his pelvis. We called for help on my flip phone, but trying to figure out exactly where to send our rescue party was a bit... um... challenging. "Well... we're along Clear Creek somewhere - there's a big white building to the north, and some trees to our east... um..."
I am also really looking forward to having a phone and camera all in one - it will be one less thing to carry on my bike, and transferring photos will be a lot easier through my home WiFi than having to plug in the camera, upload them to the computer... yadda, yadda, yadda.
I probably would have gotten a much cheaper phone if it weren't for the camera. I wanted to be able to take decent wildlife shots yanno...
And finally, it's just getting to the point where doing business without a smartphone is becoming increasingly challenging.
Recently my online savings account changed their policy so you can no longer transfer funds to another bank without a smartphone (well... you can, but only if you're willing to wait on hold for about 30 minutes and deal with the PITA factor of having to go through customer support).
Plus, I've tried to sell some things on Craigslist recently, but they won't let me do it because I have to send a text to verify my account and I haven't a clue how to do that on my flip phone.
Anyhow, I just think the writing's on the wall, and not having a smartphone is getting to be like not having email or something.
Soooo, when the minutes recently expired on my pre-paid flip phone, I decided that it was a sign. So I bit the bullet & took the plunge.
I researched various budget smartphone plans and finally decided to go with Ting. It's a pretty good deal for someone like myself who doesn't intend to use the thing very much. You pay $6/month (per phone) to have the service, and an incremental fee on top of that based on your actual usage. And if you use WiFi for internet access, it costs nothing. I figure most months I'll probably only have to pay the $6 - and if and when I do need to make an occasional call or check the weather radar on the bike path, I'll be happy to pay the small fee for the privilege of doing so.
BTW - if anybody out there is considering signing up for Ting, if you do so through this link I'll get a little referral credit on my account.
So we'll see how this goes. So far my experience is... well... it took 5 hours to get the thing up and running. I'm trying not to hold that against either Motorola or Ting since I'm a complete newbie here, but it took me half an hour just to figure out how to turn the darned thing on!
I'm hoping it will get better... please tell me it gets better...
So tell me, do you have a smartphone? I'm assuming most of you do because I think I was sorta the last holdout here... Do you enjoy using it? Because, to be honest, at the moment I'm sort of having to fight the urge to throw the thing at a wall and watch it smash into little bits. Learning curves... it will get better...
In the meantime, I'm gonna go take a walk and leave this thing at HOME!
Nice! Using it will definitely be an adjustment . . luckily my hubby's had a smartphone since 2009 so I caught on quickly to mine from using his. The best thing is watching youtube videos of other people who have your phone. I've learned some cool tricks that way :)
ReplyDeleteI just got my smartphone last year - you're not alone in resisting! I would've gotten one sooner if the plans associated with them were cheaper. I pay $11 a month with Republic Wireless for unlimited talk and text, and wifi data. Perfect for me.
That sounds like a great deal! I considered Republic as well, but since I don't plan to really use the thing as a phone (except for emergencies) Ting seemed like the better deal for me.
DeleteI don't think I'm ready for "cool tricks" yet - I'm still in the remedial stage, having never really even used a regular cell phone. I think I made a total of about 5 calls on my old flip phone over the many years that I owned the thing!
You're not the last holdout - I don't even have a dumb phone!
ReplyDeleteHowever my husband is making threatening talk about upgrading
his 3 year old smartphone and giving the old one to me. Maybe
it will be nice to have a portable source for silly cat videos!
Silly cat videos! The interwebs is such a source of progress isn't it?
DeleteI'm still a holdout, but the writing is on the wall because as you said, it is getting harder to do business without one. And I also have the inertia of researching the best plan/phone etc. Did you look around a lot before you signed up with Ting?
ReplyDeleteI probably could have done more research, but Ting seemed so right for me that I decided it wasn't worth the hassle. I mostly looked at Ting, Republic Wireless and Consumer Cellular - all networks that had been recommended by fellow frugal folk. I think if I was planning to use the talk & text features for more than the occasional emergency, I might have leaned toward a different carrier - one with unlimited service in those areas. But since the chances of me learning to send a text are... well, let's just say they're slim, and since I still HATE cell phones as a means of talking to people (the way the connections work make me crazy - how it cuts off if both people say something simultaneously).. it just seemed like a pay for what you use plan made most sense for my situation.
DeleteNow... just don't try to migrate a phone number if you happen to be unfortunate enough to have a zero in the wrong place in your social security number.... grrrr....
Um, I have one, but I haven't yet drunk the Kool-Aid. By which I mean it sits in my purse until the battery runs out. Then I plug it in. I've only used it for long-distance calls. I have almost memorized my new number. I have no clue how to check messages or update contact information--people just grab it out of my hands, enter their contact information, and don't believe me when I say I still never answer my phone.
ReplyDeleteHa! Well, you're one step ahead of me! I intend to keep the thing powered down unless and until I need it for something! I don't plan on giving anyone my number because... well, they might try to call me on it or something, and it would make me totally crazy to have a phone ringing at me when I'm out and about!
DeleteI have one...in fact, I am using it to write this comment...
ReplyDeleteI try very hard not to be a smart phone zombie and actually interact with people. But it's my primary device for going on the Internet- to the extent that I use my laptop once or twice a week at most.
I have an iPhone- which I tried to resist in favour or a cheaper smartphone for years...until my bf face me his old one. After that I was hooked by the camera, which is much better than any of the other phones I've tried, and much easier than lugging a proper camera around!
I've always found mobile phones fairly easy to learn to use- mostly by just clicking stuff until I work out how to get it to do what I want!
I really hate answering the phone, incidentally... I much prefer text or messages...although face to face conversation is better.
Phone was very useful this weekend though- we were away at a wedding, and my friend who was on pet feeding duties rang to say the lock on the front door had just fallen out as she tried to lock it..! (I was in the middle of a wood walking the dog when she rang..)
Wait... you mean you actually typed that entire comment on a phone?!? I doubt I'll ever get that comfortable with the whole thumb typing thing - I am a creature of my era I suppose, but I can touch type significantly faster than I can write... sometimes faster than I can think the words!
DeleteI'm hoping the camera on this phone turns out OK... an older model iPhone was another one I considered, but the camera was significantly lower resolution (8mp as opposed to 13 on the phone I got.)
I'm hoping that the whole "intuitive" design thing becomes more intuitive with time, because at the moment it sorta looks like hieroglyphics to me! Seriously... there's a triangle, a circle and a square at the bottom of the screen... what could it possibly mean?
And I do think there are probably times when one would want to be available by phone... at least available to specific people. I'll cross that bridge when I get there though. At the moment the thing is staying powered down unless I need it for something!
Yup...I typed that comment on my phone...and this one too ;)
DeleteI suppose because I have had a mobile since I was about 14, I've got used to new technology gently, as it's developed. (I've always been a bit behind the curve though, there is no point having the newest shiniest thing when the less new thing does the job...)
Leaving it off and avoiding the potential for compulsively checking the phone sounds like a good plan...I do find myself looking at mine a lot (usually when I want to Google the answer to a question that has popped into my head!) When I am somewhere with no internet, though, I quickly get out of the phone checking habit (thankfully!)
That's the thing... I never really used my old flip phone either - probably made an average of one call per year - so I'm totally feeling like a stranger in a strange land! I guess that's another reason I decided to take the plunge... didn't want to get so far behind that I would never catch up!
DeleteI'm absolutely addicted to mine. Reading blogs (and commenting), reading the news, texting, photographs, online banking, online shopping, walking app, exercise app, brain training app, diary, alarm clock, reminders etc. I don't use it as a phone very much, but FaceTime is interesting.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... the thing is, I use my old desktop for most of those features, and I really, REALLY like that I can't take it with me because otherwise I would never get to decompress! And I just went and looked up FaceTime - ooooo... scary thought! Not sure I would like the whole video chat thing.
DeleteIt's funny, but this whole thing is making me think that I am a much more private person than I realize!
I did FaceTime with my father-in-law earlier this year. I know I'm not young anymore, and I hope the camera angle was really unflattering but did he really have to say "what happened to your neck?". Haven't used it since then and I'm wearing a lot of scarves!!
DeleteOMG... Yes! This is my fear! I hate to think what I might look like from certain angles in certain lighting... not goin' there... :-)
DeleteI don't have one...yet. But it's getting harder to do without. I have to drag myself to all kinds of inconvenient places to make sure I buy my monthly public transportation pass in time, but if I had an Iphone I could just use that.
ReplyDeleteOk, my sense of humour is totally juvenile, and I really don't mean to make light of CatMan's accident, but when I read "like the time CatMan fell and broke his pelvis", I kind of substituted pelvis with... another word. ;) I'm guessing both would be very painful though, and a GPS would come in handy!
Maria
Ha! I'm totally laughing out loud (for reals). I've gotta tell you though, the x-ray of his pelvis showed off that other organ rather amazingly! :-)
DeleteI don't have a smartphone either. i only have a regular slide up qwerty phone. every now and then i 'pine' for a smartphone with internet and a good phone, but my son would want one too and would use up all the available monthly data and it would end up costing me a fortune.
ReplyDeletesome day though
i meant 'good camera'. mine is kind of crappy.
DeleteI was actually wishing that they still made those phones with actual keyboards, but was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to type on the phone... "easy" being a relative term, of course. The phone has this feature where it vibrates a tiny bit when it registers a keystroke, and somehow that feedback made a world of difference in how it feels to use it.
DeleteAnyhow... I'm not planning on becoming an addict... we'll see how it goes!
I don't have a smart phone or even a not smart one. Just the landline with the phones attached to the wall. I live a very sheltered life:)
ReplyDeleteIf my bank made it so hard to use without a SP I get another bank or take out my cash and put it under the mattress......yes! I live a very sheltered life:)
Marieann
Ha! Good plan on the bank. If I wasn't so lazy I'd probably do just that.
DeleteAnyhow... the phone had a very interesting inaugural first real day - I'll write a full post about it soon, but suffice it to say it was a lifesaver on day one!
I finally got a smartphone last year, because it was free. It's an iphone 5. While I'm PC all the way for computers, I find Apple devices so much easier to use. It's also my only phone, I cut the landline 12 years ago and don't miss it. I'm far, far from addicted and long for the days when everyone wasn't always attached to their phones. That said, it is handy if you need to look something up, for GPS/maps and as an entertainment device for short periods of time. I can't stand surfing or doing anything on it for too long tho, the screen is too small for that!
ReplyDeleteWow! I can't imagine being without a landline, though it does seem to be the wave of the future. I'd probably feel differently if CatMan and I didn't spend an average of 3 hours on the phone together each day!
DeleteHmm, I have talk and text (well, technically, I should have internet but my phone is a pseudo-smartphone from Tracfone and it takes so long for the internet to connect that it isn't time- or money-feasible to use that feature). I'm like you ... I don't use it very much but I see the writing on the wall and I think we will be pretty much forced to use smartphones in the near future. I like Ting's plan best (saw it on frugalgirl, bet you did too!) but I think Republic Wireless might have better coverage in my area. I checked into Consumer Cellular but it doesn't seem like a great deal financially. If anyone has experience with using any of these plans in West Michigan, LMK what you thought of them!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love texting for quick comments ("running late, see you in 20" kind of a thing) but for longer messages? Not so much. It might be due to my phone, though.
I have yet to experience this whole texting thing. I think it only works for people who have their phones turned on and with them most of the time. I don't think that will ever be me! I can totally see the advantage but still hate the idea of being available to the world like that!
DeleteOh, meant to say ... I bet your Hell picture was taking in Michigan, since there is both a Hell and a Paradise in our state.
ReplyDeleteHa! I think you're probably correct, though there is a Hell, Norway too.
DeleteWait, we talked about this before, didn't we? A mind is a terrible thing to waste ...
Deleteyeah, but I do web development for mobile sites, so it helps me to understand the user experience. work doesn't pay for it though. I also use Ting! It definitely reduced my bills over verizon.
ReplyDeleteYup... I've already determined that a few things that worked in the simulator don't actually work on the phone. Hmmm....
DeleteI was dragged into the 21st century almost four years ago. I was getting ready to move into town (the studio apartment) and my son was thrilled because that area had coverage with his cell company so I could go on his family plan. He called and asked me what phone I wanted. I answered a simple one with camera. He showed up with a smart phone and said that after using if for a few months if I hated it he would get me a dumb phone again. Well, I've never gone back.
ReplyDeleteYou should be forewarned that regardless of which weather app you are using for radar they aren't accurate. I first had the Weather channel's app but it was so wrong so much of the time I deleted that and went with AccuWeather. That seemed to be much more accurate, down to the minute, until recently. In the last couple of weeks the radar has shown rain that never comes or it will be pouring here and the radar shows nothing anywhere around me. I now check both the radar and my own senses. If it feels like rain I grab and umbrella and hope for the best..
Well, I'm trying to make friends with the thing. First thing... turned off all notifications! Holy Moly! No wonder those things make people crazy! I turned the thing on to take a picture and suddenly all this crap is beeping at me. No! Shut Up! I don't care what some stupid person I went to high school with said on Facebook!!!
DeleteAnyhow, thanks for the warning about the weather apps. I was sorta thinking I could just go to the web page of the local news channel... but perhaps it doesn't work that way? I don't really understand why we have to have this distinction between mobile apps and mobile friendly web pages... grrr...
I don't use a weather app. Just a web page with weather.gov and my local ZIP code. Depending on where you are on your bike, you might not get consistent data service.
DeleteIt will be interesting to see how it goes. I have my internet service through Comcast, and they actually have a setup that turns every home with WiFi into a mini hotspot - their routers have 2 separate networks, a private one for the home and a public one for other Comcast customers. I was able to access it most places on the bike path - haven't tried to access data through the wireless company yet.
DeleteAnyhow, thanks for the tip on weather.gov!
I entered the smart phone world in May when my family changed providers. I was a bit apprehensive, and there was a bit of a learning curve (there's probably still a lot I don't know, but I know the basics and enough extras to spend more time on it than is ideal).
ReplyDeleteI'm starting to see how people get addicted to them. I spent a chunk of the day going through the few apps I have installed, turning off all notifications. No wonder people are always grabbing their phones, the things are always beeping at them demanding attention! I think it's a plot personally... actually, that's dramatic language, but I do think the constant distractions aren't healthy and they only serve to make people like Zuckerberg richer!
DeleteI was always a holdout when it came to new technology (at least, if it cost money). I was one of the last to get a cell phone and only did so because I needed one for work. I upgraded to a smartphone fairly early because of work, but I must say, I love it. It feels like having the world in my pocket. I don't use it a lot (in fact, I usually keep it in my car), but when I need it, it is priceless. Of course, sometimes when I really need it, it tells me it can't get an Internet connection. GRRR.
ReplyDeleteWell... if you've read my next post by now, you'll know that I was pretty glad to have the thing out on the bike path the other day!
DeleteI do think the technology is pretty amazing when you think about it - sorta puts the old Star Trek communicators & Tricorders to shame! I just wish people would use it for something more meaningful than... well, what most people use it for!
I also think that having your world on your phone could be rather dangerous from a security perspective. I actually disconnected the phone from my main Google account because Google ads are my main source of income, and if somehow that account fell into the wrong hands... well, it would be bad. So now the phone is just connected to a personal Google account that doesn't contain my financial stuff and I feel much better about it.
OK, here I am a year later ... I think I'm gonna take the plunge and go with Ting. It's overwhelming and I feel kind of lost, but I think I've done enough research to be comfortable with Ting (and the phone I think I'll go with is the BLU Life One X). Any advice for me? Some questions for you--since I'm not on Facebook, will I receive notifications (I noticed you turned yours off)? How do you protect your phone security? What are the first things I should set up to make my phone usable? I know it's time to do this, but oooh scary scary ...
ReplyDeleteHa! Well, I fear I'm not really much help, because a year later, and still the only thing I really use it for is the camera.
DeleteThat's not actually true, CatMan found a tracking app called FollowMee and we use it to track each other when we're meeting up for a bike ride, or when one of us is out and about - just for peace of mind.
I do occasionally use it to get on the web and check the weather radar when we're out on the bike path and it looks like a storm is brewing - and I've used the maps feature when we got lost once, but that's about it. I've still never sent a text, and I think I've made only one or two calls on the thing.
Anyhow, I think the most important thing is to find where the settings are. On my phone (which uses the Android operating system) there's a white circle near the center bottom of the main screen and if you tap on that you'll see all of the installed apps... and one of them looks like a gear - it's the settings.
Every "app" (which is just another word for a program) that you install will want to send you notifications, and you can turn them off from the settings. I have a grand total of four apps installed - Facebook (which I never use - I just have it so I can check things for my business), Ting - which tells me what my charges for the month are, FollowMee - the tracking app, and a stupid TV thing that was supposed to make the phone work as a remote for my television but didn't actually work. Oh, and there's a photos app, but that came pre-installed on the phone.
Soooo... I'm afraid I'm not much help! I don't use it for anything that might jeopardize security - well, one of my banks requires that you use their app to transfer money, but I deleted the app when I was done because I didn't like the security risk. In theory there's a way to send email from your phone, but I've never done it so I have no clue if that's something built in or if you need a separate app or what. I do have a security code set up on it so if I lost it nobody could get into the phone.
Er... um... was that at all helpful? Probably not, but at least I've reassured you that you're not the only one who has no clue! :-)
Yes, it is helpful! The phone I'm looking at is an Android so now maybe I will be able to find the settings. :) I will probably use it for phone and text more than you do, but I suspect I will still fall into the low user category. I'm mostly interested in having a GPS and access to weather (when we camp, although our camping locations may not have any towers nearby ... ). Not sure if I like the idea of checking email--I like not being too connected. Oh, and I plan on using the camera--but I'm not buying a high end phone so the camera is so-so. I can bring my point and shoot if I want better quality.
DeleteThanks for your help!