Aardvark Daily

Please visit the sponsor!

I bought a new phone

I find it amusing that, after a life-time of being a geek who was always on the cutting edge of technology, some of my choices are becoming decidedly luddite, much to the horror of those around me.

Yes, right from the time I got my little Philips EE8 electronics kitset package during my primary school years, I've been intensely fascinated with tech and have always sought out the latest and greatest.

Long before tablets, laptops and personal computers, I was the guy back in 1977 who was soldering together primitive 8-bit microprocessor boards, glass TTY systems and cassette tape players to build his own microcomputer.

So why was it that salespeople reeled in horror when I went out to buy a new mobile phone this week?

Yes, my tired old Alcatel flip-phone is dying (increasingly the keypad buttons are just not working) so it became necessary to throw some coin at getting a new phone.

Since none of the mobile phone companies have an presence in Tokoroa I headed off to the thriving metropolis of Rotovegas where all three of the big players can be found nestled beside each other in a mall.

After spending way too much money on a new winter wardrobe (damn, it's already way too cold for me), I put Spark, OneNZ and 2 Degrees to the test. Could they meet my needs for a new mobile phone?

The Spark shop sales person immediately ushered me over to the array of flagship $2K+ phones that were proudly lined up and told me that they would be my very best option. "It's just $30 per month on top of your existing plan" I was told -- cheap as beans!

When I mentioned that I don't have a monthly plan and that my pre-pay plan doesn't even include data, costing me just $20 every three months or so, I could see the scorn and disgust seething behind his narrowing eyes.

I can imagine what he was thinking...

When asked if they had any flip-phones the salesdroid's eyes lit up and I was ushered over to the folding smartphones by Samsung.

"No, I want a *real* flip-phone" I said.

I showed him my *old* flip-phone and I swear there was a sudden intake of breath as he took a step backwards.

"We don't have anything like that, try The Warehouse" was the immediate response.

The response at the other two telcos was pretty much the same. It seems that if you're not using the latest and greatest flagship smartphone that barely fits in a pocket then you're persona non grata in the mobile world.

I do actually have a smartphone. It has an eight-core processor, several cameras and all the bells and whistles one might expect from such a device but it has never had a SIM in it because I use it simply as a small tablet. This phone is loaded with the ever-increasing number of apps I need for the various cameras and other electronic gadgets that I use on a regular basis. At no time have I ever intended to use it as a communications device.

Eventually, after a somewhat disappointing experience with the big-three, I did indeed head down to The Warehouse and handed over a substantial amount of my hard-earned cash ($39) for a little "Mobi Hinto" (such a respected household name?) bar-phone that will do the job.

No Wifi, no Android, a potato-cam and a tiny screen with *real* buttons for dialing or keying in SMS messages using multi-tap.

Unfortunately it doesn't fold/flip and that's a pain because I really love flip-phones. They protect both the screen and keypad and take up very little space in your pocket. Bar phones need to have the keypad locked before pocketing, to avoid bum-dialing every time you take a stride and the screens inevitably get all messed up by rubbing against my keys.

However, this new phone will do for the time being.

It makes and receives voice calls, it sends and receives SMS messages. I don't want/need anything more.

The chances of this phone being stolen are very low (even thieves have standards) and if I lose it I haven't also lost a lifetime's worth of photos/videos and access to all my many social media accounts. There's no way I want the level of vulnerability that, these days, is created by heavy reliance on a smartphone. I'll continue to use a desktop computer for computing tasks, email etc., and that non-SIMed smartphone will handle all my app needs.

Life is good (and cheap).

I certainly hope that those smartphone salespeople I interacted with the other day get some kind of trauma counselling and I apologise for the harm I may have done to their mental health by showing no desire to spend $2K on such a device.

Carpe Diem folks!

Please visit the sponsor!

PERMALINK to this column

Rank This Aardvark Page

Change Font