Upgrading

As a kid I remember my grandpa showing my siblings and I how to make our very own phone line using two tin cans and string.  He showed us how to poke the hole in the ends of each can, stick the string through and knot it, and then to walk in different directions until the string was taunt between the two.  Then he told us to talk . . . whoa, to a six-year old this was magical stuff.  We could actually hear each other through those tin cans.  Maybe it was the magic of science, or maybe it was that we were not more than six feet apart, but it was pretty magical. That was my first phone.

The next phone in my life was the good old rotary dial phone.  In the pre-teen years this phone was basically good for prank phone calls.  Like all good kids we made the old "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" calls to stores.  When it was affirmed that they did, we'd always yell, "Then you better let him out!"  We also did the "Is your refrigerator running?"  Which always brought the response, "Well, you better hurry up and catch it before it gets away!"  As kids we thought it was pretty hilarious stuff.  Then as I got older the phone was something I used for wasting time having conversations with my friends, if you can call laying on the floor saying, "Uh huh", a conversation.

For the most part I do not care for phones--they are kind of intrusive to us introverts.  If it rings we pray that someone else answer so we don't have to.  Besides, rarely are the calls for me.  As I got older the phones got more sophisticated--we eventually graduated to cordless phones that allowed us to wander around the house aimlessly while going "Uh huh."

When I started traveling back and forth to my church in Nebraska I got my first cell phone--for emergencies. I only turned it on while I was traveling.  It was a dinosaur according to my children, but it got the job done.  It looked like a six-shooter sitting in its holster on the side of my hip.  I loved that old Motorola!  But it was analog and digital was the "in" thing eventually.  I was forced to upgrade to a smaller and better cell phone. My kids thought my Razor was pretty cool and they didn't mind being seen in public with me.

Eventually I made the rounds through the cell phone circle and was convinced my "styling" daughter that I needed to move up to a Blackberry phone.  Now a Blackberry is basically a mini-computer that doubles as a phone.  Through her persistence she broke me down and I got my first Blackberry.  The first year I stood in awe at that cell phone . . . actually it was fear.  I wasn't use to a phone that could do everything including blowing my nose!  The most recent model of the Blackberry I have is the Curve 9300--the business work horse according to my oldest son.

Yesterday I received a letter from my cell phone service carrier explaining that the newest Blackberry was not available when we switched services, but that it was now.  Because it should have been I was eligible to upgrade to the newest Blackberry--the Blackberry Torch.  The Torch is a combination of the old Blackberry with the keyboard and a touch phone--and it does even more than just blow your nose it makes its own tissue paper!  It is a pretty fancy tool for business that allows one to also have a phone.  The deal was I have to decided by July 10th on whether or not I want to switch.  There is no cost--no need to change plans--no need to extend the contract--IT IS FREE.  All I have to do is say "yes" and it is mine.

 
Now this creates quite a dilemma for me as I have barely had my Blackberry Curve for less than six months and I really, really like it.  Plus I am beyond the fear stage and am actually learning how to use it.  Now they want me to upgrade to a bigger and better phone and learn it all over again.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.  So I put my dilemma out there on Facebook in hopes others might give me some clarification as to what to do.  The results?  It was 50/50 tie.  Half the people told me to get it, the other half told me to get an IPhone.  Now I was really in a dilemma.  Torch or IPhone?

I did my research.  I compared the two phones.  Basically it was a draw in what I found out.  It came down to personal preference and what an individual likes.  Basically the Blackberry is a work tool, the IPhone is a fun gadget.  If a person using the phone for work--Blackberry; if the person wants a phone that allows one to play and have fun--IPhone.  Tough choice--I thought I could always flip a coin to decide--stick with what I have or get the new Blackberry or shell out a hundred bucks for an IPhone.

Tomorrow I order my new Blackberry Torch and I am excited.  It won hands down over the Blackberry I have now--it is better and faster phone than the one I have now.  Plus it won hands down over the IPhone--it was free.  If anyone had any doubts about whether I would spend the money for an IPhone when I could get a free phone . . . well, they don't know me that well.

So, I am moving up.  But I still think phones--any phone--is an invasion of my privacy.  I like my little world and its quietness, but if I have to have a cell phone I want to at least look good whether I understand it or not!  Besides, I was that old fart in the cartoon for years--blackberries are for eating!