I’m Torn: Smart Phones

April 20, 2009     Posted in Reality

rim-blackberry-bold-smartphone


By Alana

[Life isn’t black and white. As much as we wish we simply loved or hated things, there is often that whole annoying gray area in the middle. Like, we love how hot stilettos look, but hate the blisters the next morning. Or how we love sweatpants, but hate how fat we get when we wear em. Damn you, gray area; you make decision-making that much more complicated!]

The world is a changin’ my friends, and I so don’t want to be left behind. That’s kind of how I feel with the whole Blackberry/iPhone phenomenon. Here I am with my little, dinky LG Chocolate. I used to think my phone was so cool- – I mean, it’s frickin red and can play music — but now I’m not so sure.

Should I upgrade? Help, I’m torn!

Love it:

I want to be one of the cool kids typing away on my Blackberry during class. Even though I’m basically glued to my laptop, I can’t keep it with me 24/7. Damn thing doesn’t fit in my back pocket. If I had a PDA, I’d have access to my email all the time. Even more, I’d have Google for looking up info and phone numbers, a map so I don’t have to stop at shady gas stations and ask for directions, and other super cool shiz that I can’t get on my Chocolate. Plus, the people at Apple have come up with some pretty sweet apps. I totally want to have a personal trainer on my cellphone. I’m pretty sure they have an app for everything… at least that’s what the commercials tell me!

Loathe it:

Um PDAs are super expensive! Right now, my dad pays my cellphone bill and I’m very much OK with that. He’ll continue to pay until I graduate…unless I get a PDA with all the bells and whistles…and the monthly bill that covers them. That means that I’d have to cover it, which doesn’t sound so sweet and I’m not really sure it’s worth it. Also, as much as I love the idea of having constant Internet access, I also love the idea of having the “I didn’t get your email” excuse with profs. If I had a Blackberry, they’d know I was lying. And do I really need AIM/FB/email with me all. the. time? I’m already addicted to the internet, so how much more time would I waste with a Crackberry?

And what if I dropped that precious piece of technology into the toilet (which I have a tendency of doing)? That’s literally flushing hundreds of dollars down the drain!

So, what should I do? Exchange my old school Chocolate for a tricked out PDA, or suck it up and get a Blackberry when my work will pay for it?

19 Comments on "I’m Torn: Smart Phones"

  1. rach says:
    Mon, 20th Apr 20098:15 am 

    i feel your pain. my parents still pay for my phone too but i want the iphone sooooooo bad. i'm waiting til my contract is up and then i'll switch. i'm also having a hard time letting go of verizon. poo

  2. Tori says:
    Mon, 20th Apr 20098:16 am 

    "I’m already addicted to the internet, so how much more time would I waste with a Crackberry?"

    Exactly the reason why I don't have one right now.

  3. Sam says:
    Mon, 20th Apr 20099:41 am 

    I got the Blackberry Storm back in February.. SO addicting. I don't know how I lived without it before. How sad is that?

  4. Matt says:
    Mon, 20th Apr 200910:27 am 

    Don't do it. I thought that getting a smartphone would make my life easier. It really didn't at all. Instead, I just looked a bit pretentious. It also sucks being connected all the time and being tethered to something that isn't really necessary. Enjoy the simple stuff. I also bang it up alot, the paint on the back of the case is almost non-existent and the screen is slightly cracked on the side.

  5. Gwenivere says:
    Mon, 20th Apr 200910:46 am 

    I say you should go for it! But when you do, buy an iPhone. It's hard to remember my life before it. I used to have a Blackberry, but it was just okay. For the money the iPhone is a much better deal. And trust me, they do have an app for EVERYTHING. It's a little more expensive to have a smartphone but completely worth it if you are techy like I am.

  6. Lauren - University says:
    Mon, 20th Apr 200912:02 pm 

    I will never live without my iphone again. It saves my life every day. For real.

  7. snarktastic says:
    Mon, 20th Apr 200912:07 pm 

    you have the rest of your life to be attached to your smart phone/email/responsibilities. hold off as long as humanly possible.

  8. AmandaISU says:
    Mon, 20th Apr 200912:58 pm 

    i am obsessed with my iphone

  9. Jennifer says:
    Mon, 20th Apr 20092:21 pm 

    I got a blackberry in february (i'm absolutely in love with it), however… if you get one of these nice phones, just make sure you get insurance. I took mine to a party with me last weekend (bad idea) – dropped it, and the trackball fell out… never to be seen again. so basically, i can't use it – but they're sending me a new one for $50. (I know, it's $50… but that's better than the $300) Plus it was only an extra $30 monthly on my plan for the blackberry, and I can do absolutely everything with it.

  10. Samantha says:
    Mon, 20th Apr 20093:29 pm 

    I say don't do it. When my old phone broke for the billionth time, Verizon gave me a new phone for free. I could get anything, but I went with a normal phone (with a slide-out keyboard)… I just don't want to be that connected. Do I really need tiny email or to be on AIM all the time? Do I really need to be afraid of losing it, breaking it, or having it stolen? Or sitting on it?

  11. Julius says:
    Sat, 21st Apr 201210:52 am 

    I personally love my iPhone and will stick with it. I did use a BlackBerry Curve for a ubnmer of months but went back to the iPhone. I would rule out the Curve and decide between the Bold and the iPhone 4.I think it really comes down to what you use your phone for. While the BlackBerrys music player surprised me in how good it was, it did not even come close to comparing to the iPod functionality of the iPhone.If you will watch any videos, the iPhones screen size, and now resolution, will beat out the BB.While the BB App Store is catching up to the Apple App Store, it still doesn’t compare. Not only are there not close to as many apps in the BB App Store, but the quality of many doesn’t seem to be as well either. The fact that you can download apps on the BB that are just on the internet and not through the app store is a plus (though you can do this by jailbreaking your iPhone).Have you used an iPhone or iPod touch previously? Do you like the touchscreen interface for typing? It took me a few days to get used to it, both originally and when I went back to it from the BB, but I like it. I would type on both the BB Bold and BB Curve to see what you prefer though. I bought the Curve because the keys on the keyboard were spaced out a little more and it was more comfortable to type on.While I haven’t noticed any of the signal dropping that’s been widely reported, I will say that the iPhone’s signal strength isn’t nearly as strong as my Curve’s was or as strong as previous phones have been.I’m not sure which country you live in, but it is possible that your country has contract laws which allow you to return a phone within 15 or 30 (or whatever) days of purchasing the phone and resigning the contract and getting a different phone. I admit that I am biased toward the iPhone, I tried to give the good points of both.Good luck.

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