A long-time Palm Pilot user, I recently upgraded to a smart phone. I had delayed for a variety of reasons:
- I tend not to throw out any tech devices until they actually stop working.
- My Palm and my dumb phone were both still in good order.
- I was worried about a smart phone turning into an electronic leash.
When my dumb phone gave up the ghost in the beginning of December, I knew my days were numbered. Fortunately, my spouse had an even older but still functional dumb phone that (amazingly) was able to hold a charge after being stored in a drawer for quite literally years, so I popped in my sim card, charged it up, and could still at least text and make calls. Of course, the phone was about the size of a shoe, but….
After about 6 weeks of considering my options, I choose an iPhone in mid-January.
Here’s what I’ve learned in the intervening months:
- I have a bunch of apps (nearly all free), of which I regularly use only a handful.
- That handful of apps is really, really useful.
- I can work from anywhere now.
- But I don’t have to. I am rigorous about turning off synch of my email outside business hours.
- The Kindle app is really handy if you find yourself unexpectedly having to wait somewhere. But make sure you’re reading a book of essays or one that you know well, since there will be a lot of picking up and putting down a given text.
- I still need my iPod, because I have WAY too much music for even my 32 GB version.
- I still miss my Palm, because I still haven’t found a satisfactory method for managing both personal and work tasks and calendars in a way that keeps them separate but lets me easily see both at the same time.
- AT&T sucks.
shoegal says:
Link to Oatmeal doesn't work. Looks like there's an extra space after the URL.
Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE says:
Fixed – thanks for the heads up.
Elliott Bellaire says:
Hehe. I do love my Sidekick smartphone because it can do everything that I need. It can access the web, play music, take pictures and of course, make calls and text. However, this didn't stop me from buying stand alone gadgets like an Ipod, a Samsung Galaxy Tab and a Canon DSLR. Since in my mindset, its better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
Elizabeth Weaver Engel, CAE says:
@Elliott – I feel the same way about shoes 🙂