Fancy Phone, Schmancy Phone

I'm one of a dying breed of people who don't have some sort of "smart phone."  I often make the joke that I have a 1980's flip phone, and that's only partially off base.  Obviously, my phone isn't from the 1980s, but it is a flip style, which has apparently become a rarity.  Also, it's about 5 years old.  In fact, I willingly gave up my upgrade a year ago when my choice of old school phones was limited. My husband has been salivating for an iPhone, so I figured the least I could do was let him have the bobo touch screen phone that the saleswoman was offering me.  In turn, I took over his old phone because I couldn't care less about having a fancy phone. At the moment, our plan is due for another upgrade and I'm dreading the conversation I'll need to have with the salesperson who will look at me like I have 10 heads because I don't want the latest and greatest.  Which brings me to my point.

Reading my friend Amy's blog today strengthened my resolve about not succumbing to the smart phone, iPhone, whatever-you-call-the-damn-things hype.  Here are my 4 reasons for refusing to give into the fancy phone hype:

1.  I've read at least 4 Facebook status updates in the last week recounting mishaps that sent phone gadgets to the WALL-E junkyard.  I've dropped my phone about a gazillion times and it's still pumping.  The battery is being a bit of a bitch, but hey, that's what chargers are for. 

2.  That shit's expensive.  Not only to buy the gadget to begin with (only to risk dropping it to an early death), but also to pay for the monthly data fee.  I can think of so many other things to do with the $40-60 a month it would cost if each of us had a data package.  Unfortunately for my husband, to whom I could say nothing sweeter than, "Let's go buy you an iPhone," I'm the Chief Financial Officer of our household, and the expense of an iPhone just ain't something I plan to put in the budget for quite a while.  (Partially thanks to the effing condo mishap).  For the record, my boo will corroborate that he willingly handed over the CFO job, so you're only allowed to feel slightly sorry for him.

3.  For the life of me, I can't figure out why anyone wants to be that connected.  Personally, I have no desire to be beholden to, or reliant on, one more thing.  I have Wi-fi access at home, at the office, in hotels, and in at least 3 places in town I can think of off the top of my head.  We each have cell phones and laptops, we share an iPad, and we each have iPods (yes, mine is the oldest version of the nano that exists, and I love it).  What in the hell more could we want??  I already want to hole up to escape the onslaught of obligation that being electronically available can bring.  The last thing I want it to see a red light blinking or hear some bing whenever I get an email or someone writes a status update. Will it kill someone to wait a half day to hear back to an email?  No, it won't.  It seems to me that what this perpetual connectedness to technology inadvertently (or maybe overtly) says is, "What you are doing right at this moment or whoever you are sitting with is not as important as what just popped up on your phone." Or, "What you are doing right now won't really count unless you take an Instagram of it and upload it to Facebook." How f-ed up is that?  I'm already trying to work on how obligated I feel to check texts; I don't need to add anything else to the list. All of this connection makes me feel resoundingly disconnected. It makes me want to run away to a remote island!!!

4.  Using that little touch screen to look anything up is enough to drive anyone mad.

I like technology; it's convenient and it allows us to keep a wide social network.   And I get it, fancy phones make us feel like we are keeping up with the boom of technology. But is having the latest and greatest worth the cost both in cash, time, attention, and actual connectedness with the people and world around you?  This CFO doesn't think so.