I'm back from my trip, but not back up to blogging strength. That will probably come on Monday night. Sorry. But I need to get down in writing sort of a nasty-gram to both Sprint and Samsung, about my Galaxy S4 4G LTE cell phone.
My trip back to Ohio was primarily to Sunbury, an exurb of Columbus, Ohio. I also made forays into Westerville, and very nearby Columbus, and to my sister's place in rural Delaware County. While some of these places could have been considered "in the boonies" in the early days of mobile phones--maybe even in 2004 when I first got a Sprint phone--they are certainly not now. And yet, with every phone update, and every technological advance, I get horrid service from Sprint out there.
But my experience this time with my new Galaxy S4 was the nadir. At my Mom's house, where I used to lapse to data roaming on say, my Samsung Rant non-smartphone, the S4 gave me a circle with a slash for voice calls, no service whatsoever. I had no 4G--which I don't even get in Las Vegas, so no surprise--and no 3G either. This is right outside Sunbury, a smallish but amply covered by Verizon town. The only way to make or receive a call, or even reliably send a text, was to go outside, and that managed just a microdot of a "bar" for voice calls.
Out at my sister's, an admittedly ruralish area (but very near civilization and still amply covered by Verizon), I had pretty much an identical issue. Onward into Westerville and Columbus, things weren't much better. I could get fairly reliable, but reliably slow 3G service. No 4G. Voice service was passable.
After prior visits to Ohio, I have complained to Sprint about poor service. The only responses I've received have been essentially form letters that didn't address the issue at hand. You'd think that in my one-to-two-times per year visits over almost a decade, there would be some improvement. Particularly since there have been not only technological improvements in that time, but the areas I'm talking about have gotten more populous and less remote. And--surprise, surprise--there is a Sprint store in Sunbury.
Now, onto my Samsung Galaxy S4 problems. 1) The phone gets semi-randomly hot with minor use, but not always. 2) The phone will sometimes register a voicemail, but no missed calls. Or a missed call, but the phone never rang. 3) Most annoyingly, the phone keeps reverting to the default ringer and notification sounds. I've had to reset them at least four times, twice on this visit alone. Turns out, the other phone on our account (that did not go to Ohio on this trip) has the same problem. I'm not happy.
I said I'd update my experience with my brand new Samsung Galaxy S4 phone (on Sprint), as a help to anyone who is trying to decide to buy one. Here are just a few quick notes on my experience so far:
Pros
- Integration with my car stereo (via blue tooth) is much more successful and useful than my old HTC Evo was. Synching was easy, and I figured it out without a manual. Pandora worked like a dream, with full functionality, album art, song description, thumbs up and down, etc. DAR.fm, the radio recording service is a little more glitchy, but them's the breaks.
- A phone call through blue tooth in my car was clearer. I've only tried one, but it was a better experience than my Evo.
- Useability of the actual phone functions are clearer and easier. HTC's phone and contacts programming was just awful, so even though Samsung's TouchWiz is a bit cartoony, it is very functional.
- Still digging the sharpness of the screen. It's gorgeous.
- One of my favorite app games, 3D Bowling, offers much more precise control. I was able to pick up spares I never had a chance at before. But it takes a game or three to get your bearings.
- I like the lock screen, the default splash sound and ripple effects are fun.
- I was worried about sound quality, since that was the strongest selling point of the HTC One (a phone I'd also considered). But the S4's sound is a notch up from my Evo or The Other Half's Epic. Not disappointing at all.
- I'm getting used to the size and weight of this phone. Even with the rubber cover that Costco supplied, the phone feels slimmer and lighter than my Evo. It is of course larger in its other dimensions, but I think it manages to come in just under "too big." And it dwarfs my friends' iPhone 4S and 5! Hee-hee!
- There's an intangible glee that I get from simply having a brand new, newly-released major phone. That may sound silly, but I've been behind the curve on these things for so long, and you're basically trapped with your choice for two years. I will read the news of the Galaxy S5 and S6 in the coming years, and who knows, the HTC Two? Three? And you know that iPhone 5S, 6 and 6S will be on the horizon while my 2 years play out. But I can rest easy for at least the remainder of 2013 before feeling phone lust again!
- Everything zips along at a faster clip than my old phone could manage. Internet is actually approaching real computer-level functionality on phones like this, though it isn't a substitute if you have a computer or tablet nearby. That may change, however, when the 4G service finally hits Las Vegas (or your area).
Cons
- The included pedometer is not useful. I took it on my standard 4-mile walk, and it only registered a 1.6 mile walk. Unless there is some sort of calibration. I will check that out.
- Voice activation--a feature that is unnecessary, but cool--isn't reliable. It works when no one is watching, but when I try to demonstrate by saying "Kirk to Enterprise!" it makes me look stupid by not doing anything!
- The "bloatware" on every home screen is kind of over-the-top. It's nice that Samsung includes so much cool stuff, but I doubt I'll use much of it, and it doesn't need to be taking up so much real estate. Sure, you can take it off the screen but if my previous experience holds true, you won't be able to actually delete any of it.
- Touted features like touchless scrolling and the like haven't worked very well for me yet. The "wave your hand to answer" feature does work, but it's a "look how cool I am" feature more than anything else.
- The default clock/weather app is very nice, pretty and informative. But it is opaque and takes up almost half of that big screen, obscuring any wallpaper you might have. So, though you'll want it front-and-center, you're stuck with it unless you find a third-party solution. Also? It insists that I live in "Arden, NV." Before this, I'd never heard of Arden, apparently an unincorporated region of southern Nevada about 8 miles from me. In reality, I live in unincorporated Clark County, in Paradise Township (the same township as the Las Vegas Strip). This could be the fault of the towers around me, I suppose.
- The biggest con is one recently publicized: Samsung's software takes up a huge chunk of the 16GB internal memory. How big of a con that is, I won't know until I get deeper into my contract. Right now, I have lots of room. The phone also has a mini-SD expansion slot, but some smarty-pants at Samsung decided to disable the ability to move apps to your external chip! WHY? That said, the HTC One doesn't even allow an external chip at all, so that choice may limit a person even more.
So, here's the deal. With all of our previous cell phones (dating back to 2004), we've never had a top-of-the-line one. That's not so strange, I don't guess. We got in late, bought our first phones just for emergencies and convenience. And as we progressed every two years, we got better, fancier ones. But never the best, newest ones. This time, we realized that if you're going to be stuck with a phone for two years, you should start out with a great one. It's going to stay "new" much longer this way, and not be so far behind the times as our outgoing Samsung Epic 4G and HTC Evo 4G were.
So, this time I was determined to wait until the time was right. My contract was up in March, and The Other Half's just this last week. I'd been running Google Alerts on the Samsung Galaxy S4 (S4 from here on out) and the HTC One for months, so I knew I had to wait for a few weeks. Through all of this, you just get dribs and drabs about what is coming, when it's coming, and hints about how much it'll cost. But it's all mostly rumor. The cell phone manufacturers and the wireless companies (ours is Sprint) are ridiculously secretive, and cagey, and won't be specific about anything. I'm sure it's a competition/one-upmanship issue, but it is maddening.
From Gingerbread to Jelly Bean (I missed Honey Comb and Ice Cream Sandwich).Next comes Key Lime Pie.
Especially when your old phone is starting to act up. And only one of the two phones you're torn between is released, and you can't compare them. And then when the other one comes out, but in limited amounts, and eventually is in stock, but only for full price. Costco, I had learned through my studies, sells the phones about $50 cheaper, taxes you less, and includes an accessory package. But when I'd called them earlier in the week, they had none, and had six of them coming in on Monday. Next Monday. So, who could believe it that when I called on Friday, the six (not cases, phones) had just come in. I reserved two, one black, one white, and now I have them. I couldn't believe it.
When new-phone lust turns to actual acquisition, you come back down to earth. You have to remember all of the stuff you want to save from your old phone. And what you want to dump. You have to transfer to a new ecosystem, even if you're still in the same brand name. I went from
"Gingerbread" Android to "Jellybean" and from HTC's to Samsung's. And with the new S4, there are so many new features (and three years of progress), that I just have a lot to learn.
This is why I didn't even ponder the iPhone.
I picked the S4 over the HTC One for several reasons. The HTC is gorgeous, no doubt. So, I made a pro/con list in my head: what would I regret about getting one over the other? When it came down to it, all that I'd regret about not having the One is that it was pretty, and that it has dual speakers. If I'd skipped the S4, I'd be giving up the replaceable battery, the expandable memory, a bigger screen, a better camera and a bigger company behind it that will probably roll out updates faster. So, S4 it is, and I finally got them.
So, how is it? It is about time I got to that, isn't it? Well, it's pretty nifty. The big screen is gorgeous, and much, much clearer than I'm used to. The touch screen is responsive (though I haven't quite got the new hover-finger thingy down yet). Though the phone is very large, it isn't unmanageable at all. It'll take you a little while to get used to where to place your hands when typing. I like the improvements since my old 2010 phone in the ease of typing, the auto-fill of words. . .it's a little more correct than it used to be. The speed is very definitely better, and I'm not even getting 4G speeds in Las Vegas (of course we rarely did, even with their old WiMax 4G). Searching for something on the internet is getting comparable to to using a desktop PC, and that's new.
They're ugly, but we need more of 'em.
The plastic back of the phone--the key sticking point for so many people--didn't bother me at all. It's got a nice prismatic design, it feels fine in my hand, and most people put cases on their phones anyway, don't they? That was actually the clincher for me before I bought the phones, I wasn't put off by the design. Aesthetically, the Samsung TouchWiz interface is a little disappointing. It's kind of like Windows XP in its cartoonishness, after the improvements of Windows 7. I think that's just me having gotten used to HTC's Sense interface. It's probably even something you can tweak. And who knows what Android Key Lime Pie (due very soon) will be like.
I haven't had the phone long enough to give a more extensive review, though I may write a follow-up. I need to go through the manual, check out all of the new features. But so far, I'm pleased. The getting is rarely as satisfying as the chase makes it feel, but it's obviously a much better phone than I had, and I doubt that two year's hence I'll feel as far behind as I did this last time. Especially if Sprint finally gets those 4G towers up. But that's a whole other post.
It's hard out there for a Windows phone. How do you make a splash when you're on a platform that is way, way behind iPhone and Android in the mobile phone race? By making a brilliant and funny video that skewers Phandroids and iPhans, that's how! It's true, there is a war brewing between fans of Android and Apple's iOS platforms. It's ultimately pretty silly, no different than the PC vs. Mac wars of recent years. [Story continues below]
The whole thing stems from a perceived snobbishness by Apple product users (ie., "The Cult of Mac), who look down their noses at Microsoft and now Google users. I've experienced it first hand, it really is a "thing." I myself am bi-platform on computers (whee, look at me!), And only picked Android due to the timing of my previous phone's unceremonious drowning in the washing machine. The iPhone 4 wasn't out yet, and I needed a phone right away, so I opted for the Samsung Epic 4G, after toying with a lesser phone. That was replaced by the HTC Evo 4G when the Epic got crushed by a car. Now, the Evo is on its last dying breath, and I'm eagerly awaiting a Samsung Galaxy S4 (the enormous phone in the commercial), though I flirted with getting the HTC One. . .still could change my mind, who knows.
But I never pondered a Windows phone (or BlackBerry, or iPhone) as a replacement. It's not brand loyalty or fandom. I want--finally--a top-of-the-line phone at the very beginning of my 2-year contract. I don't want an immediately obsolete one. I'd have to wait several months for an iPhone, and my old one isn't going to last that long, and by now I'm not sure I'd want to switch anyway.
I've chronicled my evolution from luddite to flip-phone to dumb phone to smart phone, and now it's time for the next phase: state-of-the-art smart phone. See, last time we upgraded phones (after a little trial and error), we ended up with pretty nice phones, the Samsung Epic 4G. But it was toward the end of its life cycle as a product. Last summer, I accidentally killed mine, and ended up temporarily replacing it with an HTC Evo 4G, which I came to like better, but it's basically the same age, both having been produced in 2010. In that time, the Epic--also known as a Galaxy S phone--has been replaced twice, and a third sequel is set to debut this week. By contrast, the Apple iPhone 3GS is the same age as our phones.
Because of random calamities, our two phones are due for a new contract in different months, March and May, with mine ready now. But I can't just get a phone now, unless I want to repeat the cycle of buying an almost instantly obsolete phone, and keeping it for two years. We've decided that the upfront expense of a flashy new phone is worth the price over the span of two years. So, I'm waiting. And I'm very glad I did, though I'm not sure which of the exciting new offerings I'm going to go for.
The gorgeous back of the HTC One, from Engadget
Already announced is the HTC One, a logical replacement for my HTC Evo, which I've already grown accustomed to. There is no doubt that the phone itself is gorgeous (as these things go), made out of a block of aluminum. It's got twin speakers. It has a nice curved back that looks like it would palm well. And to me, it just looks a hell of a lot more interesting than the iPhone's by now blah looks. It has the Android Jellybean interface, and likely will upgrade to Key Lime Pie when that becomes available. And it uses HTC's "Sense" interface along with Android, something I'm also familiar with. But, you can't take the back off, meaning I can't buy extra batteries or change the memory out. As something of a techie, that would be kind of irritating. I'm used to messing with shit!
The alleged new Samsung Galaxy S-IV, from ExtremeTech
The other option is the Samsung Galaxy S-IV (or S4). While this phone is highly anticipated, nothing about it has been 100% confirmed. It's having a big "coming out" party this Thursday, and that's one of the most highly anticipated events in techno-geekdom at the moment. A big bucket of cold water was thrown on the geeks today though, if my internet feelers are reading things correctly. An alleged leak of photos and video of the new phone have cropped up everywhere, and it's. . .underwhelming. It's enormous, unless the Chinese dude's hands are small. It has a rather ugly back cover, and a same ol', same ol' face (though really, that's a fairly blank area anyway). I don't really know what I (and the internet) was expecting, but it wasn't this.
All that said, the unofficial leak could be just that, unofficial. And the fact that Samsung hasn't come out and shut it down could mean either it is the real deal, or that the real thing will so blow the fake out of the water, it's worth staying mum over. Who knows. Well, we all will soon. But as it stands now, I'm leaning heavily toward HTC, having already had the experience of comparing the same generation offerings from both companies. If Samsung's presentation is a wowser though, they could definitely win me over.
Complicating matters is the fact that we have Sprint as a carrier, and because of our plan and a corporate discount, it would be unwise to switch. But Sprint had an anemic 4G LTE network, and there is ridiculously scant news about it implementation. So any new 4G phone is going to be hobbled out of the box, with no indication of when the service will be up and running. And, it isn't clear when either the HTC or the Samsung are going to be released by Sprint! Such first-world problems, I know. It'll all sort out, and we'll be lusting over the next big thing after a few months. And I'm sure the iPhone 5S and 6 will both turn up the lust again.
Find out more about the HTC One at: Engadget Find out (allegedly) more about the Samsung Galaxy S-IV at: ExtremeTech
I'm still phone-less, after my disaster last week. As I said then, my Epic 4G phone--8 months shy of upgrade time--was left on the hood of my car, and shortly thereafter run over after it fell off into the street.
Crunch!
It was a dumb mistake. But I thought I had it handled. Since the same phone new would be $500+ out of pocket, I decided to buy one online. I don't know what made me pick eBay over Amazon, but I did. But I was sure to pick a vendor that had a huge approval rating. Out the door, a used Epic 4G in "excellent" condition, was $99. The phone finally arrived Thursday, a week to the day after "the event." I was so excited. I'm amazed how much I miss having a smart phone, even one that is sort of glitchy like mine was.
I got to the Sprint store just after 4:30 pm, and was waited on almost immediately. Not long into the transaction, however, it was apparent that not all was well. The phone started up fine. The sound and display were fine. Mr. Sprint-man was all furrowed brow, though. He poked and prodded, popped the battery, booted, rebooted, rinse, wash, repeat. . . And then he said, "Excuse me, I'll be right back, I have to go talk to a tech." Crap.
At least at my Sprint store, it wasn't raining!
He then told me that it was going to take a little while, could I come back at 6:30? Sure, why not. I ran some errands, came home, watched a little tv, then went back. I was told to sit down and wait, which I did, for half an hour. I knew that 7:00 pm was closing time, so I wasn't feeling optimistic. I was right. The phone had been "rooted" by the previous owner, and probably not correctly. That person--or possibly the reseller--had tried to cover their tracks by putting everything back as it was. But it didn't take, and it won't take. Period.
My options were a) send the phone back to the vendor, buy another one from them or someone else, and wait another week to get it; or b) pay Sprint $35 plus tax, and they will replace it on Monday. Amazingly, they do that. And I think $35 is worth the hassle. So, I fired off a nastygram to the vendor, and firmly requested a partial refund. Whether or not I reveal their name and further details will depend upon their reaction!
Updates surely to follow. . . Meanwhile--and I can't stress this enough--never set your phone on the exterior of your car. Just don't.
I was just looking over my monthly Sprint mobile phone bill, a bill that has swelled from $60+ per month for two lines to $120+ per month for smart phones. Anyway, this was the first month where our normal rates apply, after having purchased said phones, and having those costs paid off. So, I thought I'd peruse the details of the thing.
As it turns out, a lot is covered, which is fortunate given the monthly cost. We have unlimited anytime minutes (between Sprint customers), anytime mobile (any mobile phone), text, night & weekend, picture mail, 3G data, and even 3G data roaming. That's pretty sweet. And between the two of us, we only used 214 of our allotted 1,500 monthly minutes. But there some interesting nuggets in the rows of numbers on my bill.
For instance, The Other Half used 39,163 3G data minutes. Downloading porn, no doubt (kidding, honey). That's a lot, right? Then, I looked at mine: 100,609 minutes! Holy crap! What is my phone doing when I'm not using it? It's either in my pocket or on my desk about 98% of the time. And. . .wait. . .how many minutes are in a month, anyway?
31 days X 24 hours X 60 minutes = 44,640 minutes.
Soooo, either Sprint's math is way off, or the row of numbers on my bill represents something other than minutes. The column is headed "Used," and lists other things that are clearly minutes. But it lists 292 under texts for me, which must be a total number (but sounds a bit too high). So, it could be megabytes, gigabytes, hell Sprint-bucks for all I know. I'm just happy I have unlimited. . .whatever they are.
Great. Sprint, my mobile phone provider since 2004 is finally getting the iPhone. Five months after I signed a two-year contract. Five months after my old phone went for a swim in the washing machine right before a trip. Five months before I settled for an Android phone.
Well, the joke's on them. After toying with a Samsung Transform, I traded up to the Samsung Epic 4G. And even though that is going to be supplanted by a sequel phone (Epic 4G Touch), I totally dig my phone. I was holding out for the Apple iPhone 5, and was even willing to switch to Verizon or AT&T. But my little accident forced a quick decision. And for once, I'm not sorry. Now, when my contract is up in 2013, and Apple is teasing the iPhone 7, then I may have a new decision to make. For now, I'm loving my 'droid. Still waiting for the Gingerbread upgrade, but I can wait.
[Excerpt]
iPhone 5 Release for Sprint in October
It appears that Sprint, one of the “big four” carriers in the USA to NOT have gotten their hands on any version of the iPhone thus far, will be amongst those lucky 3 (T-Mobile still not included) that are able to sell the next-generation device come October. . .
In this space just two weeks ago, I wrote a story about the tragic drowning death of my old Samsung Rant cell phone. The Other Half was doing laundry, and I had left the two-and-a-half year-old phone in my cargo pants. This in itself was not a tragedy. We'd been holding out for news on the iPhone 5, thinking that when it finally comes out, it will knock the iPhone 4 down to the cheap price. We were looking into switching out of Sprint and onto either Verizon or AT&T. Until laundry day. [Story continues below]
It turns out, that we were leaving for the weekend, the next day. And following that, The Other Half was going to be gone for several days. I knew that I would be without a phone for 5+ days, if I didn't pick a new phone right away. So, we went to the Sprint store, and browsed while we waited. I knew I was going to get a Google Android phone, the closest thing to an iPhone that Sprint carries. But there are quite a few Android phones, by LG, HTC, and Samsung, and in entry-level, mid-range and high-end versions.
I fiddled around with them for a while to get a feel for the differences. The Kyocero Echo with two screens was certainly nifty. But what I wanted to keep from my lowly old Rant phone was the slide-out keyboard. Sure, the on-screen ones are serviceable (and I still haven't learned what "Swype" is, really), but I like the tactile keys. So, it was down to the Samsung Transform ($99) or Samsung Epic 4G ($149). I frankly barely noticed the Popular HTC Evo phones. . .and there's even one with a keyboard. Ultimately, I opted for the cheaper phone. It looked nice, it was a dramatic step up, and the price was fine.
Oh, but then I got it home. At first, I had a blast playing with it. Downloading apps, customizing it. But, wait, why doesn't Angry Birds play on the Transform? I looked it up, and well, it just doesn't. But the new Angry Birds Riodid work, so I was mollified. The game is fun and addictive, but also slow and glitchy. Hey, it's a phone, not a game platform, deal with it, right? But the more I read about the Transform, the more regret I started to feel. It's not that the Transform sucks, it doesn't. As a phone alone, or a texting device, it's terrific.
But I didn't just buy a phone. To use the Android OS, you have to pony up an extra $10 a month. Why do that, if the phone is slow and glitchy? I compared the phone, feature-for-feature with a couple of different ones online. The Transform lines up roughly with the iPhone 3, though I'm betting the iPhone is a little smoother, and better with memory. And I've got to live with this phone for two years. Regret turned to, "aw, hell no." This is my fourth phone, and I just didn't want to have that grudging feeling about mine this time. I decided to trade up before the 30-day period was up.
At the Sprint store, I played around with the phones again. The Epic 4G was there, looking gorgeous. It has a "Super AMOLED" screen, which is meaningless to me, except that it's made of awesome. Very clear, very colorful. . .it's like going from regular to HDTV. The full QWERTY keyboard has features that are both better than, and less than the Transform's. The Transform had a dedicated "@" key, and a dedicated "?" key. Both phones have an accessible ".com" key. Most importantly, the Epic 4G has a row of dedicated number keys. Awesome.
But I didn't jump too quickly. I checked out the HTC Evo 4G, and it looked nice. It even has a slightly larger screen than the Epic. But I really wanted the dedicated keyboard. HTC also makes an Evo Shift 4G with a keyboard, but its smaller, less brilliant screen loses instantly to the Epic. So I got it, even with the $35 restocking fee.
My friend Dona tells a story, about purchasing a refrigerator. She had the option of buying one without an ice maker, or the same model for $100 more with an ice maker. She said, "For $100, I can make ice!" And fifteen years later, she was still making ice! And hating her decision. That's what motivated me to trade up, even with the extra cost. I'm going to have this phone for at least two years. I didn't want to start out those two years being disappointed. In that span of time, there are bound to be better, more whiz-tastic phones. Apple will undoubtedly be out with the iPhone 6 by the time I even start looking again. I might as well start out loving my phone, and not feeling like I made a mistake.
When The Other Half finally trades his Rant in for something new, we'll already have a lot of hands-on experience with both of these Samsung phones. I already have the knowledge that if a phone is $50 more, but wayyy better? Buy it. But when he's ready, and he gets a better phone than the Epic? Well, then I'll be back here whining again!
Ever get tired of getting the second best there is of something? Something almost as good, "just" as good? Sometimes, you just want the real thing. After two different off-brand MP3 players, I finally got an iPod. Sure, I hardly ever use it, but when I do, it's a more satisfying experience (except for its annoying habit of running out of juice, even if you aren't using it).
When it comes to cell phones, we were late to the game in the first place. We got our first ones in late 2004. At the time, there was no "best," no status phone. Well, maybe a Blackberry, but it was more a geeky thing. We got new phones in 2006, and there was still no real call for something better than what we got. But in 2008, we had another choice. Rather than go with the new, hot Apple iPhone, we opted for Sprint Samsung phones with slide-out keyboards. This way, we didn't have to switch networks, and the Samsung Rant was pretty cool. But it wasn't long before we started getting demonstrations of the fantabulous iPhone from friends. Our Rants started to look pretty clunky.
Well, our 2-year contracts finally came to an end a couple of weeks ago. But we have no desire to jump into yet another Sprint phone. With the news that Apple is very likely to introduce an iPhone on the Verizon network--and possibly soon--I think we're going to wait for the real deal. This is a big step for a former iPhobe. But why get a different phone with iPhone-like functions, when I can get the real thing? Not gonna. Not this time.
[Excerpt] Wager: Verizon iPhone 4 odds before, during, and after February
Verizon iPhone 4 in February: what are the odds? The tech world is in Las Vegas right now to see what Apple’s competitors can come up with before Apple itself begins turning over its tea leaves later this year. In the spirit of Vegas, here are the wagering odds (based on everything we’ve seen, heard, figured, guessed, and so on) for whether the Verizon iPhone 4 (here’s more on the Verizon iPhone ) will be introduced during the proverbial month of February, or sooner, or later. No one is advising that anyone actually place monetary bets based on these entirely arbitrary numbers. Instead, save your money so you can spend it on your Verizon iPhone; the good news is you’re probably going to need it. . .
I was a late joiner to the cell phone machine. I'm not a big phone talker, don't understand the texting phenomenon, and am usually near a computer, so I didn't need internet connectivity. But with The Other Half away much of the time due to his job, the practicality became undeniable. So, about four years ago, we took the plunge.
The first phone was nice in its day, but fairly clunky now, with an extendable antennae, and a rudimentary camera. The second phone--now two years old--is basically an updated version of the first, with a slightly better camera and a sleeker appearance. But it is still just basically a utilitarian phone. No more.
This year, we've cast off our Luddite ways entirely, and have entered the digital age for reals. No, it isn't an iPhone, or that swanky new touchpad Blackberry. But it is a quantum leap for us. We got "Rant" phones, by Samsung (the same brand as the previous two). But this one is a wholly different experience. It has a sliding, full-Qwerty keyboard, a mega-pixel camera, video capability, a micro-SD card. . .it's decked out.
So, to take advantage of all of this, we've taken the leap into a full service plan, which is a big bite for someone who initially didn't even want a cell phone. But thanks to The Other Half's company discount, not too hard to swallow. Time will tell if we use the high-tech new features, but I've already pulled up Greenlee Gazetteon the little screen! Maybe I'll give mobile blogging a try.
After prior visits to Ohio, I have complained to Sprint about poor service. The only responses I've received have been essentially form letters that didn't address the issue at hand. You'd think that in my one-to-two-times per year visits over almost a decade, there would be some improvement. Particularly since there have been not only technological improvements in that time, but the areas I'm talking about have gotten more populous and less remote. And--surprise, surprise--there is a Sprint store in Sunbury.
