Particularly the mobile phone.
Paradoxically, I don't actually make many phonecalls.
However, I have a reputation to maintain. My Year 11 students were flabbergasted to note that someone as middle-aged and un-hip as me could possibly be in possession of a snazzy mobile phone, even if it wasn't an iPhone... and I fully intend to keep them confused.
And it's time for my upgrade.
Some of my requirements have changed since my last foray into mobile technology: I now have a proper digital camera, so the camera function on the mobile is less important than before. However, I still believe in checking out how a phone feels, so, I popped into an O2 shop.
I was particularly interested in the Android operating system. Only one of the phones from O2 has this. I played around with it, but, compared to my Xda Orbit 2, it was clunky in the extreme, and, try as I might, I couldn't get the keyboard to respond correctly to my finger taps. Admittedly, my texting technique is rather rusty as I rely on my stylus at present, but I was really struggling. The loading speed was also rather disappointing.
The Xda seemed to have been discontinued, and I couldn't see any other stylus-operated phones. So, I settled down to explore the other phones on offer. Nothing really captured my imagination until I looked at the newest iPhone, the 3G(s).
My first experience of an iPhone had been when the incomparable Fr. Z let me have a look at his phone over lunch. I liked it a lot. However, when I came to actually considering an upgrade, I found that the camera was a lower spec than the one I had, there wasn't a stylus, and the cost of the phone was a little on the steep side.
The first two "issues" were no longer relevant, and the number of "Catholic" apps I'd seen advertised made the iPhone very attractive. The price, on the other hand, was still not to my liking. On my current tarrif, apparently, the phone would set me back £279 if I signed up for 18 months.
I looked. I definitely coveted... but not quite that much. I smiled, thanked the assistant, and left the shop...
...and promptly phoned customer services. There was a very nice chap on the end of the line, and I explained that I wanted a nice, new phone, but I wasn't willing to pay anything for the handset, not even if it had an app for making afternoon tea... and I was even less keen on paying anything extra on my current tarrif. He was a very, very nice man, and very helpful.
My nice, new, free, 32GB iPhone 3G(s) will be delivered on Monday...
12 comments:
Hmm,
I'm also due for an upgrade with O2, way overdue in fact. I'd actually like to have a decent spec camera though, which is why I've been reluctant so far to change from the current phone (N73) to something more up to date. You'll have to keep us posted when you get your hands on the new 'toy!' :-)
...Whoa, wait.
You called customer service, told them you did not want to pay for a new phone - still, however, wanting a new phone - and their response was the send you a new phone?
How does that even happen? Or am I perhaps living in the wrong country after all...
I too hesitated for a long time before taking the iPhone plunge! Mainly because of the camera but I was also worried in case I couldn't get on with the touch screen.
But . . . success! I really like my iPhone - in fact have become positively evangelical about it!
The Apps are the thing for me. It's amazing what you can have at your fingertips in a matter of seconds.
Hope you have fun when yours arrives. I'm sure you'll let us know how you get on.
How the devil did you manage that!?
Der Wolfenwalt & Mark - it was quite easy. I said that I was considering switching to another phone provider. They asked what deal I was interested in making that would keep me as a customer...
(after all, I rarely exceed my monthly minutes and texts, so, over the contract, they'll make plenty of profit. Seems a fair enough exchange to me!)
Mac;
how true . . . in my experience, they'll almost always do that to prevent losing your business, because they make a good deal of money out of you even when they do give you nice new, expensive, top-of-the-range phones (bear in mind they're cheaper, anyway, when you buy 10,000 !)
Nevertheless, congratulations on a coup, and enjoy the new phone.
Well done!
Be sure to check out all the decent Catholic apps, iPieta is a good one, as is the Olive Tree Bible Reader, you can also get the Catechism, and the Compendium, and so on and so on. There's even a 'Heresy Detector'!!
On an iPhone, you should try iPieta. A really good Catholic app.
Now Mac, Dear, sweet Mac, undisputed queen of the blogosphere, defender of all things Catholic etc. etc....
...my contract with O2 is up for renewal now, for a small consideration would you ring 'em up for me? ;-)
Definitely going to try that this spring. Don't know how far I'll get with the scion of Vodafone that is my provider, but we'll see.
I'll confess, the apple of my eye (no pun intended) right now is less the iPhone than the Droid, but we'll see what happens in the ensuing months to change my mind.
Mac: Mac?
Oh dear!
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