Calling All Cell Phones

I have been cell phone shopping lately. I am officially out of my Verizon contract and can quit it any time I want to. (I kind of sound like an addict.) Since I don’t hate my current phone or service (minus their poor customer service), I haven’t rushed out to get the newest, latest and greatest model. I have instead been browsing. Browsing though has lead me to one conclusion: there are too many options.

I visited an AT&T (formerly Cingular) store. I browsed to a Sprint (joined with Nextel) store. I shopped at T-Mobile. Not to mention, I have read countless reviews on CNET.com. Doing all this has been helpful, but there is too much. And I do not necessarily mean too much in terms of a providers or models, I mean there is simply too much that comes with a cell phone these days. Apparently, we as a people have evolved far beyond nine digits and a send button.

All the latest and coolest and newest phones are too advanced for me (or I’m too remedial for them). I do not need the ability to check my email on my cell phone. Frankly, I’m just not that important. And I certainly don’t want work to have the ability to reach me while I’m in the comfort of my own home - unless someone thinks it important enough to call me. I don’t want to watch TV on a mini-cell phone screen. I don’t have cable at home, so why would I feel it necessary to watch it on my phone? I don’t care to get the latest sports and news sent to me as they happen. I’m not going to download music and listen to it on my phone. I have an iPod, which I considered to a big techie purchase for me. Guess I’m not nearly as visionary as the people at Apple. Turn by turn navigations and GPS locators seem great, but these features just seem a little too Big Brother. There’s just so much. Case and point: In Japan, your cell phone can confirm if you need to pop a breath mint.

I do think these services are great, but I know I don’t ultimately need them. They seem like more ways to tune out the world. And being a girl that’s on public transit often enough, sometimes it is necessary to block out the world in my immediate surroundings. Call me old fashion, but I’d rather do that with a book than by responding to work emails. I remember when I got my current phone, the salesman talked up Verizon’s Vcast service. He showed me how clear the sound quality was and how crisp music videos looked on the screen of my new phone. You know how many times I’ve used that feature? None. You know how many times I’ve used the tip calculator? More than I can count. See, I’m a simple girl.

There are basic phones on the market, made for people like me, but they are few and far between. And those I have been able to find, the reviews are not so great. It’s as if all the phone companies have given the fresh out of school engineers and designers these phones while all the top notch guys are creating phones that will someday tele-transport people and raise their children. Again, these are just services I don’t see myself needing.

I’ll continue my search and probably make a purchase before the end of the year. Lord knows though, what ever I do buy will already be considered outdated by the time I get it home. But as long as the tip calculator works, it will be technologically advanced enough for me.