A few weeks ago, Steph and I decided to join the modern era and upgraded to Smart Phones. Previously, we each had and swore by our simple cell phones. They made phone calls, took suitable pictures, and with an unlimited text message plan, we could send quirky messages with bad grammar to one another. Granted, doing so took me ten minutes to type a simple message but the point is that I could if I wanted to.
But with Steph’s business travel picking up, we felt that she needed something more powerful. So we went out and got her an Android-based phone. Specifically the Samsung Mesmerize (Galaxy S series). I personally would have gotten her a Droid X but US Cellular doesn’t carry those and Verizon’s plans are too danged expensive.
How’s it working? Well, on a recent trip to Portland, Steph was able to tether her laptop to the phone (bypassing the expensive, poor quality airport Internet), take high quality photos, and keep me up to date on her flights. When out to dinner, we used the phones to look up those random, nagging bits of trivia that always seem to come up while out on the town. The GPS feature helped when written instructions failed and the Our Groceries app is really quite useful for our grocery list. So I’m going to say the investment has been worthwhile.
How’d I end up with one? Well, looking at the uses and the calling plans, the cost difference was negligible … oh, hell. I totally failed my Saving Throw vs Shiny.
As for text messaging – the bane of the old phone – the Android utilizes Swype which makes texting very easy. Now we use texting for just about everything. In fact, not long after we got the phones, I received a message while sitting in my home office from Steph who was sitting in the living room:
See? Without a Smart Phone, how would I have ever known that?
Moose and Ink 