I Finally Crawled Out of the Dark Ages

I have a smart phone. A cheap, burner smart phone, but it's still a smart phone. I have to say goodbye to my undependable pain-in-the-butt brick that basically just made phone calls. I've been dragged kicking and screaming into the present.

No, I'm not a technophobe. I like new technology. I have a MacBook Air that I adore, except for the small hard drive, but that's a different rant. (I can't store my 50,000+ fonts, images, and movie editing stuff on the drive without running out of room. And then there's my game collection...) But I'm oldschool hardcore. Phones should make phone calls, and be easy to use to make phone calls.

So why did I get a smart phone? First off, my brick wasn't holding a charge anymore. I guess twelve years is a good life for a phone that cost all of $10. Second, I needed a way to accept credit card payments. I have a Square. The phone works well for that, most of the time, not that I've needed it since I bought it but it's only been a month.

I'm going to put in a plug for TracFone here. No, they aren't paying me anything. I've been using their services for years, ever since I picked up my brick. And yes, that was a kicking, screaming fit over having to get a cell phone. I still hate them most of the time. But for $150, I have a smart phone and a year of service. It's limited, but since I hate phones it's sufficient for me. And I can buy more minutes and more data if I need it. No monthly fees, no contracts. And if I want a new phone, it's easy enough to switch the plan over. I just did that for my brick. I now own a new brick for that number that is just a little fancier than the old one but it only cost me $5.

Now I just have to figure out how to juggle three phone numbers until we can cut the landline. And what pattern to glue the rhinestones and unicorn stickers.