How much for that Phone?

I’m crabby. And kind of mad. Not about the usual dysfunctional governmental issues but about a phone. A 6 inch lifeline that changed our way of doing business and living our lives. It hardly seems possible that we managed to do anything before the cell phone. Remember, “I’ll email you when I get home!” or “Call me after 7pm when it is cheaper!” Those days are long gone. We are connected 24/7. We walk to and fro with phones, crossing the street, having dinner, driving. There is no escaping them.

I have always had a Mac computer but an Android cell phone. I’m not sure why–the Androids seemed sturdier, had better batteries and frankly, iPhones seemed a little pretentious. Make no mistake about it, Apple is a great company. Super user friendly and creative and beautiful. It is like putting a Subaru up against a Lexus. So, I went about my Android business and had no intention of changing.

My old Droid Turbo had been starting to slip, shutting off when still having power, apps freezing or starting to not work, battery draining quickly. I knew it was only a matter of time so I did a little research. Some of the new Androids were as much as the iPhone, some near $1000 and most $700 or more. I thought I might get a Motorola Z for about $20 a month but the battery life got a poor rating. I geocache and my cell phone is my only phone so a good battery life is important. A colleague at work whom I trust, suggested I get an iPhone. He helped me compare the phone and we decided that the XR would be my best bet.

I could have ordered it from Verizon Wireless but decided to go to the physical store because I would need help to transfer all of my information from an android to an apple. Really, the people were nice but always trying to upgrade or up sell, which I suppose, is their job. Cell phone companies and communication companies have us all by the shorthairs. They know we need it, they know we want the newest toy, they know we need the help to get there. It just left me feeling a little dirty—like I knew that I was getting fleeced and I just let it happen anyway.

I will get over it. I’m sure at one point I will take some pictures and be awed at the creativity of the Apple phone. I’m hoping it is soon, that extra $32 for the phone and $13 for insurance will remind me every month of my dependence on a business that cares little about the needs of the customer and more about how much money they can extract from them.