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I'm a big fan of technology. I enjoy reading about it, looking at it, playing with it. I like to buy new technological tools.
But I don't particularly like to pay for it. As cool as all the new stuff is, the cost of it generally keeps me from bringing it home. As a result, even though I know about all the cool new things that innovation brings to the world, I tend to be behind in actually having it available.
I didn't get a DVD player until just about everyone I knew had one. I didn't get an Ipod until some friends of mine chipped in together and bought one for me as a going away present. I finally got a Nintendo Wii just a couple of months before they were pretty much available everywhere. And I was the last one in my social group to get a cell phone that I regularly carried around.
Now I don't think it's strange to be slow to pick up these types of things. It's the contradiction in how much I love new technology and my reluctance to actually bring it home that makes me feel a little like a weirdo.
My latest fascination has been centering on the smart phone technology. I'd like to preface this by saying that I've never been particularly interested personally in having a phone that does everything else. I used to refuse to buy a phone that had a camera included, and even though I've been stuck with phones that played music I've never bothered with those features. I understand the general concept behind one small device that does several things, if only for having less to carry around.
The thing is that I like devices that excel at what they do. I'm a big fan of my ipod because it's so efficient (for me). I don't want the kind of compromise I feel that a lot of these multi-purpose devices require, which is reduced efficiency in individual function for greater options.
Yet I've lately been a lot more interested in the smart phone, especially Google's new Nexus One. And the main reason behind that desire is that I'm annoyed at how much I pay for my current cellphone in return for how little I use it.
I'm not a big fan of phones to start with. I have enough trouble understanding what people say when they're right in front of me. Talking to someone without the visual cues and body language to help me out is just that much harder. As a result, I've had the tendency to not communicate with people that often over the phone. Email, Facebook and twitter are far more likely to be my method with people who don't fit into my day to day world.
I'm also not a big fan of texting when I can just write an email instead. In fact, virtually the only one I ever talk to on the phone or txt to is my wife except for those special occasions when friends are coming into town to visit.
In the end, this means I'm carrying around an extra piece of equipment and paying $40 bucks a month for something I use only a couple of times a week, if even that often. That irritates my frugal sensibilities.
So as I read about all the cool things that smartphones can do these days, they begin to become attractive. Because even if I'm not using my phone all that much now, if I got a smartphone maybe I'd actually get more out of it on a regular basis.
Only that doesn't work for me all that well because then my monthly plan would probably more than double in cost. And I just can't see myself paying a hundred dollars a month for things that I essentially get using a computer.
Clearly I make my life far too complicated for myself.
But I don't particularly like to pay for it. As cool as all the new stuff is, the cost of it generally keeps me from bringing it home. As a result, even though I know about all the cool new things that innovation brings to the world, I tend to be behind in actually having it available.
I didn't get a DVD player until just about everyone I knew had one. I didn't get an Ipod until some friends of mine chipped in together and bought one for me as a going away present. I finally got a Nintendo Wii just a couple of months before they were pretty much available everywhere. And I was the last one in my social group to get a cell phone that I regularly carried around.
Now I don't think it's strange to be slow to pick up these types of things. It's the contradiction in how much I love new technology and my reluctance to actually bring it home that makes me feel a little like a weirdo.
My latest fascination has been centering on the smart phone technology. I'd like to preface this by saying that I've never been particularly interested personally in having a phone that does everything else. I used to refuse to buy a phone that had a camera included, and even though I've been stuck with phones that played music I've never bothered with those features. I understand the general concept behind one small device that does several things, if only for having less to carry around.
The thing is that I like devices that excel at what they do. I'm a big fan of my ipod because it's so efficient (for me). I don't want the kind of compromise I feel that a lot of these multi-purpose devices require, which is reduced efficiency in individual function for greater options.
Yet I've lately been a lot more interested in the smart phone, especially Google's new Nexus One. And the main reason behind that desire is that I'm annoyed at how much I pay for my current cellphone in return for how little I use it.
I'm not a big fan of phones to start with. I have enough trouble understanding what people say when they're right in front of me. Talking to someone without the visual cues and body language to help me out is just that much harder. As a result, I've had the tendency to not communicate with people that often over the phone. Email, Facebook and twitter are far more likely to be my method with people who don't fit into my day to day world.
I'm also not a big fan of texting when I can just write an email instead. In fact, virtually the only one I ever talk to on the phone or txt to is my wife except for those special occasions when friends are coming into town to visit.
In the end, this means I'm carrying around an extra piece of equipment and paying $40 bucks a month for something I use only a couple of times a week, if even that often. That irritates my frugal sensibilities.
So as I read about all the cool things that smartphones can do these days, they begin to become attractive. Because even if I'm not using my phone all that much now, if I got a smartphone maybe I'd actually get more out of it on a regular basis.
Only that doesn't work for me all that well because then my monthly plan would probably more than double in cost. And I just can't see myself paying a hundred dollars a month for things that I essentially get using a computer.
Clearly I make my life far too complicated for myself.
