Sunday 16 August 2009

My Revolutionary New Phone

Last week, I became the proud owner of a brand new telephone. I'd been considering replacing my old one for a while, and Helena and I happened to find ourselves at the appropriate shop due to a sequence of events that began with me waking up hungry that morning, suggesting that we get an early lunch at Burger King, and then noticing that there was a shopping centre across the road with signs advertising discount clothes, dragging my reluctant daughter over there in search of cheap trousers and quickly deciding I wasn't in the mood for clothes shopping (I never am).

So I came home with a phone rather than a new pair of trousers. In the end, I decided against an iphone because I found something that has all of the iphone's useful functions, but is much better.

  • Cheaper - At £30, I didn't require a mortgage.
  • Easier to use - Even I can work out how to make and recieve calls on this phone.
  • Has a built in bell. For some reason known only to apple, the iphone lacks one of these.
  • It's a design classic.

Talking of design, the phone that this is a replica of first came out in 1937 and was in use well into the 1950s. (The latest iphone will probably be out of date by next year). Helena loves it, as she's never used a rotary dial phone before.

I hardly use my landline, and might be tempted to get rid of it, except that I need it for internet access, and I have a nagging worry about relying on mobile phones in an emergency, since they don't work when there's a power cut. In any case, there's only one thing wrong with my new retro purchase. Sadly I still get 21st century marketing calls.

16 comments:

Dan said...

First! I haven't had a land line in years.

Brian o vretanos said...

Dan:

Cable didn't catch on here, so modern properties only have internet over the phone line.

Jean Knee said...

nice phone. That's the kind I had when I was little.

I may get a cell phone soon. I don't like people being able to get in touch with me at all times, I might be doing something secrety--not stalking probably

Brian o vretanos said...

Jean Knee:

You can always turn off your cell phone, or just not answer it. You can always claim that:

(a) You forgot to take it with you

(b) You were driving, so couldn't answer it.

(c) You didn't manage to unearth it from the bottom of your handbag before it stopped ringing.

I should point out that I haven't actually tried (c).

Unknown said...

Snazzy stuff! A fancy new, erm, retro telephone ...

My mobile is about 4 years old. Funnily enough, it still works. All that new phone bollocks is a waste of time.

Bee said...

That phone is awesome!

I haven't had a landline in about 4 years. We enjoy saving the extra money.

Rhonda Sloan said...

Love it ... you're so retro!

I have one hard-wired land line ... for emergencies (like last year when that stupid hurricane hit Houston)... it's fashioned after the Eiffel Tower.

Brian o vretanos said...

Chris:

It's great to have you back on the interweb :-)

I only changed my mobile phone when it actually stopped working.

Bee:

You mean you enjoy spending the money on an iphone?

Rhonda:

An Eiffel Tower phone sounds wicked, though I've never seen one.

Bee said...

Well, I needed a new phone since Scarlett was acting up. And by acting up I mean sometimes people would call me and I could hear them but they couldn't hear me.

I know it may seem like I'm capricious when it comes to material things but I am a responsible person. Instead of walking out of my house and, on a whim, buying a new phone, I saved my allowance until I had enough to make that purchase. If I were that impulsive, I would have bought it when it first came out, instead I waited 2 years. It cost the same amount as Scarlett did last year, which I also saved for.

My land line was costing us $75 a month but the only people using it were telemarketers because calling from cell to cell is cheaper (as in no minutes are used if you call someone on your same network) due to a friends and family netowrk here in the US. It seemed illogical to keep the landline going since my answering machine would be full of people I don't know or care to speak to.

In the end, we are saving $900 a year because we already had mobile service and only eliminated the land-line.

The buying of the iphone was a one time purchase and we are not paying any additional money for having it since the mobile service is the same as when I had Scarlett. So I guess I don't get the question of "you mean you enjoy
spending money on an iphone?" Why not replace Scarlett with an iphone? I mean sure I wish everything was free but all we did was evolve from the bartering system, I don't think anything was ever free and we needed to pay for things one way or another. Added to that the fact that I am on the internet 65% of the time I'm awake, probably more, so a phone with applications I could use in my daily life was a great investment, in my humble opinion, since I do take advantage of everything it has to offer.

Technology is not for everybody but I love it and look forward to shiny new things that may make my stay on Earth more enjoyable and since I don't drink, smoke or have babies, I have to make do with what I can.

This leaves me curious as to much iPhones are in the UK since you and Chris seem to have a bit of sticker shock.

Jean Knee said...

I went to the melting pot on vacation. I could have paid my electric bill but to hell with it!
go Bee!

Brian o vretanos said...

Bee:

I wasn't being entirely serious. And of course you're perfectly entitled to spend your money on what you want, and hopefully to enjoy it.

I know nothing about monthly deals, but a PAYG iphone costs between £350 and £550 depending on the model, so up to 20 times the price of a basic mobile phone. In addition, calls to and from mobiles are a lot more expensive than landline-landline calls, and internet access is very pricey.

Jean Knee said...

where's Wordy Wednesday?

FIRST!!

Brian o vretanos said...

Jean Knee:

WW has been cancelled. Or at least, postponed...

Jean Knee said...

did you check with me first? huh?

next time, okay

Bee said...

When the iPhone first came out here it was uber expensive which is why I only admired it from afar. No way would I pay that much money. My mom says that they're really expensive in Mexico. I guess I'm lucky! :o)

Anonymous said...

Ohhh...I love the phone and it's awesome that your daughter thinks it is cool!