Smart phone? No thanks...

I remember how excited I was back in November of 2011.

I was getting a smart phone! Wow! I could get on the internet on my phone and do so many things with it!

The Craigman with a smart phone! I thought of all the hours of enjoyment the phone would bring and…then I got it.

I consider myself a fairly intelligent techno person. But the problems started early and continued. I had problems with the battery running out after approximately five hours, going over my allowed internet use when I didn’t use the internet.

Trish the wife complained about the extra cost, especially the overage. I paid around $200 for the phone, and soon after buying the device, saw the price drop to $100, and then even lower. Aargh.

And I figured out pretty quickly that I really did not enjoy looking at the internet on a small device when I typically was on the computer for some 10 hours a day already. If I needed to look something up on the internet, I could do it most of the time by walking into the office of LeFlore County Journal world headquarters or at work.

So the whole smart phone for a dumb Craig did not really work that great.

I received notice last month that I could upgrade my phone. I did, sort of, by downgrading my phone.

Now, I am probably one of the few people in history who have gone from a regular cell phone to a smart phone, and now dropped back to a regular cell phone.

My smart phone was good for calls and texting, which is primarily why I have a cell phone. I might be a tad bit dumb when it comes to smart phones, but I figured out I could probably do the same thing with a regular cell phone and not have to worry about going over my tiny allotment of internet time.

I went and got my new phone the other day, even received in some trade in for my old phone. Bonus, by gosh!

I had to sign a new extension and paid a whopping $1.06 for the phone. The battery life is much better. The reception in our house usually stinks (get that fixed AT&T!), but the new phone seems to get much better reception. I was able to take a call last night and not have to walk outside.

And, best of all, it wasn’t a hassle to get it done. I was actually able to talk to a person at the Best Buy Mobile store at the mall. I didn’t have to make a call, listen to all the voice mail prompts, try to understand an individual from some foreign country speaking jibberish English, or wait for the phone to arrive.

Very nice. Now, if I can just figure out how to make this phone work…