I have three and a half children; my three plus my son-in-law. They all are keepers.
My first born called me before Father’s Day and asked what I wanted. I told him and suggested he and his brother, who live in the same area, go together for the gift. (They did.)
My son-in-law apparently asked my wife if I would like a new cell phone — a smart phone with all the bells and whistles. My daughter gave her mother her old smart phone and now my wife is au courant.
His mother-in-law told him that I was happy with my antique flip phone and that I probably would not use a smart phone if I had one. (She was/is correct.)
My cell phone is a ZTE 221 flip phone. It has a camera that I don’t use. It has text messaging capability that I don’t use. If I go overseas I can swap out the SIM card for a local carrier’s card so I don’t need an app for that. (I don’t plan any overseas trips in the near future.) My flip phone functions just fine as a phone, and that’s ALL I want from it.
There are no apps to download to it; consequently no apps to take up memory space. If I want to know about the weather I open a window or door and look out. (I also can check on the computer, but that smacks of “cheating.”
It’s smaller than any smart phone; it easily fits into a shirt pocket. The screen is protected by a hard case — unlike a smart phone.
Plus, it’s a darn sight less expensive to buy and operate than a smart phone. I have a Consumer Cellular $15 plan for more minutes than I use; the wife, with her “smart phone” has many more minutes plus text plus data … and she pays accordingly. Even adding the house phone minutes (via a ZTE WF721 adapter that turns landline phones into cellular phones) she still never maxes out her call, text, or data limits. (In the house, she connects to our Wi-Fi for data.)
I don’t know what my son-in-law paid for the smart phone he now must return for a refund. Consumer Cellular’s least expensive smart phone, a Motorola Mote E Lite, lists for US$40 which, as smart phones go, is inexpensive. But would I carry a “Lite” phone? Not on your tin type. (I don’t drink “lite” beer, either.)
The only thing my ancient flip phone lacks is GPS. I don’t want GPS to give ME directions — I have two (2) GPS units for the flivver — but it would be nice if I needed to be found by EMS/EMT personnel; the GPS phones are “pinged” from time to time to triangulate the phone’s position.
When I was traveling from Virginia to Florida one time, an 18-wheeler went off the road and rolled. I needed to call for help, but didn’t really know where I was … the road, yes, but close to what mile marker. A GPS would have been handy; the 9-1-1 operator could have “pinged” the phone GPS and known where to send assistance.
I am not adverse to technology, but I see no reason I need to keep up with the Jones. ”If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
I appreciate my son-in-law’s intent; I just don’t want a smart phone. (I’ll be the only hold out in the family — even my grandkids, 2 and “almost 7” are smart phone experts.)
I like simple things. I drive a (relatively) simple car that almost any mechanic can repair. I shoot a revolver rather than a semi-automatic; it’s easier to clean and less subject to jamming. (My son the cop spends hours cleaning his semi-autos while I spend minutes cleaning the wheel gun.)
There WAS a time when I wanted all the new toys for my work, but as a geezer, I’m fond of my old toys. I like things simple; things I can fix — or get fixed — without having to mortgage the G650.
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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
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