Death of an iDream

July 11, 2008. It was supposed to be the day I finally got an iPhone. Alas, AT&T has crushed my technological dreams of a mobile computer with their retarded rules about upgrades and contracts. Their new version comes out next week and is half the price- $200. A lot for a phone, I know, but this is actually a good deal when you break it down. It’s an iPod (alone that would cost $150), a computer that surfs the internet, a GPS system, a camera, and a phone. It probably blows your nose for you too, if you ask it to. So you might be able to see why I was so excited about it. However, when I called AT&T, they told me I hadn’t been with them long enough for an upgrade and if I bought it without an upgrade it would be close to $500. GAH!

 

So, I hung up the phone (gingerly, since apparently I have to make this POC cell phone last til October) and muttered under my breath the evils of capitalism and oh well, I still love America and I`ll keep my thoughts on what you can do if you don’t to myself. That’s another blog though.

 

The most irritating thing about it is, I have finally managed to save enough to buy this phone, but if it sits in my account ‘til October, you can bet that it will get spent at the end-of-summer sale at the mall, or on diapers, or on a pair of shoes that Aubrey must have bc that kid, she just loves to kick her shoes off. I’m sure there’s a lesson in all this. Until then, I’ll continue to get lost, listen to the radio and be Facebook-deprived.

 

UPDATE: Mégan suggested I call the Apple Store, and they told me that I could buy the phone there for $200 and they would activate it. So apparently they are sticking it to the man, but I guess I’ll find out the true story when I show up to the store next week. Either way, I suddenly feel silly that I am whining about a phone. Oh well, I haven’t blogged in awhile, so hopefully its accomplishing what I want it to accomplish- giving you glimpses into my mind that I probably wouldn’t normally talk about unless you asked.

Text-personality

So this morning in our avoidance of work, some of the girls were sitting around talking about motherhood, the kiddos and husbands. You know, pretty much my whole life! I don’t know how we got around to it but the subject of text messaging came up. I don’t know about you, but I love whoever invented the text message (along with the person who came up with the baby swing, Dr. Pepper, mascara and DVR). I am not really a phone person so if I have a one word sentance I need to convey, I text. Instead of going through the “hi, how are you, I’m good, etc. oh by the way, what was the name of that restaurant you liked so much?”, you send the text, “whats the name of the restaurant you liked” and you get the answer “Taco Bueno” right away and you know where you are going for lunch.

Ah yes. the modern life is full of modern conveniences. But how has that affected our relationships with people? Instead of going through the process of finding out how someone’s day is, caring about them, we just text what we need and move on. The art of the telephone conversation is dying, and I am not really doing much to revive it. I am sure I will regret texting Aubrey to pick up milk on her way home from after-school practice so much when she goes to college and I long to just hear her voice. Instead she’ll text me (or whatever they come up with by the year 2026) “hey mom, just met a boy. luv ya” and not answer the phone when I call to find out if he is a Harvard grad who has a full grasp of 4 languages, homes in Italy and Japan and comes from a family of devout Christians.

Maybe I should stop trying to make my life so convenient sometimes. Something to think about…