Saturday, January 7, 2017

I am entering the 21st century



For the past few years I have been bucking the tide. I have been a hip baby boomer who doesn't have a smart phone. It has become my personal eccentricity. Like the friend who doesn't do emails (you have to call her) or the lady at work who doesn't have cable (You can't tell her about Better Things ) or the man at work who doesn't own a car (you have to avoid him around five o'clock or he may ask you to drive him home) it has become a personality quirk.

Looking at a list I wrote a few years ago, I have been grudgingly acquiring the mandatory things someone in my social class should own.  Yes I now have HDTV (the networks forced me into it by changing the size of the screen), a GPS for the car (great to have) and now I am going to have a smart phone with texting and other things. No longer will I disappoint people with the knowledge that they can't text me. Now when I sit at the bar I can be one of the many guys staring at their smart phones. I can even compare features and talk "smart phones" with the gang.

So far it has been a rocky road. I got a notice on my front door saying UPS was here but couldn't deliver the phone. I went on the Internet and said I'd pick it up at the UPS place near the Sculpture Garden. I arrived at the back entrance and the building was fenced off so I had to get back in my car and drive a mile to get to the customer entrance.

When I got home the phone wouldn't get past the set up phase. I brought the phone outside but had no more success. After chatting with two different customer reps, the second one determined I needed a Sims card (the directions said a Sims card was optional). She said I should go to the local wireless store. It is still snowing, so, prudence being the better part of valor, I'm waiting for the snow to stop.

One day I'll have a smart phone. I will again have the proper accoutrements for my demographic.

Next day: Setting up my smart phone. Turns out I had nothing wrong but a weak satellite connection. Bought a case. Yes I can make calls, get calls, and I might have even sent a message. Sadly I am in the 2G category and in 2017 I was supposed to have moved up to 4G to keep up with my demographic. I'm still behind.

No comments:

Post a Comment