Just got a new phone (yay!) and I can't get the thing to work properly. (boo!) Even trying to play a game requires my brain to be in full working order. I have decided that technology has passed me and is now in the hands of the next generation... And to celebrate this occassion, my husband has decided that we need new helmets with built-in bluetooth capabilities that will let us talk to each other and listen to music as we ride our motorcycle.


Is it just me or is there some point at which you suddenly becomes as technologically challenged as your grandparents? Mine seems to have happened overnight.

What kind of phone did you get? I tried to get an Android phone back in January but it was a really bad experience. (I was a lifelong Sony Ericsson customer but apparently they don't make good Android phones. It kept stalling out and crashing.) I got an iPhone 4 instead and I love it. It's really easy to use (I had a bit of experience using my iPod Touch anyways) and there are lots of games and apps. It even has a 5 megapixel camera which is really good for a phone. (I know there are 10mp phones but they aren't as common.)

Did you switch from a regular cell phone to a smart phone? That can throw one for a loop! I did just recently and though I picked it up quickly, there were many little knacks to learn about. I love it now though and wouldn't trade it. I went from a Nokia e71x to an HTC Inspire, which is an Android device.

I got the motorola droidX. You are right about switching between a standard and a smart phone. I just get irritated in the lag on some of the applications. and also the fact that i cannot turn off some of the more annoying things that came on the phone, like skype which is constantly on and looking for service so it drains my battery. It is taking some serious getting used to using it to talk to people. I feel like I am talking into a handful of 3x5 notecards. My old phone was a flip phone and was very small and lightweight. I guess I really am getting to old for cool new technology

What really bothers me about new smartphones is the fact that they get worse reception than cell phones from 10 years ago. I spoke with several representatives from various companies when searching for my current phone two years ago. They claim that customers liked the sleeker look of current phones, so the cell phone companies did away with external antennae, thus decreasing reception by something ridiculous like 30%.


And I hate the idea of having to pay so much money for 'extra' features. How can they be extra if I don't have the option of NOT buying them?! I'm one of those rare people who uses my cell as a phone and NOTHING ELSE. I don't play games. I don't browse the web. I rarely take photos.

Clinozoisite wrote:What really bothers me about new smartphones is the fact that they get worse reception than cell phones from 10 years ago. I spoke with several representatives from various companies when searching for my current phone two years ago. They claim that customers liked the sleeker look of current phones, so the cell phone companies did away with external antennae, thus decreasing reception by something ridiculous like 30%.


And I hate the idea of having to pay so much money for 'extra' features. How can they be extra if I don't have the option of NOT buying them?! I'm one of those rare people who uses my cell as a phone and NOTHING ELSE. I don't play games. I don't browse the web. I rarely take photos.

.
.
.
We must be related in some way. When I look for a phone, all I want is a...phone! No games, no radio, no GPS, no camera (I've got around $20K of pro photo equipment), no internet and so on. Just give me something very easy to use with a decent size keypad and I'm happy.

Same here. Until recently I still had my Nokia 3210 phone (had it for many years but seem to have lost it now ) it's biggest features were a full color screen and polyphonic ringtones, your standard address book and THAT's it. But what made it the winning phone for me was the reeeaallly long battery life, I'd charge it once every 2 or 3 weeks whereas todays smartphones you're looking at every 2-3 days!!

And all that because of features that I never use anyway

"SunSpire"

mtaylo, there may be a way to turn off some applications. I know on my phone I can turn off how the applications update and download, which helps on battery life. You'll have to google it though, as I'm sure it's different for every phone.

And Sunspire, my phone gets charged every day. Otherwise it'd only last me about a day and a half. I don't mind this because there are some things I really love about the phone, such as the Internet access being great and the fact that my one Google account, the one I use for teaching, is connected to that phone, which makes it easy on the go.

Mtaylo, google "how to turn off skype on Droid x" and I bet you'll get some results. Hopefully you won't have to hack it, but I hacked my old phones (I took off AT&T's firmware, which did things like disable the GPS, and put Sony Ericsson's original firmware on them.)

Everyone complains about poor reception, especially with the iPhone, but my old phone would only have 1 bar inside the house and couldn't hold a call, even if I stood next to a window. My iPhone on the other hand has 3-5 bars and I can talk for hours. I guess it depends on where you are. Also you can't expect your phone to have reception in some places like basements or elevators. The more walls the signal has to go through, the weaker it becomes.

I have the droid x as well and I freaking love it. I can't believe how much I can do on it, it practically makes my computer obsolete. As for the programs. If you go to settings and then applications you can force close them... change the settings on them, and even just delete the ones you don't want on there. There are also a few applications that you can download that help you with this and can help save you battery life.