Best and Latest Smartphones--Hi-Tech Survival & Men and Directions
Posted: Sunday, September 26, 2010
by Steve Kovacs
The Kovacs Perspective
I am not the brightest light bulb in the drawer in some areas but I am certainly very dim when it comes to smartphones. Patience is not my strong suit and so when I use a phone I want to pick it up, flip it open, and simply dial and talk. I don't want to unlock the phone, fumble my big fingers around a small front keypad, and try to figure out how everything works on a new technologically advanced smartphone. So what did I go and do? You'd think I'd go out and get a simple flip phone, right? No, I figured I'd broaden my horizons and went out and got a smartphone. One that can make coffee, massage my shoulders and also make telephone calls--OK, maybe it doesn't't do all that but it certainly does everything any smartphone can do. As a matter of fact, the Casio Brigade phone I bought is better than most smartphones because it is built to military specifications for shock and water intrusion. You see, I am traditionally tough on my phones. I bang them around, drop them and one time a phone actually ended up in the toilet. Yuk!
What is a smartphone anyway? Smartphones are devices that offer greater functionality than regular cell phones, with the ability to access the Internet, download email, work with document attachments, sync data with personal and corporate computers, send instant messages, play music, show streaming video and guide your travels with GPS - in addition to making phone calls. The best smartphones have full keyboards or touch screens - or in rare cases, both.
My new smartphone frustrated me to no end as opposed to my old easy to use flip phone. Why the frustration? Did I buy an inferior device? No, the reason I became frustrated was because I have "man syndrome". "Man syndrome" in this case, is that I wouldn't read the directions for my $400 Casio. I thought I could breeze through my little device without reading the manual. Kind of like not asking for directions. In retrospect, my first two weeks with the Brigade was similar to how a seven year old acts. Frustrated, impatient, and whining. Yes, like a spoiled little kid.
Don't get me wrong, I did go through the manual a few times, spending a minute hear and a minute there, but never how I should have. I never sat down and read it cover to cover. After all, this type of smartphone was new to me and I needed lessons to get me on the right track. Instead of reading, I learned by trial and error which most of us know is not the best way to learn. Using the trial and error method I started to get the hang of it, however, it took much longer than it should have.
Now, I access my email accounts and at times even surf the Internet. And one time I dropped the phone down a flight of stairs and watched it, seemingly in slow motion, hit the wooden hand rails and four or five wooden steps before it landed on solid concrete. All the while it was going down the stairs I kept thinking that OK, it's supposed to handle this kind of abuse and I had faith that it would survive. When it landed I ran down the stairs hoping it still worked and guess what . . . it worked like a charm, not even a nick on the outside!
I'm slowly getting into the smartphone and high-tech age but from now on no more "man syndrome" for me. No, I'm going to read everything I can about any unfamiliar tech device I use. But, I 'll still refuse to ask for directions! Hey, I'm a work in progress.
My new smartphone frustrated me to no end as opposed to my old easy to use flip phone. Why the frustration? Did I buy an inferior device? No, the reason I became frustrated was because I have "man syndrome". "Man syndrome" in this case, is that I wouldn't read the directions for my $400 Casio. I thought I could breeze through my little device without reading the manual. Kind of like not asking for directions. In retrospect, my first two weeks with the Brigade was similar to how a seven year old acts. Frustrated, impatient, and whining. Yes, like a spoiled little kid.
Don't get me wrong, I did go through the manual a few times, spending a minute hear and a minute there, but never how I should have. I never sat down and read it cover to cover. After all, this type of smartphone was new to me and I needed lessons to get me on the right track. Instead of reading, I learned by trial and error which most of us know is not the best way to learn. Using the trial and error method I started to get the hang of it, however, it took much longer than it should have.
Now, I access my email accounts and at times even surf the Internet. And one time I dropped the phone down a flight of stairs and watched it, seemingly in slow motion, hit the wooden hand rails and four or five wooden steps before it landed on solid concrete. All the while it was going down the stairs I kept thinking that OK, it's supposed to handle this kind of abuse and I had faith that it would survive. When it landed I ran down the stairs hoping it still worked and guess what . . . it worked like a charm, not even a nick on the outside!
I'm slowly getting into the smartphone and high-tech age but from now on no more "man syndrome" for me. No, I'm going to read everything I can about any unfamiliar tech device I use. But, I 'll still refuse to ask for directions! Hey, I'm a work in progress.
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More commentsIts a delight reading this article. Your word construction is fantastic, Sir.By the way I don't have a very high-tech phone but I can check my emails, read articles of SW through readers club etc. Almost everything I can do. I can attach files and send emails also. It solves my problems. So I am happy....Though good information about a smart phone, hope will get one soon...(may be as gift...lol).Regards, ChiradeepWhat a nice compliment! And your phone sounds pretty "smart" to me but I hope you get the best phone out there as a gift.....
My best to you!Steve
Hi Steve, nice to see you again :) I'm not going to ask how your phone ended up in the toilet! I have a bad dose of man syndrome too, and make the excuse that usually everything's translated from an Asian language into a form of English that's no form at all. It's a weak excuse, I know. Maybe I'll learn from you. Probably not. I do ask for directions, though, got that one down.All of which is the long way of saying I enjoyed your article!!Thamks Jennifer and when can we hear some more of your singing? I look for it on the home page. Anyway, no toilet stories from me and I hope you got a chuckle from the article.
Stay well and thanks!Steve
Good luck keeping to the no more "man syndrome"! I'm not sure why, but the term "smart phone" always makes me feel like a dummy since I am technology challenged in a lot of areas.GraceSo am I, so it is good to know I'm in good company--thanks.Steve
Great article! I was checking my emails and surfing the web on my smartphone long before I eventually figured out how to use it to make and receive phone calls (which it can do *almost* as well as the ancient Nokia "dumb-phone" I had before :) )
Great article! I was checking my emails and surfing the web on my smartphone long before I eventually figured out how to use it to make and receive phone calls (which it can do *almost* as well as the ancient Nokia "dumb-phone" I had before :) )Hi Ben,
How funny about surfing and emailing before making a call--I love it--thanks for writing.Steve
Oh, once you get past the constantly changing menu system, the smartphone is mans best friend! It has saved my marriage many times over as Jean is no longer required to read the map when we're driving. We've driven thousands of miles with her smartphone giving turn-by-turn directions. If it's wrong, we blame it, not each other. What a marriage saver!
How funny--smartphones are marriage savers! Sounds like a great marketing tool for Verizon--thanks for commenting Bruce.
I too am from an age when phones were very primitive. The first phone I learned to use was one that had no dials or buttons. You simply picked it up and yelled"Sarah! Oh Sarah!! I need to place a call!" When the operator named Sarah finally woke up then she would place the call. Soon after came the dial phones, the push button phones, the cordless phones, then finally the cell phones. The first cell phone that I owned it took me a week to figure out how to turn it on. Then when I finally learned I used up all my minutes in about 2 days. I quickly changed from ATnT to Metrophones.
Metrophones is a company that offers an unlimited calling plan for relatively cheap. Their service sucks but they are one the few companies that have a plan like that. The other companies have good service but one would have to be a millionaire to afford them if one likes to talk on the phone for long amounts of time. Land phones are cheap and have good service but are limited to house calls unless the phone owner has a long extension cord.
Maybe in the future, one company will wise up, offer unlimited calling, all the smart features, good service, and charge low prices. They will be the Walmart of cell phone service and probably put the rest of the companies out of business.
Sarah, Sarah...where did you grow up in Hooterville,.you're not old enough for that are you!
Hopefully not, but sometimes, after a long day I feel that way.
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