SMART PHONE FOR A SENIOR

Last week I wrote to my dear friend in Canada. When I finished, it dawned on me that the small saga, with a bit of tweeking, would be an interesting bit for a Tuesday:

 

It was hectic here the other day when I was emailing to you. All sorts of goings on: several packages arriving by mail, UPS and FedEx all at once; and my cell phone finally turned up its toes and I was trying to get a new one PDQ.  I did get a new one - a smart phone - and had it for a day when it dawned on me that not only would the monthly bill go up (I’m part of a friends & family group so the rates are combined), but I was getting more phone than I need. I need just phone, texting to answer a contact who always texts rather than phones (and this is sometimes a big problem), and the camera.  I do think the camera is handy “just in case.”

The new phone had GPS, Kindle, all sorts of apps - We have a Garmin GPS for the car - and that was a gift - and I have all the rest with my new Widows 8. I’m a senior for heaven’s sake, and when I’m home I can use one of my two lap tops (yes, I know: conspicuous consumption!); when I’m out I’m busy shopping, touring, visiting: busy.  Rarely, if ever, would I have time on my hands so that I could play with a smart phone. I’m not going to be out and about and want to check the lowest price for a certain item I want to buy, or know how to get to somewhere (I’m happy with printed maps and the Garmin, thank you), or want to read a book on line while I wait at a doctor’s office.

So back it went. (I did have fun playing with it for a while.) I brought back a perfectly good old phone of mine - one that I’d saved when my son gave me his old but ‘newer’ phone (the one that bit the dust) - and had them transfer all the data to that. I‘m back in business with a smaller phone - those smart phones are large and heavy - and I am delighted.