new phone

I got a new phone recently.

I've never really been one for mobile phones. To me they're a tool with a specific job - making calls when you're away from a landline - so all the gizmos like cameras and web access and all that crap has always been of little interest to me.

I'm also rather of the opinion that phones are a classic case of the companies generating the requirement where none really exists. Or to put it another way, they push the consumers down certain routes, encouraging them to get all these whizz-bang gizmos that obviously push up the price.

They've created the situation where people feel they need the latest phone, even though there was nothing at all wrong with their old one. And of course the phone companies can get away with charging a fortune for the privilege.

Anyway, point is my contract came up for renewal and as per usual they called me up asking me if I wanted to renew. Because I've had my current contract so long she said something about not really doing contracts any more (didn't get this) but it meant I had very limited options - I could either get loads more free minutes and texts or a new phone.

I don't use anything like the number of minutes and texts I currently have and to be fair the battery was starting to get a bit flaky in my old phone so I said to replace the phone. However, because of the aforementioned feature-creep, I couldn't just get a simple phone, I had to get one with some extra stuff, including a camera and web access.

Oh, I'm sure you can get bog-standard, basic phones - probably by getting a pay-as-you-go from a supermarket or something - but not as a package with a contract like I need. TO be frank I did also used to quite like the stunned looks my ancient, old fashioned phone used get whenever I whipped it out.

The new one is quite nice, though. I mean, it's not a smart phone or anything, but it looks fairly modern. Something I am surprised about is that it's actually slightly heavier than my old phone. I dunno if this is a deliberate thing and it could be lighter, or just a reflection of the increased gubbins, but it was a surprise.

I have to confess I've only taken two photos with it and haven't even looked at the web or the other stuff. I haven't even bothered to see what, if any, games it's got on it. Maybe I'll be converted, but as I say, I'm pretty sure they're just fundamentally of no interest to me.

Plans for the weekend are mainly to get stuff finished off. There seems to have been a useful decline in telly shows I'm interested in, which should give me the chance to watch things I have recorded.

I've also been trying to get the old e-baying going again after the terrible winter put a rather definitive brake on. I think I've pretty much decided that I'm going to sell everything.

No, that's not quite true. I've decided that once I've paid off my hire-purchase (A.K.A. loan) on my car next year I want to see about moving and it would a lot easier if I had a lot less stuff. And that means a combination of e-bay, the tip and 'using up' all the stuff I've bought and haven't watched/read/played.