Daniel Lovell has won more than two dozen awards for his columns, editorials and investigative journalism. He is actively addicted to the Internet, soda and New York Yankees baseball.
As much as I may have railed against the iPhone recently, I found myself standing in the AT&T store, dangerously close to purchasing one last week.
My old cell died...really unfortunate, since I was planning to hold onto it until I saw something really neat that I wanted. I went to the AT&T store, hoping it could be fixed, but to no avail. The only thing they could do was sell me a new phone. Before I could stop the words from coming, I heard myself blurt out "I'd kind of like an iPhone."
I went on to explain to the sales guy that I didn't like many of the things I'd heard about the iPhone, though I liked the idea of the device. Mobile e-mail, slick web browser, fun applications. The best touch screen available. What I don't like about the iPhone? Easy. Apple.
I told him I didn't like the control Apple has over the device itself, or the low battery life. Or the fact that I could purchase an application, only to have Apple kill it and keep my money. And of course I've heard there are several stability issues.
So he showed me another new phone -- I think it was an LG Vu -- that had a touch screen, lots of cool extras, and Mobile TV. The hitch? It was only $10 cheaper than the iPhone and had the same data plan. If I'm going to get an iPhone clone, I thought, it had better be a lot cheaper than the iPhone itself.
The sales guy -- Ely -- showed me an iPhone. I'll admit there must have been something hypnotic about it. It was like looking at the Holy Grail for a second or two. I noticed that while he showed it to me, the phone froze up twice, and he had to exit the browser just to get the phone to move on. He handed it to me, and the phone did the same thing. But you know, I'm a bit of a tech head. Holding this thing in my hand, I thought "Eh. I can deal with a freeze every now and then."
"I'll get one," I said.
Not so fast.
Ely informed me that he'd have to order a phone for me, and that I'd be notified when it came in. Could be seven to 10 days.
No thanks. If they don't want my money today, I'll spend it elsewhere.
So I bought something different. It's an LG Shine. Not the fanciest phone out there, but it does do a lot of cool things. It's got a web browser, video, a decent camera. No touch screen or qwerty keyboard, but it has mobile email and I can use any mp3 as a ringtone. And, unlike the iPhone, it's made out of metal.
Immediately upon leaving the store, I felt like kicking myself. I kept thinking I'd made the wrong choice, and that now I'll have to wait two more years before I can get a device like the iPhone. After a day, though, I can say that I'm proud of my decision. I mean, the iPhone has taken a few steps back and a bunch of steps forward in just a year. Imagine what will be on the market the next time I'm eligible for an upgrade.
