I remember many years ago a phone was a phone, you could text people, you could call people and if you were lucky you could play Snake on your phone too. Jump forward 15 years and we have a totally different world and totally different phones. My outlook on phones has changed somewhat along the way as well.
So back to the title, “What have I become?”, well here I sit typing this out at 16.58 on Tuesday the 4th of December. Two whole minutes before the Nexus 4 purchasing circus starts again in the UK and I’m majorly confused.
Yes, I didn’t know whether or not to try and buy an LG Nexus 4 from the Google Play Store. My brain wasn’t functioning properly, I like many others no doubt got caught up in the excitement of a bargain and the excitement of the fact you might not be allowed one either. Every time a new phone comes out part of me goes to great lengths to explain to myself why I should have this latest phone. Sometimes I even write myself a pros and cons list and then argue with myself over the finer points.
This time with the Nexus 4 the voices in my head were a lot louder, this time someone inside me was screaming “buy it, buy it”, this time I felt that I would be shunned if I didn’t have a Nexus 4, this time I felt a feeling of dread coming from my wallet area, this time the voice of reason sounded different to all of the other times and worst of all this time I was a little scared at what was going on inside my head.
During my little epiphany at about 17.10 on the 4th of December I realised that I had a problem, a phone buying addiction. As to how I am going to cure myself I’m really not sure. The last year or so I have progressively got worse. I’m now on a two – three month phone cycle. God help me when the HTC Deluxe or the Samsung Galaxy S4 arrive on our shores. I guess I just need to go and stack shelves somewhere and not write for a tech blog.
Luckily in the end I emptied my basket and decided to keep my current phones. When I say current phones, I recently bought an HTC 8X and a Samsung Galaxy Note II so I’m not lagging behind in capabilities.
So what about you people? Our readers, do you struggle to resist the constant flow of new phones? Do you buy and sell stuff like there is no tomorrow? Have you bought two or more top end phones in the last month and feel the need to get another?
If you said yes to any of those questions then stand up proudly in a crowded area and repeat after me.
“Hello, my name is [insert your name] and I have a problem”.
have you seen a psychiatrist?
If not, I really think you should!
3 months cycle..god wish I could stick with a phone that long, 4/6 weeks is the most anything lasts in my hands and sometimes even less than that.
I dont see it as an addiction but the hunt for the perfect device
the perfect device simply doesnt exist. There will always be something bigger, better and with newer features…..god its a nightmare!
I read that and started to wonder If I had written it. O_o
I read that and started to wonder if I had written it 0_o
im in same boot!!! got s3 but ordered N4 :s but im excited to playu with it 😀
I used to be a bit like this. I did at one time feel the urge to buy all the latest tech out there, but I think then it was a lot more exciting. The smartphone ‘revolution’ was happening.
These days, very few new phones offer any greatly different capabilities. Most of them have big screens, loads of memory, loads of storage, quad core processors, and quite frankly, even some of the less top-spec phones can run everything at top speed. I don’t think I could ever bring myself to buy a Windows phone either, so that’s most of the recent releases counted out.
I don’t think I’ll be overly excited by a new phone until they start running on fuel cells, or have super fast charging batteries. Or vehicle remote controls, or subspace communication, or transform into robots, or have an x-ray camera, or mind control interfaces.
Personally, I’ve found I just can’t cope with the 24 month contract I had to sign up for to afford my current HTC Sensation. Now I can afford the N4 8gb so it’s come at a good time for me. New phone in a few weeks, and cheaper sim when contract up in 7 months. All good!
0_o….. i mean, like @mrbridger:disqus said, this could have been written by myself. i sometimes think i’m insane (well…) and others around me definitely think i am. but seriously, why do we really think we’re crazy when there are other people with other addictions that make less sense (shoes or jewelry!)…. we can’t really explain why we do that, but i think those voices inside us could help us find an answer….
I used to buy a phone every 12 – 18 months, and I’ve had my Galaxy Nexus for nearly 14 months, but my purchase rate has gone up hugely in the past six months, in which time I have bought two tablets and four phones (not to mention an iPod touch and laptop in the last month).
You’re right… Hello, my name is Ronnie and I have a problem
Nice article James, call me a conspiracy theorist but I do think we’re geared up to buy tech incessantly. I find reading these sorts of sites helps me….that and the threat of dicorce if I bring another bloody device into the house 😉