I have an old school blackberry...it's one of the original ones which was given a number beginning with 7, blackberry is now into the nines. It was actually on it's way out when I bought it, but it wasn't as expensive as the newer models and at the time I was won over by the idea of being able to get emails anytime and anywhere. That feeling faded as the months passed by and acquaintances would look at me with my phone like I was holding an eight-track to my ear and trying to call Neptune. While I realized there was no reason to be ashamed of my phone, it was perfectly functioning and there are people starving in Africa, don't you know?! But as I moved into a more corporate world, where the latest Blackberry sits on every desk and most people have I-phones as well, I began to hide my phone away...surreptitiously cover it with my hand whenever I had to draw up to my ear. I became very adept at checking my phone for messages while it was still in my bag so that the phone didn't have to see the light of day unnecessarily.
As I write this, I am actually feeling ashamed of my shame...how ludicrous that I should worry that people will judge me harshly for having an old phone. What am I actually worried that they will think about me? That I put a higher priority on having nice clothes than I do on having the newest gadget? That I don't have a high-powered job that provides me with the latest gadgets? That I am not independently wealthy or fabulously famous so that buying the latest gadget isn't akin to buying a cup of coffee?
As ridiculous as phone-snobbery is, it exists. It nags at me just as much as nags at anyone else out there. And so I have a choice, do I surrender into it or do I try and stand my ground? The question is pertinent because my contract with my service provider has expired so I am free to either renew my contract and get a Blackberry Pearl which is practical, nice looking but not exactly the newest thing on the market....OR, I can move over to AT&T and get on the I-phone revolution.
Whichever I choose to do, it is a fact of the technology market that what is new today will be old tomorrow. At best I can hope to be part of the 'in' tech crowd for perhaps a few months...until the next new gadget comes out. Whatever vehicle of communication I invest in will soon be passe, so in a year's time would I rather have an out-of-date i-phone or an out-of-date blackberry. On the one hand, in a year's time, i-phones may be the only respectable device to own. On the other hand, if i-phone doesn't take over the world, having an old one may look all the more desperate...like I'm a poser without resources. It would be a bit like owning a DeLorean in the late 80's!
Perhaps what we all should do is realize the futility of staying on trend. Instead we should surround ourselves with gadgets that make us happy, no matter how dingy they be or the fact that their stickers are peeling off...and of course, we can always reming ourselves of the indigent of the world who would probably find our reliance on technology laughable.
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