What I am about to write not everybody will understand. I am geek, a person who really love all kind of technology software, hardware, gadgets and so. I really miss my smartphone, and I will tell you why:
My girlfriend and I moved to Switzerland a little more than 6 months ago, the contrast with Argentina (where we used to live) is really enormous, and we really love being here. When we decided to leave our country, we sold everything, including our smartphones. I used to have an old Samsung Galaxy S (yes, the first one) which already feels like a dinosaur old. When we arrived to Switzerland I was given an iPhone 4S at the company where I temporary worked for three months, and I loved it. It was my first experience with an iPhone, the whole experience was “it just works” although I understand that the contrast between this mobile and the one I used to have is also very big in terms of technology…
I am searching for a job since three months ago, the same time I don’t have my smartphone any-more I´ve been managing myself with my desktop computer and my iPad 3. Although the tablet really helped to mitigate the fact of not having the iPhone it is still not the same. I miss my smartphone!
I´ve been using a Sony Ericsson K750 we had as a backup for years (I actually had to use Google Goggles to know which model it was). This is a mobile phone launched on June 2005 (that is 7 years ago) and the experience is so basic it makes me want to cry!
A couple of months ago we got a promo from Sunrise to get a USD 45/month contract for 2 years receiving a free iPhone 4S for my girlfriend. She is really happy with it, and she already hates me for using it so often, she is right, after all is her mobile 🙂
We didn’t want the same or similar plan for me because most probably when I start working again I will receive a company phone and then I would have a 2 years contract on my back for a phone I wouldn’t use any more. The price is too high to just have it as a spare.
Several days ago I started with this strange feeling as if a part of my body was missing, it wasn’t a part of my body but the lack of my smartphone was making me feel strange. You see, I don’t use a mobile phone to just make calls, but I use it to read & write emails, capture great pictures and videos, translate German words I still don’t manage to English on the train, supermarket, everywhere. I also use it to check my Twitter and Facebook timeline´s and sometimes share stuff on them. I connect with friends and family back in Argentina over WhatsApp and Skype which helps a lot to be close. As you can see I do a lot of things with my phone, and that’s why the absence is really noticed everyday.
I really miss my phone, so besides from the fact that nobody likes to be unemployed, I will love to be hired by a nice company again and together with it, most probably a smartphone will come back. And if the job takes a bit longer, I don’t think I will be able not to feel tempted with a Sunrise´s offer and get a damn smartphone for myself again 🙂
Did you ever had this crazy feeling? Share your comment below.
Update 12/11/12: A friend commented me about a TEDx talk by Sherry Turkle which is really interesting about how why we expect more from technology and less from each other. The talk is called Alone Together, here is the link.
Update 15/7/13: Check out this video