Tales of a Tech Slave

Last week I jumped ship from T-mobile to Sprint after barely having the former for four months.  Prior to that, I had renewed my contract with AT&T in order to own the iPhone 3G S only to ditch it before my time was up.

Now my decision to leave AT&T was largely due to the hefty price I was paying for the luxury of having an iPhone while with T-mobile, my 3G coverage was terrible.  However, I’d be lying if I said my decision wasn’t at least partially swayed by the prospect of having a brand spanking new smartphone will all the latest bells and whistles.

This is particularly true with my switch to Sprint.  While I did my research before deciding on Sprint, I came very close to switching to the much higher priced Verizon just because I wanted to own the Droid Incredible.  However after I had the chance to play with an HTC EVO 4G and its gargantuan screen, I was sold and I was instantly enamored.  Never mind the fact that 4G coverage has yet to arrive in my city and that I’m paying an extra $10 dollars for it.  I wanted the EVO and I was going to get the EVO.

Thankfully my experience with Sprint and the EVO 4G has been delightful, a far cry from my signal woes with T-mobile.  But why pay for a piece of technology that will soon be outdated and whose major feature I cannot use [yet]?  Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the tales of a tech slave.

The phone was one thing but did you know I briefly owned an iPad?  When Steve Jobs first unveiled the glorified iPod with a name that reminded me of a certain product women use during menstrual cycles to the world I was underwhelmed.  “Who would want this?  It’s an unwieldy iPod, albeit one with “magical” powers according to Jobs!  Who would be foolish enough to plunk down hundreds of dollars for such a thing?”  That’s what I told myself.

A few weeks later I shelled out $600 for an iPad.

Damn those magical powers.

It turns out however that the magical spell of the iPad only lasted so long.  Less than fourteen days after I bought it, I was at my local Best Buy committing the ultimate sacrilege: I returned it.  My sins did not go unpunished as I still had to pay that pesky “restocking fee”.

Why did I return the iPad?  After its effects wore off I came to my senses and realized I had absolutely no need for such a thing since I had a smartphone, a laptop, a Zune HD and an Amazon Kindle.  Clearly I had matured and knew better than to purchase another device that I didn’t need in the future.

A few weeks later I shelled out $300 for a Sony Dash, a glorified alarm clock.

…Or a “Personal Internet Viewer” as Sony likes to call it.  It has apps, it has internet radio like Pandora, I can watch movies, look at pictures…oh and it also tells the time.  I like having the thing near my bedside; the slideshows emulate one of those digital picture frames but really, did I need a device that I use mostly to wake me up every morning for work?

The EVO comes with a built-in kickstand so it can be perched up in order to watch videos on it without having to hold it. It also happens to have a very spiffy looking desk alarm clock app.

I’ve already entertained the thought of getting rid of the Dash.

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