what is it with me and phones? // iComplain - Lograh
Thursday, 05.Jun.2008
8:56 - what is it with me and phones? // iComplain
I swear, it's like there is some anti-technology field that surrounds me, or something! You wouldn't think it, given that I've been programming computers since I was 'bout six or seven and I've worked in IT (privately and professionally) since the early '90s, but to look at my history with cell phones it's clear I should just go live in the hills with nothing more complex than a stick!
My first cell phone was reasonably uneventful, but its battery didn't last very long. After a few years without one, I picked up my second phone, a "smart"phone. It was okay for about a year before it started acting up, eventually getting to the point where it would shut off at random at least once every other day. Any attempt to upgrade the software on it with patches from the manufacturer failed miserably. It also eventually had the hinge (it was a clamshell) get damaged from use so much that even opening it wrong would cause a short of some sort and it'd shut down. Not good considering I had to open it to answer a call! After it died so hard that I couldn't get it to turn back on for a day my girlfriend at the time insisted that I get a new phone. She didn't particularly care which phone I got, but was adamant that I had to get a phone that worked. So, given that the iPhone was out and I had been eyeing it since it was announced, I went and picked up my current phone. Now, almost a year later (give it a few more months) my current phone is starting to act up.
I just reached down to get it out of my pocket, thinking I'd plug it in so it could sync with iTunes (new podcasts, and whatnot), and noticed that my pocket was kinda warm. The phone was *hot* to the touch, and I saw that the screen was on bright and not responsive. The clock was frozen from about an hour ago, presumably when it crashed. Thing is, it had been sitting in my pocket since before seven this morning when I last looked at it. So it sat in my pocket for over an hour, then suddenly decided to halt and just spend it's battery warming up my pocket in full-cpu-usage mode. I don't get it. This isn't the first time this happened, either, but I thought the last time it was because I had done something wrong (since it crashed right after I finished using it).
Damn cell phones. Perhaps I should just give up and learn how to interpret smoke signals.
I know someone who can't wear watches of any sort. LCD digital watches go poof within a few days, and he even locks up mechanical watches with metal parts. The only watch he'd been able to wear long term was a 1960's vintage Mickey Mouse watch -- since the only metal in the whole thing was the watchspring.
I don't recall ever having inordinately high troubles with watches, though. I mean, sure I went through a few as a child but they were all el'cheapo models that you kinda expect to die. Once I learned better and started getting higher quality watches they would last for many years. Though I had a preference for mechanical models so maybe a digital would die on me quickly. Perhaps I'm just bad for high-tech stuff?
Whatever. This doesn't mean I'm not getting a new iPhone when they come out, though. :) It's just a question of when, not if.