Too Many Gadgets!

With the times

These days, my house is so full of kitchen gadgets, laptops, DS's, Wii's, iPhones and iPads that I honestly thought I should hang onto my own steam-age phone for as long as feasibly possible.

Last week, however, I finally admitted defeat. My old Nokia 2330 had, at last, decided it was retirement time and I had to accept that things move on.

A phone is for... phoning?

With no room for sentimentality, I began shopping for a new one.

My requirements were simple. After all, had my old handset not blacked out every time a text message arrived and taken 15 minutes to restart, I would still have it about my person. It was a phone that I could make and accept calls and messages on - what more did I need? If I needed to check emails or Facebook, I had my laptop or iPad.

Some "helpful" advice

My kids were no help. Their contribution was for me to buy anything they could download even more apps on. They had long since clogged up their own devices and my iPad with every conceivable mindless game going.

There's an app for absolutely EVERYTHING! I found one on my son's phone the other day called i-jiggles-3D-Wobble. This is where you can take a photo of anyone or anything and make a part of said person or object jiggle about!!?? The mind boggles, or should I say jiggles.

What I needed

My 'basic check-list' was as follows:

Looking at my list, it was glaringly obvious. I'd buy the modern equivalent of my old phone! Genius.

What I got

So what did I end up with? A Nokia Windows phone.

Yes, after looking at all the handsets and deals on offer, I hold my hands up and admit to falling for a bit of sales patter. "Why just have that when, for a few extra quid, you can have this instead?" In the end, I actually psyched myself into it! It all made perfect sense at the time.

I've moved on

So now I have yet another gadget in the house. Fully loaded with the dreaded Windows 8, that apparently everyone hates but from which there's no escape until the launch of Windows 10 - where is Windows 9 I wonder? I have actually found myself checking the damn thing every five minutes, whereas before I would simply stuff my old phone down the sofa cushions and wait until I heard it ring or ping.

The lesson learned? Technology will move forward and drag even the most resistant along with it. Even me.

Jayne, Working Mum and Freelance Editor