The flip phone is getting harder to find and harder to be supported as it is being pushed aside by the smart phone- bye flippy

Now I know I am a minority in my love of flip phones but the smart phone just does not do it for me.  I like shape, size, weight, cost, and positive raised keys of a flip phone.  As data plans and cellular networks are constantly changing, the flip phone will be pushed aside and shelved to be replaced with smart phones. Now I actually have both a flip phone and a smart phone.  I use my flip phone for talking and texting and my smart phone for checking emails and creating hot spots when I am away from home.

Before I left for Mexico, I tried to get a Mexico phone plan for my flip phone, but found out the networks down here will not support that phone.  I was forced to get a plan for my iPhone (aka: fruit phone) and use that exclusively.  While using this phone down here exclusively, it has reinforced that I really don’t like the smart phone very much.  I am sure the same thing will happen in the US very soon and I will be forced to shelve flippy and use a smart phone.

I do have a problem destroying phones and go through about one a year.  I may wash one, lose one, or break one, but it will become unusable before its time.  It really is not a big deal since I can order a used replacement on Amazon for around $20 and I keep an extra in the drawer for just such emergencies.  My friend ruined his smart phone and replaced it just before our trip and got the latest iPhone and paid $700 for it.  That has got to hurt when you lose one of those.  And lets face it, I can throw my phone and it will survive, but drop a smart phone and it is likely to be expensive.  My daughter dropped hers and they wanted $250 to just replace the glass.

Since my flip phone does not work down here, I have been forced to talk on a fruit phone.  the dam smart phones are not the best design for talking.  They are flat and wide and don’t conform to you face as well as a flip phone. They are uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time and you can’t walk around with them on you shoulder keeping both hands free to use.  I have been getting complaints from people that they are having a hard time hearing me.  When I move the phone closer to my mouth I have a hard time hearing them.  Flip phones were designed for talking and fruit phones were designed for fondling the screen.

The one thing I have found to be a pain in the butt is the battery life of fruit phones.  If I am out all day, I have to start monitoring battery life as.  My flip phone will easily last a day and more likely two.  And even if it does not, I can carry an extra battery, which is half the size of a saltine cracker, and pop in a fresh one.  When I leave the house for several days I don’t bring a charger, I bring extra batteries collected from broken phones.

Now I know we are not supposed to text and drive but sometimes I do.  I like the raised key pad on a flip phone and can text without looking at the phone since I know where the keys are.  It is like typing on a keyboard.  Smart phones have flat screens and you can’t type without looking at it.  I tried it once and will never again  You can use voice command but then everyone around you knows what you are saying.  I will admit that the fruit phone is faster to key in the desired letters, but it does command your full attention.

Once again the world is changing and I will be forced to change with it.  Bye flippy, I will miss you!

The World According to Jeff