Well, it’s not often you’ll find me taking a step back in time. At least not when it comes to technology. But today, I took what amounts to a big plunge backwards for me.

Follow up:

For the last 2 years I’ve used a Samsung Black.jack (that’s a banned word in my spam settings so yes I know it’s not spelled correctly). It’s a smartphone that allowed me to tether to my laptop as a modem when I traveled, or if the power went out. But, unlimited PDA access isn’t cheap, and I wasn’t really using it very much. If the power went out I needed to conserve laptop battery, so that wasn’t really a good excuse to have it. When I traveled, I couldn’t be bothered to get out the USB cable, enable internet sharing, boot the laptop, get it hooked up and connect to it. By the time I did all that, it was time to board the plane! The only place I used it was in the hotel room, or in the conference rooms during meetings.

So, I decided to “technologically downgrade” to a “regular” cell phone - the LG Vu. It’s a bit like the iPhone, with a touch display screen. But I’ve an aversion to the iPhone, and this seemed a decent alternative. It doesn’t do all the things the iPhone does, but it does all the things I need it to do. Since it doesn’t sync to the laptop, I had to manually re-enter all my contacts, but it only took and hour or so. (The store was unable to do the download of contacts for me, sadly.) But aside from that, I merely had to download Gmail Mobile, Google Maps for mobile (since I was too cheap to put “navigator” and it’s associated monthly fee on my plan). Google calendar will send SMS messages about appointments to my phone, and I can view my calendar on mobile internet. Now, I’m pretty much good to go!

Since I was saving money on the monthly plan, I decided to take advantage of one neat new feature - mobile TV! I have a limited selection of channels - but if the power does go out I can at least watch the news. (Besides, if I don’t like it I can cancel anytime.) Quite nice of them to supply the headset with the annoying proprietary plug on it. (Though they weren’t so generous with regard to the the USB cable so I can transfer pictures/videos/music from the phone to the laptop and the laptop to the phone, nor did they see fit to include the car charger either.) I suppose I’ll have to procure those - but from a source far cheaper than the AT&T store I assure you!

Overall, though I’ve taken a step back from being able to use the phone as a modem, I still have unlimited mobile Web 2.0, so I’m not really disconnected at any point. And the TV will suffice just fine in the airport I think (as long as I’m in a service area that supports it). I still have unlimited instant messaging (Yahoo, AIM, and WLM), email, SMS and MMS messaging - so I guess it’s only a baby step backwards. I get a rebate (eventually) and the monthly savings of $40 per month will mean the phone pays for itself in just a few months. See! I can convince myself nearly anything I want is a frugal choice can’t I?!