See the irony?

I need to get something off my chest. I'm confused. Now I know this post might not win me any friends, it could in fact lose me a few, simply because I know some of them are reading this very post on their Blackberries or iPhones.

First, watch this commercial.


I don't own a Blackberry or an iPhone. In part because I don't want to shell out all sorts of cash for a data plan. I have internet at home. I have it at work....I don't need it on my phone. No, make that, I don't want it on my phone. I'm cheap (remember that? I say it a lot...I really am cheap) I just figure if I'm forking out $50 a month for high speed at home why do I want to fork out an additional $100 a month for internet on a phone.

I was at a Christmas party the other night for work and everyone at my table except me and Sean had a Blackberry. They were exchanging PINS (I say this like I know what the hell a PIN is...truth be known the only PIN I know is my debit card PIN)   They were all fixated on their phones. I honestly waited for some of them to begin texting one another at the table.

I do understanding the merits of having access to the internet on your phone sometimes....I'm sure there are times when I thought it would have come in handy...and I did in fact even look into a Blackberry at one time but then I thought - do I want to be THAT accessible? All the time? Do I want to feel obligated to answer emails or texts or phone calls because everyone knows I have it?

I don't have a landline phone. (well, I do but it's Emily's phone) I have a cell and that is our home phone. But it's a basic, run of the mill cell phone, no data plan, not even a texting plan. And guess what....I ignore it when it rings....a lot. I have call answer...if it's important leave a message, I'll call you back right away.

It could be just because I hate the phone in general. I hate talking on it. I find it too impersonal, which is actually funny since my preferred method of communication if not in person is via email - which more people find impersonal. Maybe I'm just weird.

I have to laugh at the commercial above though....the advertise it as the phone that gets you in and out so you can get back to life.....

But I think the fundamental problem isn't the getting out to get back to life part....it's the getting in in the first place.   Have we really become so dependant on our technology that the thought of not being connected at all times frightens us?  I guess so. Because this phone provides the answer...stay connected without missing out on life. And yet...I don't think it's the phone itself causing us to miss out on life...it's the user causing him/herself to miss out on life. And I'm sure in a head to head someone using a Windows phone will spend just as much time browsing as someone on an iPhone or Blackberry.

I don't judge....I'm sure there are plenty people who think my blogging is a phenomenal waste of time or my sewing or anything else I really like to do. What floats my boat doesn't for another and vice versa....

But I really had a good chuckle at the irony of that commercial. (and because I do know someone who actually dropped his phone in a urinal and still uses it....feel free to gag now)