Tuesday, August 21, 2012

I Need Help For My Addiction

Of all the things I thought I could one day be addicted to such as food, sex, alcohol, porn or television, I would never have guessed as little as 20 years ago that I’d be addicted to my Smartphone. In fact, I would have been happy to be addicted to sex and porn but sadly that just never happened. I do like eating however...but who doesn’t?

The particular phone that has propelled me to addictive status is my iPhone 4. I love my iPhone and everything I can do with it. There’s really only one thing I don’t enjoy about my iPhone and that’s the crazy user fees charged by Bell to use my phone to its full potential. My service plan isn’t even top of the line yet the monthly charges Bell Mobility gouges from its customers is beyond ridiculous, bordering on theft. To be blunt, we get bent over and reamed hard by mobile phone companies in Canada. Yet nothing ever gets done about it. I envy my brother and his plan with AT&T in the U.S.

But bitching about “Ma Bell” can wait for another day, this is about my addiction. To be honest, my obsession isn’t so much about the actual phone but what it allows me to do.

The main thing I really like is how well the phone communicates with my iMac, either through iTunes or iCloud. I love the fact that I can add new contacts or calendar appointments on one and the other will automatically be updated with the new information. I haven’t figured out how to have my Notes and Reminders sync through iCloud yet but that’s not nearly as important as my other items.

One thing a phone must have for me to be happy above all other gadgets, apps and tools is the ability to actually make a phone call and have it sound good. I mean, it is a phone after all. This phone despite being almost two generations old (iPhone 5 is scheduled to be released this year) has great reception in areas where in the past I’ve had issues with other phones. Of course the Bell 3G coverage has improved in some areas but I still have major issues getting a signal in a few locations that are heavy tourist areas where you’d think Bell would have improved their coverage by now. Oops, there I go bitching about Bell again.

The Bluetooth integration works well and allows for easy hands free calling in my car. This is a must today with all of the new laws targeting distracted drivers in Ontario. On a recent trip to Florida it seemed every car I passed the driver was either talking or texting on their phone while driving. It’s a bloody disgrace. I’m 100% in favour of the new laws in Ontario but every day I still see people (mostly women) talking with their mobile phone to their ear and weaving all over the road. Hopefully they’ll get caught and fined and maybe learn a lesson before they kill someone.

I really like having internet access anywhere I go. I can browse the web and check email anyplace I can get a signal. Plus in locations with Wi-Fi hotspots I can use the wireless internet capabilities which helps save on my data plan usage.

But of course the best part of my iPhone is without a doubt the Apps I can use. Without my Smartphone I wouldn’t be nearly as active on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Google+. That’s not to say that I spend every waking hour tweeting or posting photos but they’re fun time wasters. I never thought I’d use Twitter as much as I do in my day to day life but it’s a great tool for keeping informed on news, sports and entertainment. Plus I can also follow the Tweets of some of my favourite actors and reality stars. Plus, as it turns out, I tend to complain and post things I normally might not say in day to day life. Twitter has sort of become my alter ego. Instagram is a great way to share quick photos taken with your camera on the phone with others. Plus there are a lot of hot ladies who think posting photos of themselves wearing very little may be a ticket to fame and perhaps a modeling career. Who am I to try and discourage them?

Other Apps that I really enjoy or make use of regularly include GasBuddy (to check local gas prices), Distant Suns (for stargazing), iBird Canada (handy birding field guide), Find Friends (to find out where my brother is at that moment in Florida), flyby (tells me the times that the Space Station will go over my location) and lots of other cool Apps like NASA, Kijiji, Mobile Photos, Flixster, YellowPages, Quake Watch, AppBox Lite and Coin Flip for those times I can’t decide on something. I have only recently started using Foursquare so the verdict is still out on that one.

Sports Apps are also very handy since I am a fan of sports in general. Among my most used are Score Mobile, NHL Game Center, TSN Mobile, MLB At Bat and CBC Hockey. I also have a Rules of Golf App put out by The R&A (The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews). You never know when I might need a ruling while out on the course.

And finally, the biggest time wasting Apps ever created are the Games. I don’t play them nearly as much as I used to but when I’m bored or waiting for my car to have work done on it, it’s nice to have something to help pass the time. Games located on my iPhone include three versions of Angry Birds, Bejeweled, Zombie Gunship, Tetris, Skee-Ball, Tiger Woods Golf 12, Sprinkle, Field Goal and Scrabble. I can safely say you’ll never find me playing any of those farming games.

So there you go...my one big addiction which seems to rule my life. I feel lost with when my phone isn’t nearby and will panic if I can’t recall where I set it down. I’ve never had the shakes yet but we’ve never been separated for any real length of time. If I lost my iPhone, I wonder if I could call the police and have them form a search party for me. I know it’s not a child but it’s the closest I’ve come to loving an inanimate object.

I’m always looking for new apps or apps I’ve missed that others find really interesting so if you have any you’d like to share with me, please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know.

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