My cell phone is embarrassingly old. Notice that I said cell phone, not smart phone. That's part of the embarrassment right there. It's not a smart phone; it's not even a flip phone. I have a small, block-like, one-piece cell phone. It's the kind of phone you get if you've never had a cell phone before, and are trying to ease your way into phone-ownership and not be totally overwhelmed. That's what happened to me; I got it at the beginning of high school, and I've kept it for close to ten years now.
My phone offers frequently poor reception and slow internet. With it, I can send/receive calls/text messages. That's about it. There is no camera and no video. More than 90% of my usage of the phone is as an alarm clock; I set the alarm clock function, set it to vibrate (if it is not already set as such), turn on the keyguard, stick it under my pillow, and fall asleep. I sleep with earplugs in, so using loud noises is not the most practical or reliable method for waking myself up; I've turned to other methods of sensory stimulation.
Last night, the "OK" button wasn't working properly. I could press it once and access the menu, but trying to press it again wouldn't do anything. I can open up the menu, but I can't do anything once I'm there. Turning it off and on again seemed to fix the problem. By that, I mean the problem went away after I did that; though I cannot help but think that maybe I just wasn't pressing down hard enough, and the button itself was simply stuck. Oh well, too late now.
My phone has been having problems in the past; the tendency to randomly shut off for no apparent reason is a particularly bothersome issue. Now buttons (well, button, so far) are sticking. The faceplate is now held in place with tape, and the side liner is 2/3 to 3/4 unattached to the phone. I'm really starting to get the feeling that it is on its last legs. I knew it was old and worn-out, but I think we are finally approaching the end-times.
So then, why do I keep it around? And more generally, why do we keep something that isn't working so well?
There's an old saying: better to suffer the devil we know than to suffer the one we don't. Yeah, the new one could be better than the old one, but it could also be just as bad, but in different ways, or it could be even worse! At least with the current one, we've grown used to it. We've devised strategies as to how to cope with it, and how to work around it. We know just how bad the current one is, but who knows how the the new one is?
Fear and uncertainty hold us back, but that might not always be a bad thing. How many times has something come along that was supposedly going to revolutionize the way we live our lives, only it didn't? At the time, it was being declared that this was going to be "The Next Big Thing". Years later, it's largely forgotten, and when someone does bring it up, more often than not it is discussed in mocking tones.
It's really only when something really stops working that we get serious about replacing it. But by then, is it too late?
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