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OK, long story so bear with me.

I hate smart phones. In order to get one you have to pay for a data plan, something I don’t think I should have to do because there’s WiFi almost everywhere, so why can’t I buy a smart phone without a data plan and just use WiFi for the “smart” part? I have a perfectly good flip phone, a Samsung Convoy II ruggedized phone, that is small, works well, and can withstand being dropped and splattered on. Plus, even the subsidized price of a Smart phone is much more expensive than the “free” I paid for the Convoy. Smart phones are just gimmicks.

Then my son gives me his hand-me-down Apple iPod Touch. Cool, I thought. Here’s a smart phone without the “phone,” and it uses WiFi for its data. So I carried both a phone and an iPod for about a year, looking like the nerd I am with two phone cases on my belt.

Then my wife says to me “I want a smart phone. Get me one. Now.” Well, she’s about as much of a tightwad as I am, so I explain the data contract part, and how much it will cost, and she says, “I don’t care, get me one.” OK, I say, and start looking for deals.

Both of our phones were overdue for our “new every two” upgrade from Verizon (evil, but as you pointed out, the best coverage in the US by far,) and Verizon sends me this email last April for a free iPhone 5c 32 GB. OK, problem solved, and I get one for my wife.

I play around with her phone from time to time, and it’s not bad. Its newer than my iPod, and has a better processor, so it surfs the web better than my iPod. When we’re out at dinner, she can look up stuff that I can’t because the resturaunt doesn’t have free WiFi. And she can do stuff while we’re travelling in the car. I begin to get “phone envy.”

Then last June Verizon sends me another email saying my phone is still eligible, and here’s an offer for another free iPhone 5c 32 GB. I hem and haw, debating if I really need it or not, and the offer expires in July. I finally decide on the last day of the offer to get one.

And I haven’t looked back since. I carry only one device now, it’s much more powerful than the iPod touch, and it syncs all of my contacts into one big contact list. My old phone contacts (imported via Verizon’s could backup,) my home email contacts, my work email contacts. At first I though “crap, they’re all mixed up now! Stupid $#@$%! Apple!” But wait, the iPhone’s search function is so powerful, that I type a partial name, first or last, or a partial business name, and all the possible contacts appear. Not too shabby, and it’s saved me from my poor memory more than once. “What’s the guy’s name from XYZ Corp? Oh yeah!”

I’m here to tell you today that if you offered me my old phone back, along with a shiny new iPod Touch, and my $20 per month back that I spend on a data plan, I’d politely say, “no, thank you.” I’m hooked. I’m addicted. And I’m never going back.