Who loves or hates their 'Dumb' - Smart Phone?

[Gannon]

I switched from the Razor, which had a common wear problem with the keypad, to a more rugged Motorola design...but it wasn't tough enough against the trunklid of my car. I stupidly set it down while cleaning something out, and slammed the lid on it. There are still some phone numbers hidden within I'd rather have, along with the pictures, but I'm too damn cheap and stubborn to pay Verizon's data recovery fees.

They keep all their technology so close to their vest, when it SHOULD be open. No way Verizon should be able to ignore the SIM card revolution...and they eliminate features in many of their phones. At one point, I hacked one of my Razors...and was able to use the vibrate before ring feature that verizon's lords decided we didn't deserve.

They piss me off, but every time I get into it with them, I remind them I've been a client for over twenty years, faithfully. And I've kept every cell phone I've ever used. For an art project I call "brain cancer". They usually give me anything I want after that, I'm surprised they haven't caught on yet.


Cheers!

[Richard]

It was the switch to GSM that killed the Star Tac,I used to tether Mobil phones to use as a stand alone modem mobile use with the early laptops and PCs,they gave you around 14.4 speeds lol but they worked well because there was no WIFI for mobility at the time,Motorola did not know you could tether their phones until I showed them they could be.

I had a early plan of unlimited data for $19.95 a month,through the years on occasion I would receive a bill for $9000 and would have to fax a copy of the original contract,bit of a pia to store records from 92 ,sometimes I have to wonder if all of this technology is really a time saver or not.

[Honky Tonk]

It was the switch to GSM that killed the Star Tac,I used to tether Mobil phones to use as a stand alone modem mobile use with the early laptops and PCs,they gave you around 14.4 speeds lol but they worked well because there was no WIFI for mobility at the time,Motorola did not know you could tether their phones until I showed them they could be.

I had a early plan of unlimited data for $19.95 a month,through the years on occasion I would receive a bill for $9000 and would have to fax a copy of the original contract,bit of a pia to store records from 92 ,sometimes I have to wonder if all of this technology is really a time saver or not.

I had a Star Tac and it was a POS. Coupled with AT&T, [[then Cingular), you couldn't have asked for a worse combination. More dropped calls and disconnects then you can count. Customer service was no help @ all. I finally went with T-mobile, and was very happy. Last year or so, their CS has been getting shaky a bit. GSM is the way to go, pull the chip, drop it into another phone, you're off to the races. No more data transfer weirdness

[noise]

I had a first generation Razor and it was the biggest POS ever. Just horrible.

On the other hand, and maybe we're just lucky, but between my wife and I, we've owned every generation of iPhone. We've never had problems with the speakers, never cracked the glass, never had any problems. And my wife seems to drop hers endlessly.

[Richard]

I had a Star Tac and it was a POS. Coupled with AT&T, [[then Cingular), you couldn't have asked for a worse combination. More dropped calls and disconnects then you can count. Customer service was no help @ all. I finally went with T-mobile, and was very happy. Last year or so, their CS has been getting shaky a bit. GSM is the way to go, pull the chip, drop it into another phone, you're off to the races. No more data transfer weirdness

I think a lot has to do with where you are located ATT was always there in the background,when they split up the bells they just opened up many different companies under different names,regulation relaxed then ATT pulled them all back in under one umbrella,customer service depends on who you talk to and what center you get transferred to,sometimes you have to get really pissed off before they help but always in the end they have been right by me anyways,you just have to find the right person.

During the hurricanes here in FLA my ATT phone was the only service that worked and I had people from blocks away using it to call their relatives to let them know they were okay,everybody else service was out,Sprint, Metro PCS,Verizon ,Nextel out for over a week in some cases.

When they switched to EDGE or something like that is when all the dropped calls stopped etc. I use the 4G air card with no problems also.

[Honky Tonk]

I think a lot has to do with where you are located ATT was always there in the background,when they split up the bells they just opened up many different companies under different names,regulation relaxed then ATT pulled them all back in under one umbrella,customer service depends on who you talk to and what center you get transferred to,sometimes you have to get really pissed off before they help but always in the end they have been right by me anyways,you just have to find the right person.

During the hurricanes here in FLA my ATT phone was the only service that worked and I had people from blocks away using it to call their relatives to let them know they were okay,everybody else service was out,Sprint, Metro PCS,Verizon ,Nextel out for over a week in some cases.

When they switched to EDGE or something like that is when all the dropped calls stopped etc. I use the 4G air card with no problems also.

I'm glad AT&T is working out for you, Richard. When I had AT&T and the Star Tac, for 3 years, starting @ about '2000-2003, the combo didn't work for me, in fact it was down right terrible. I used to walk around work and look @ people standing around, talking on their cell phones, and I couldn't even get a signal. I made numerous calls to AT&T, they even replaced the Star Tac once, no change. Finally after the contract expired, and I cancelled my service, I received the "but why, we want you back" phone call. I politely explained why, she looked up my service record, and told me "Oh that was a problematic combination". It was too late, I had found another. I'm sure things have changed over the years. To quote the newt man in Monty Python's Holy Grail, "I got better".