iPhone | Blackberry | Relating to divorce and single parenting?

• Posted: June 23, 2009
• |
• Author: Daniella
• |
• Filed under: Ask the Single Parent
• |
• Tags: appendage, divorce, electronic gadget, iphone, ms pac man, single parent, single parenting

It pains me to post this story by Daniella! Why? Because I am an avid MAC user and iPhone lover (sans AT&T). I must be part of the PC world as my office network is PC, but my MAC does not mind. Back to posting this article...I will post it, as it is not just about baggin' on an iPhone...the metaphor is beautiful. Enjoy!

An ex-boyfriend said to me, “Don’t you find it strange that you love me now that we’re broken up but you didn’t love me when we were together?” Not really, I thought to myself, because I was sitting on the fence and a very rare place at that…

Could I be that shallow to compare a relationship to a phone? I’m a Mac enthusiast and I’ve loved computers for as long as I can remember. I think my passion for computers and great hand-eye coordination comes with being apart of the first video game generation. My Dad worked in the electronics business; growing up we had every new electronic gadget imaginable. We also had a really cool pinball machine in our house and at the roller skating rink I was known as the “Pinball Wizard” I was only 10yrs old but I owned every high score at the rink. My brother and I sat for hours playing Pong on our Atari and I rocked the Mattel Electronics “Football” too (remember the cool sound effect and that Supertramp added it to their “The Logical Song”). I mastered Pac Man and Ms. Pac Man with ease then graduated to Centipede and Asteroids. The grand pubah, for me, was Galaga. And by the time I was 13 I owned the local arcade’s high core for that game too. Later came Donkey Kong and damn it I never did rescue the princess (hmm maybe there’s something deeper here).

I’ve been a Blackberry user for 4 years. But ever since the iPhone came out I sheepishly admit I had one foot out the door. Blackberry was so loyal and we were thick as thieves, it even became an appendage. But  then it happened! 2 weeks ago my USB port broke inside my Blackberry at the same time my Verizon contract was coming to an end. Aha, an honest excuse to break all ties. The iPhone (my pink elephant) and I are finally going to give it a shot, together. It’s smarter, sleeker and has many more sexy features. It was a no brainer!

I was in the MAC store (Gucci for me) admiring and coddling my new iPhone. I don’t use a gmail, Yahoo! or AOL mail; setting up my mail accounts proved difficult. And there was Carl, the MAC genius; all 250lbs of his patience but along with his beaded perspiring intellect dripping profusely on my new beauty I was already becoming agitated. Over an hour later I finally walked out of the store with my new love, my iPhone. Not long after I left the MAC store I called my brother with email application questions but realized I didn’t even know how to dial this damn thing! Even more interesting  was as that my iPhone and I were not hand in hand, (like my Blackberry and I were). The new phone was tucked away my purse. I didn’t rush home to play with it either. Instead I found myself making one more attempt to charge my Blackberry to no avail. I had the whole weekend to figure out every which way the iPhone could benefit me but that didn’t happen. First, I added a few applications for my daughter; second and most importantly I needed to sync the iPhone to  my computer to upload my contacts. Wholly shit what a fiasco that turned out to be!  Albeit complete user error, I accidentally deleted every one of my contacts in Entourage (my email application) and have had to manually input each contact back into my computer, fxxk! I was so over the hot mess!  So, I did the easy things, threw some music tracks on the iPod feature and added a few pictures of my daughter. Later, I met some people at my friend Laura’s house and as we took a few shots of Tequila, played a few hands of Gin Rummy we noticed Laura’s dog literally eating my shoes. The only shoe in the house that fit me was her 7yr old son’s Vans. Me and Vans not so much of a stretch, but me, slacks, a beautiful blouse, and an even more stunning coat suffice it to say Van’s wasn’t exactly the look I was going for. However, the they did make fun cocktail conversation at the bar and of course we just had to capture the hysterical moment on the iPhone to immediately upload it to Facebook.

Ok cool, with the iPhone I can capture a moment in seconds with decent pixelated quality to upload to the Internet. Awesome. But still, unlike the Blackberry’s LED feature, I have no idea when I receive an email, text or even a missed call. I can’t hear the damn iPhone and when I finally do hear the phone ring I slide my finger across the screen and bring the phone up to my ear, “Hello, hello?!” I realize there ain’t nobody there cause I either put the call on hold, mute or whatever and with my cheek! Come Monday on my way into work I cannot easily reply to the many emails I get before I even pull out of the garage because 1) I don’t receive emails as fast as I did with my Blackberry and 2) I have not managed to work my iPhone with one hand, yet. I then get to my office and create rules in Lotus Notes to send my work emails to my iPhone. Ok that was easy but I have 3 separate email accounts. Unlike the trustworthy ol Blackberry, iPhone only allows one signature for every account – how utterly annoying! It’s been 13 days and while I’m diligently trying to love the iPhone it too wants to prove  just how smart it’s operating system is – however – it is not too smart, to me! Every abbreviation I use is turned into a word that I do not want to use but because I’m so fast the email and/or text has already been sent and incorrectly!

In the end, I truly was in love w/my Blackberry and only had a modest attraction towards the iPhone. Home sweet home, my Blackberry welcomed me back with open arms, I did not however go back to my ex-boyfriend. Today, the iPhone 3Gs is out and while it still toys with me I know I’m happy where I’m at which is no longer sitting on the fence.

Always,
Daniella

Like this Article? Subscribe by selecting a delivery method below:

• Free RSS Subscription
• Free Email Updates Subscription

FAQ: What is RSS?

• (9) Comments
• Permalink
• RSS 2.0
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•