Ok, my story actually happened before I even touched my iphone! (kind of)
I am a tech geek, maybe not the most knowledgeable one, but I always want the newest and nicest in tech. whether it be game consoles, computers, TVs, Audio, whatever, I want it. But for some reason I had always overlooked cell/smart phone tech.
See, I was anti-cell phone for some reason. I tried to avoid it at all costs for years till the wife made me get one under the whole "what if there is an emergency and I need to get a hold of you" clause. So I gave in, grabbed a abacus of a nokia, and dropped into a family plan with her and parents but still remained on the edge, just using it for calling people (which I did not do) and receiving calls (which I rarely answered).
Years (yes, years) went by, and on a night it got a little too drunk out, the nokia I had was lost in the snow. At which point i was forced to "upgrade" and was introduce to the oh so glorious I-give-you-phone-you-give-me-two-more-years plan by AT&T. (who was Cingular at the time, but was at&t before that when cingular was a singular entity or something of the........ whatever)
By this time I did start to peek at the different cell tech out there and decided to go with a phone with a little more to offer other then making calls (which I still did not do) or answering them (which I did even less then before). I still was not a "texter" or used any internet based applications (Chalk that up to me being an anti-cell phone guy, a cheap bastard who doesn't want to pay for those features, or the hate for that emo kid i see on the streets of my city blankly staring at their phone texting/IM'ing away as I scream inside how he is wasting his life and money doing so while smoking my eight-dollars-a-pack cigarettes), so I settled on a sony ericson phone with a decent camera, mp3 capabilities and video. Three things that I know I would use and would not cost me a monthly car payment if I whiffed and overage charge.
Well, fast forward a couple more years (yes, years!) and that sony ericson phone was about on it's last legs. I definitely got my moneys worth out of that sucker though, listening to hours of music on end, recording tons of video, taking pictures to my hearts content ..................... ya, NO. I did none of those things that "I knew I would" when getting that phone, I still just used it for making calls (which I still did not do often) or answering them (which I did even lesser'er then before). Sans the occasional use as a USB thumb drive, I used it just as I did my nokia. I did not want a new phone but father time had reared his ugly head, buttons were not responding, calls were dropping, battery life was non-existent, etc, I NEEDED a new phone but refused to do so.
By this time the new 3g Iphone was out (Ya, up till this point in you thought it was 2004 with the ancient cell tech I was using in my story didn't you! I told you I was a anti-cell/smart phone guy!) and not only did I know of the glorious Iphone through the media, but two of my co-workers had them (A 2g and 3g). I tell you, I was impressed. The stuff was pretty slick, plus with jail breaking (yep, I was thinking about jail breaking before owning. Neither of my co-workers had it done, but I had placed custom firmware on a few of my personal electronics items and knew of the advantages, and also kept tabs on iphone firmware if I ever decided to take the plunge) I could really see the plus's in owning such a device. But that price was killing me. Well, not the price of the phone really, that monthly fee. (Ya, it was that whole "me being cheap bastard who doesn't want to pay for those features" thing, sorry emo kid!) I was on a family plan paying twenty four and change a month for a phone now, did the iphone justify bumping that up for sixty five and change, did it?
Nope, it did not. Hell will freeze over before I spend that much more a month on a phone that I came to grips with, no matter how "cool" it is or whatever "neat" things it does, only ends up being a make-call-answer-call-machine to me. So I started shopping around for other phones. I'm three bears in one. This ones too simple. This ones too "gadgety". "THE" one i want is not there. Yes it is jerk, you just don't want to pay for it! Heh ............
During this time of cell phone shoppery, I had been talking to my mother in law who's family plan I am on (Hey, I'm married, have a house, a good job, the wife has a great job, we have a dog, two cats, and I'm on a family plan through my girls mom, laugh all you want!) about the iphone. She's been grilling me about it since i am her go to tech guy. She wants me to talk her into getting it. She wont pull the trigger without me saying to her, "Get It, you'll love it. You wont be disappointed" Well, that means I have to talk myself into getting it, otherwise she wont be hearing those words. Which means I'm going to talk myself into getting the iPhone. Which means I'm getting and iPhone. I'm getting the iPhone. iPhone ............................ iPhone.
Now I'm jazzed. I pulled the trigger and all that's left is the wait. The mother in law lives a bit aways and since she ordered them I had to; wait for her to got get, activate, then get the call for me to come get. That day comes and I leave work early to make the bit over and hour trek to her house to pick up my lovely.
**here is where this story manifests itself. The contest said "Tell us your best, funniest, most touching, most tragic, most triumphant story" and this is what I set out to write about, way to get off track there guy! **
Along my way to pick up my new iPhone I decided to make a quick detour to pick up a case for her (Ya, all iPhones are female, wanna fight about it!). I stop at the local at&t store and check out the selection and decide on a certain half hard/half soft case for a couple reasons. 1) At that time I had not come across any full hard or soft cases that I liked, 2) This particular case had a clear hard plastic piece that covered just the back of the soft part that was not too cumbersome and would let me slip a sweet custom graphic of my favorite soccer club underneath for everyone to see. (as if I didn't advertise that enough already {Go Arsenal!}) 3) My one co-worker already had said case and it would piss him off that I got the same. So, I grab the one I want off the rack and proceed to wait ... ooooohhhhhh ... about 20 minutes for a checkout person to show, and when he does I ask the obligatory "Is this case good question". A millisecond after hearing myself ask that dumb@%s question (Like I'd get "No! that things a piece of S%&t from the guy"). He begins to gush over the case. I mean he loves this thing. He starts telling me how he has dropped it this way .... how he has dropped it that way .... every which way, and his phone still works perfect. He even shows me the case and how it looks no worse for the wear from all that abuse. I was going to buy the case anyway, but now this guys making me feel good, other than aesthetic reasons, about my twenty buck purchase. So I leave my friendly neighborhood at&t store, hit the outlaws house, gab then grab the phone, and head home.
I get home and start fumbling with everything. Starting the Phone, plugging in, plugging out, plugging, in, plugging out ...... basically messing with everything. Once i get my bearings with the phone, I say to myself, "Put the case on douche, you're going to break the god damn thing." So, after the several hours it took me to put that clear cover thing over the screen, i start to put the actual case on the phone and notice something is wrong, that clear plastic thing that sits over the back that I can slip that sweet a%s graphic underneath is all scratched up and stuff in certain spots. Ok, I'm a little pissed but what ever, I exchange it. The next day I'm driving back to the sore I bought the case at when that grey matter between the listening holes starts churning. No? That little Sh&t didn't? Did he? That little f@$ker has been dropping his "indestructible" case all over the place and swapping his jacked up pieces with ones in the on sale boxes. That little bastard. So I'm driving to the store praying that he is working, please, please, please, please, be working, he is. So I get in there, wait my turn and then calmly ask for and exchange.
Salesman liar guy: Is there a problem with the case?
Super honest me: Ah, ya. This part *showing him the piece* is all scratched up.
Salesman liar guy: We don't accept returns on normal wear and tear.
Super honest me: Look at the receipt man, I just bought it yesterday. There was not time for wear and tear.
Salesman liar guy: Sorry sir, are you sure this is one the one you bought yesterday.
Super honest me: Ya. I bought it from you yesterday, don't you remember.
Salesman liar guy: Sorry, we see a lot of people all day
Super honest me: Are you sure, you went on and on about how good this case is. About how you dropped it here and there and LOOK, not a scratch on it.
Salesman liar guy: *Blank look*
Super honest me: Remember, yours looked great, mine looked like a salesman took his old beat up scratched one and exchanged it with a new one out a box, maybe the box I picked up a bought yesterday.
Salesman liar guy: You can just grab a new case off the rack over there sir!
Super honest me: Thanks.
Salesman liar guy: *Blank stare*
Super honest me: *whisperish* Just say you did it, come on.
Salesman liar guy: *smile* Thank you.
Super honest me: Take care man.
**End "Tell us your best, funniest, most touching, most tragic, most triumphant story" here**
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