MadMup.com

Song Info (from Beatlesongs):”You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)” was 100% written by Lennon and released as a single in the UK on March 6, 1970, as the B side to “Let It Be.” It failed to chart in the US when it was released a little later.  John said, “That was a piece of unfinished music that I turned into a comedy record with Paul.”  Paul said, “We had these endless, crazy fun sessions… And it was just hilarious to put that record together.”

I really, really dislike my current phone, an HTC Fuze that I’ve been using on AT&T for a little over a year now.  I was really proud of myself for researching it before I bought it – website reviews, hands-on demos at the store, comparisons, all that.  It looked like a good phone.  I liked the feel and look of it, and after several weeks of thinking it over, I finally bought it.  I was re-upping my contract at the same time, so I got a price break on it, and the salesman looked it up online and price-matched Walmart.com, so I got a really, really good deal on it.

You know how it is when you get a new phone, it takes you a little while to get used to it.  This is my first phone with a touchscreen on it, and that was a big step for me.  I know touchscreens are all future-y and everything, but they aren’t yet practical for me.  Please note the “for me” on the end of that sentence – I know plenty of people who love touchscreens and want nothing else.  Just because it works well for them or you doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for me.  So far it isn’t.  I don’t like that while I’m on a phone call my ear will open random programs or change settings.  Anyway, right off the bat I had my doubts about the phone, but I figured it was just a learning curve and I’d come to like it.

Two months into the phone and I just wasn’t liking it.  There were days I wanted to throw it across the room.  So many weird little frustrating things about it that by themselves would have been okay, but when summed added up to “Phone I Dislike Strongly.”  I called AT&T to see if there was anything I could do about it.  “If you had taken it back in in the first 30 days…”  I don’t really blame AT&T for that, I just wish I would’ve figured that out before my 30 days was up.

A while into my ownership of this phone an operating system update came out for it.  I figured it wouldn’t hurt, so I upgraded.  As a general rule before this phone, I’ve gotten good use and had good experiences with Windows Mobile.  I like the way it’s set up and I like how it ties in with the stuff I use, and I particularly like the new tie-in features with Windows 7.  However. I don’t know if it’s the phone, the OS, or the combination of the two, but the upgrade didn’t help.  The phone is sluggish, even with simple tasks.  Memory use is well below levels that would cause sluggishness, so that isn’t it.  It loses voicemail setup every so often and the keyboard refuses to respond some times.

Sadly, I don’t have a lot of options at this point.  My contract isn’t up until next year, and without reupping a contract, phones are prohibitively expensive.  Aside from that, there aren’t any phones out there right now that meet both the “available to me” and “I like it” qualifications.  I’m one of the two people who hasn’t ever really had problems with AT&T, so I don’t care to jump to another provider, and besides, jumping now would incur fairly large contract termination fees.  On top of that, I can talk to other AT&T people without using minutes, and I have many friends on AT&T.  I love what I’ve seen of the Droid, but it’s not available for AT&T.

Right now there are a bunch of you saying, “Get an iPhone!  They’re so awesome!  Besides you hate Windows Mobile!”  Sorry, the iPhone isn’t for me.  There are exactly two things I like about the iPhone: the ability to see and select specific voicemails and Shazam.  Two things I absolutely despise about the iPhone: touchscreen only and the fact that you have to use iTunes to put anything on it.  There are very few programs I despise more than iTunes, but that’s probably a whole ‘nother blog entry on its own.  There are other reasons the iPhone isn’t for me, but those two would be enough on their own.  Also, I don’t hate Windows Mobile, I just haven’t been enjoying this latest experience.  There’s still a lot I like about it.

Really, unless I want to spend several hundred dollars on a new phone, I’m really kind of stuck right now.  There are some great-looking Windows 7 phones on the holiday season horizon and rumors of some Droid-based AT&T phones coming, so I’m hopeful I’ll get something decent when my contract is up.  Til then, I’m stuck with with what I have.

I wish cell phones were more like computers so I could install whatever OS on them I wanted.  If I want to put Windows or Linux or any number of whatever operating systems there are on my PC, I can.  Whatever one works best for me in whatever situation, that’s the one I’m going to use.  If I had that option on this phone, maybe I wouldn’t mind being stuck with it for however many more months.

My needs are simple – a physical keyboard, a decent quick-to-start camera, a large display, easy email use, and snappy speeds.  That doesn’t sound so hard to me, but I guess I’m too picky.