Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Phone Vs Phone

Eighteen months ago when I got a new phone I switched from an iPhone to a Windows operating system.  After a short learning curve I grew to like the phone. It had a bigger screen, but it fit nicely in my purse and was easy to hold in my hand. Syncing my Outlook calendar to my phone calendar worked spectacularly. (Since both the phone and the software came from the same company that was to be expected.)

Strangely enough, though, after a couple of months syncing became problematic.  My computer wanted to send everything through the 'cloud' first and somewhere along the line the information got misplaced and didn't come back down to my phone properly.  I chatted online with a couple of Microsoft technicians, and posted my problem on a forum, but never got a definitive answer from either source.   Things got better, then they got worse again. Several months ago I stopped trying and figured I'd grin and bear it until my contract was up, but when I fell and broke the phone screen last month getting a new phone became a priority.

Son Brian came to my rescue. He was upgrading to a newer phone for work and over the weekend he gifted me his iPhone 4. I stopped into the phone store last night, where they transferred the SIM card and moved my contacts from old phone to new.  When I got home I plugged the phone into my computer and restored and updated the information and apps that had been waiting patiently for me on iTunes, then synced my calendar to the phone. This morning I started a Words With Friends game with Hubby Tony. (The game didn't have an app for the Windows phone. We'd tried playing online, but the process was clunky and I gave up.)

Despite the calendar issues and the paucity of apps for the Widows phone there are some things I really liked. I'm already missing the start screen resizeable tiles and the multiple options for customizing the screen, the keyboard auto-complete which is much more intutitive with word suggestions, and the 'back' arrow, which is more like what I'm used to on my computer.

I'm betting that soon the Windows phone experiment will be a distant memory.

Five years ago today: Cushioning

10 comments:

  1. Lol. I have an android phone. I have been really happy with it.

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    1. I'm thinking I might like to try an android phone next time, but our contract's not up for six months. We may be changing carriers at that time, so I don't want to buy a new phone now.

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  2. I am planning to do something similar with my son's older iphone 4s, transfer my sim card. If I ever get around to doing it.

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    1. It was an easy process at the phone store....once I got through waiting for a service person!

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  3. I love my iPhone and the way it integrates with my Mac. That being said, I know there are lots of ways in which I am not using all of its capabilities. I need a few hours at the Apple Store!

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    1. I KNOW I just scratch the surface of a smart phone capability. As long as I can make phone calls, send texts, take pictures, and do an occasional Google search I'm satisfied.

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  4. I'm team iPhone. I have ark war read about the next update coming in late fall and it will have the auto complete this time around. I still don't think they are competing in the size of the phone though.

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    1. The Windows phone was the closest I've ever come to having the 'newest' of anything in my purse.

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  5. Over the past 6 years I have had 3 iPhones, having just purchased the iPhone 5 last month. Terry did the same as you did with your son's phone and he is so happy. He had my old 3S and all the apps were out of date and the operating system could no longer be upgraded. He does not have a data plan and just uses local wifi but it seems to work for him. I use my phone more than my laptop, though, so I pay for the data plan. I have one of those 'grandfathered' plans where I get unlimited data.

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    1. I remember that you had handed down your phone. I've been advised not to update the operating system on my acquired phone; Brian says that will make it run too slow.

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