Don’t get robbed of your smart phone. Life will feel dumbed down without it.
So I was robbed a while back….leaving the office after a late one at work. On leaving the main entrance I got my phone out to message my girlfriend and a guy on a bicycle sneaked up onto the pavement behind me a swiped it from my hand. =O
So I ran after him, shouted a bunch of expletives at the so-and-so, quickly gave up running, phoned Vodafone to block my phone and contacted the police to get the necessaries to claim back on insurance.
Now Vodafone charge a ridiculous amount for insurance (surely they’re bending the rules in the same way the banks were with their dodgy payment protection plans) so I made sure my home content insurance covered stolen equipment up to the value of £1,000. Little did I realise that my lovely iPhone was covered by a standard “mobile phone” cover of £250. It’s an outdated approach; relevant in the days of feature phones but irrelevant in the age of the smart phone….pocket computers that have bigger value. Sort it out Paymentshield. Also Vodafone have been a bit if a shambles in the whole process: sending me three letters with the wrong information which ultimately kept me from buying a new phone for 3 weeks. When I wanted to complain they said the only way I could was via letter?! Pretty poor considering the business they’re in. “Power to you”…
It’s about time companies were more in tune with customer behaviour and needs in today’s world gone digital.
So I was without a smart phone and had to rely on a Blackberry Curve. The once-upon-a-time essential physical key pad feels irrelevant in a touchscreen world. The screen size is embarrassingly small. Emails require infinite scrolling and even if the internet was easily accessible – it’s not btw – the screen size means scrolling up and down left to right. Apps are clunky. In fact there is an overall, stuck-in-the-early-noughties feel to Blackberry.
So this resulted in me missing my iPhone over September far more than someone should of his technology.
Over The Top app messaging (e.g. What’s App and Couple) and Facebook keep me in touch with me and my. Twitter brings the relevant (and sometimes irrelevant) parts of the web to me, as does my lovely Zite and Google Currents apps.
My Pinterest enables me to scratch that artistic itch by pinning great looking parts of the web. My Instagram enables me to snap the architectural and poignant moments of my life. MapMyRun tracks my running (I’ve recently completed marathon number 8 in New York. My Nike Fuel Band app talks to the Nike Fuel Band on my wrist tracking my movements (it’s the coolest and cleverest pedometer out there at the moment).
My Google Now helps me find stuff nearby and Google Maps help me get from A to B. My EasyJet App helps me book tickets quick and puts my boarding pass in my pocket (nice work EasyJet). The old faithful web browser app helps me get access to any other part of the web that is relevant to my life.
The Audible App means I can listen to books. The camera helps me collect a bunch of memories that is the growing photo album of my life. Video even more so. My Gmail app keeps me busy on the move with emails from friends, family and business. My Calendar and To Do’s keeps my life in check (most of the time).
My iTunes filters out the busy noises of life and keeps me up and down when I need it. Oh and it makes calls (although I mainly do that through the Skype App).
It’s sad and exciting in equal measure that I missed my iPhone over September. But it gives me a very close and real reminder of how mobiles are having such an impact on our lives.
I’ve now had my iPhone (bought on eBay) for the past few weeks and I’m back on track. Although some part of me enjoyed reading books more than usual.
Think Social 