The most lost item today must be cellphones (it used to be umbrellas). When my turn came and I lost my ancient Rs7500 phone in 2008, I cursed my luck. I’d also lost all the numbers stored in it. But then, I spent just Rs3600 on a new one with more features. Using its Bluetooth facility, I often transferred all the numbers and some photos to my laptop, just in case.
The new phone’s one-year guarantee proved to be sinister. Why, it conked out in the 13th month. But I wasn’t so upset: Bluetooth had saved my address book, and I got another upgrade opportunity. I bought a smartphone.
No, I didn’t pay the label MRP of Rs19,200. I learnt, to my surprise, that only a brand’s showrooms and the big department stores make you pay that. But it was at one such big shop that I got a free demo. “Be back later,” I told the salesman. (Smaller cellphone shops are more crowded and they have less time for demos.) One small shop had the same model for Rs13,000, but its owner suggested I surf the internet, read reviews and come back. A great tip, which I followed.
A shop next to it quoted Rs15,000. Amusing! I finally bought the smartphone for Rs12,750.
There was also a costlier version, same model, for Rs18,000 (MRP Rs28,990). But I realized I’d only be paying for extra memory I’d never use and for more megapixels in its camera. If I ever need extra memory, I can add a micro SD card, and those cards only get cheaper over time. And for any decent photography, I’d prefer to use my digital SLR.
You now get other smartphones for much less than I paid, and all of them offer e-mail and internet access, chat, camera, news, and a lot more. My phone also
doubles as an MP3 and video player. I’ll get a bigger phone bill, but I’ve chosen a “mid” Rs499 plan and will check to see how many megabytes I’ll use on average. If I’m paying too much, I’ll change to a cheaper plan.
I’m not sorry I lost two phones.It’s made me wirelessly wired 24x7.
