The thin line between Smartphones and dumb people

My cell phone isn't very smart. In fact, it's pretty dumb.
On the other hand, "dumb" doesn't necessarily mean "useless," so I suppose I'll keep on using my Samsung Whatever It's Called and I'll keep on giving my upgrades to my wife and kids. After all, it still makes and receives calls; it sends and receives texts and it even flips up and turns into a keyboard, so texting is that much easier.
Basically, it's got everything I need, or more importantly, it lacks all the bells and whistles I don't need.
Fair warning, folks: here's the part of the blog where I lapse into old man mode. Continue reading at your own risk.


Look, the last thing I want is for this to turn into some sort of a rant. So, I'll try my best to avoid pointing out that, when I was a kid nobody had cell phones and that, in the summer, my friends and I would routinely head out on our bikes in the morning and not come home until we got hungry. Then we'd eat, head back out and not come home until we were hungry again.
I'll try not to point out how, back then, our parents didn't really know where we were and, quite frankly, weren't that concerned with our whereabouts. Perhaps they should have been, but they weren't. And even if they were, they could pick up one of those old rotary phones and call the other parents to see if they'd see us.
I vow not to write about how kids (and grown-ups, too) are addicted to being on "the grid" and that it seems taking away a cell phone -- or a Smartphone -- is like cutting off an arm.
Oops ...
I get it. Really, I do. Over the past 30 years or so, advancements in technology have made our lives much easier, not to mention safer.
On the other hand, while our lives are much easier, they're also much more complicated. And that's the thing I can do without.
Please understand, I'm not one of those anti-technology guys, believe me. I love my iPod (even though it's old, too) and I do everything on my laptop (including writing this very blog). I understand and regularly use e-mail on a daily basis. Shoot, I've even got three different accounts.
When the iPad first came out I fell in love and dropped enough hints that my wonderful wife actually bought me one for Christmas a year ago.
I use the Internet every single day (again, I'm blogging right this second). I'm on Facebook and I practically live on Twitter.
I think HD television might be the greatest invention ever, and believe it or not, I now get headaches watching anything in standard definition.
So, you can see, I'm not afraid of technology; not in the least.
But here's the thing: I know my limits. I suppose it's one of the benefits of advancing into middle age. I've learned what's good for me and what's bad. Having all that technology on my laptop in my office is one thing, having it in a little box that fits in the palm of my hand? Well, that's something completely different.
I don't want my cell phone to become a pair of handcuffs.
You know that iPad I mentioned a few paragraphs ago? I've turned it over to my wife and daughter. I decided to let them fight over it.
Friends and colleagues give me a hard time because I don't have a Smartphone. They kid me about being behind the times, which doesn't offend me in the least. I know I'm behind the times and that's just fine.
To me, there's a thin line between being connected and over-connected, there's a subtle difference between being "on the grid" and "over the top."