I’ve always been a technology geek, but I can’t necessarily say the same for my wife. While she’s proficient with a computer, she’s nowhere near as techie as I am, although she’s grown since marrying me.
When we switched to T-Mobile back in 2007, I started off with the T-Mobile Dash (Windows Mobile phone with QWERTY keyboard), but my wife opted for a simple flip phone. After upgrading to the Google G1 in 2009, my wife inherited my Dash (without a data plan). Why did she get the Dash? Well, she was starting to do a lot more texting and saw the benefits and speed of having a full keyboard, so she gladly took my old phone. That was the beginning of upgrading my wife.
Fast forward to earlier this year (2010), and the Dash finally started to show its age by dropping calls & no longer keeping a charge for a good part of the day. With that, my wife started asking me to get her a new phone. The only requirement that she gave me was that it had to have a QWERTY keyboard because she had become accustomed to it & really liked it, although she said she might consider a device with an on-screen keyboard (ala the iPhone & the like). Seeing that we were still on T-Mobile & her wanting a QWERTY, that guaranteed that it was a smartphone, but didn’t leave very much wiggle room outside of a Blackberry or Nokia device, or maybe an Android. I personally liked the idea of a Nokia because I couldn’t bear the thought of my wife having a “better” phone than me (LOL).
Over Thanksgiving weekend, we both got our wish. Having followed the Windows Phone 7 since it was announced, I’d received many emails concerning their phones, including an email that I’d received earlier in the week that I could get the HTC HD7 in a buy 1 get 1 free offer. I also knew they had the Samsung Vibrant (Android) for the same deal (and price), so that was an option too. The only downside to both of these phones is that neither had the physical QWERTY that my wife wanted. Either way, I promised her a new phone and thought the HD7 would fit the bill, so we headed out to the local T-Mobile store in Detroit, where we were for the holiday. To our surprise, they had about 6 or 7 smartphones that they were selling with the buy 1 get 1 free offer, including the Google G2, which I had personally been coveting since I first heard about it.
Even though I wasn’t up for a new phone until next month per our contract (December 26), the representative was nice enough to call customer service, who gave the okay to give me the discount/upgrade a month early; which we needed to do the buy 1 get 1 free deal without adding a new line. So, now my wife & I are both happy. She has her new phone, and I have a new phone too, and the one I really wanted all along.
The nice thing now is that it’s giving me an opportunity to teach my wife a new operating system (Android), and how to use her phone to the best of its abilities. I’ve already shown her how to setup her Facebook account, and all the basics of the phone, including giving her a custom made ringtone. Over the next few weeks I plan on showing her the in’s & out’s so that she’s a proficient Android user.