Goliath is alive and well... and still winning...

O Life,
How oft we throw it off and think, — 'Enough,
Enough of life in so much! — here's a cause
For rupture; — herein we must break with Life,
Or be ourselves unworthy; here we are wronged,
Maimed, spoiled for aspiration: farewell Life!'
— And so, as froward babes, we hide our eyes
And think all ended. — Then, Life calls to us
In some transformed, apocryphal, new voice,
Above us, or below us, or around . .
Perhaps we name it Nature's voice, or Love's,
Tricking ourselves, because we are more ashamed
To own our compensations than our griefs:
Still, Life's voice! — still, we make our peace with Life. 

           ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh and Other Poems





     Several weeks ago I posted a blog about our attempts to buy a new iPhone. (See "This Time Goliath Wins" for April 15, 2012).  I was incredulous that AT&T refused to let us purchase any because our contract wasn't due for an upgrade yet. 


     I have had numerous conversations with people about this, and all agreed that the iPhone, or perhaps another "smart phone" version, is a wonderful gadget that I would enjoy. I had also seen my sons and step daughter  all enjoy theirs, and they encouraged us to make the jump.  


     Well, yesterday we went back to the AT&T store and bought two new iPhones. There, we were greeted by a highly trained, very professional saleswoman. She was as personable as a plastic Barbie doll-- all smiles and knew her script very well. She was, in a word, smooth. The entire time we endured her sales "discussion" I was wary. But in the end, if we wanted the phones, we had to listen to her and allow her to banter on about "Welcome to the world of smart phones!" and how we were going to love it. The whole event made me uneasy, kinda like talking to a sleazy used car salesman. Score one for AT&T.


     After we left the store, with the phones in hand and my credit card groaning, we got into our car, which has bluetooth and which was used to "synch" with my cell phone. Hurdle one:  learning how to get the new phones to "talk" to the car so we could use the phone hands-free. It took us about 10 minutes sitting in the hot sun, but finally we got it! Score one for the Bertrams!


     Once home, we had to get the phones to find our email. That took another 20 minutes or so, but we did it. <Ding> went the phone and the little screen was filled with email messages. Score another one for the Bertrams!


     I had been hearing about all the cool "apps" for the phone, so I went into the "Apps Store" app (yes, I know...) to look for some. My friend recommended one for knitters. She said it was free. I searched, and found it. It was $9.99, but there was a free version of it. I downloaded that... well, I tried. The little machine asked for some information about me-- date of birth, for instance. I don't like to give out that information so I refused and discovered nope, no downloading allowed. Even if the app is free, the Apple Store must have my date of birth and my credit card on file. Seriously? The saleswoman didn't tell me that!  Score one for AT&T...


     Eventually I discovered that indeed, there would be no cool apps at all if I didn't give Apple Store this info. So, reluctantly I typed it in. It asked for my Apple password. I didn't have one, so I went to the "new user" icon. I had to enter all the info again, and then make up a user name and password. The first 6 user names I tried were all taken by someone else. I finally thought of something I thought I might remember, and entered that. Then it asked for a password. I entered one, and it told me, no, both the user name and password were taken by someone and that I was already an Apple customer. What? Well, given that I do have an Apple computer, I must have created an account long ago. But of course, when I tried to re-enter the same user name and password, I was told there was an error. <sigh> I clicked on the "I forgot my user name and password" icon and was taken to a site where I filled out more information and eventually was given a new user name and password. Using this info, I was able to download the "free" knitting app. Score one for me, and give AT&T 50 points for the extreme aggravation.


     Over the rest of the evening, I learned how the device works mostly by trying stuff. You see, there is no user manual for this device! There is no where to turn with questions other than the Apple help desk that requires you call them on the phone. Even cars come with user manuals... what is AT&T thinking? Why spend millions on printed materials when you can pay someone in India minimum wage to answer the phone?? Score 50 points for AT&T. At one point it crashed, just like a computer. I was about to throw it out the window at that point, and went to show my husband (who was having his own struggles with the thing!) when suddenly it came back up and was fine. I tried out the camera, got email and the internet stuff going, tried the text message function. I downloaded a free "lifestyle" app that I can track what I eat and what my weight is doing. I tried, repeatedly, to use a GPS app that I will give up on. I have messaged people on Facebook, on Ravelry (the knitting social site) and using the phone. I think, overall, I am slowly getting the hang of this thing. Give Barb 20 points!


     My husband, on the other hand, is a little behind me. I don't think he is a fan of the device yet. He remains a skeptic for sure. And when the bill comes with the new charges for our new "data plans" I may have to hide!   Oiy... I feel much as Barrett Browning describes in her poem-- The phones are "cause for rupture" and I have had enough! But then... the phone dings at me, alerting me to a new email, and I realize how cool it is that I can read email anywhere. I will have to "make peace" with AT&T because I am losing the battle-- the score at the moment is:


Goliath (aka AT&T):  102
Bertrams: 23