I blame the cooler weather. It caused me to grab my fall jacket out of the closet before heading downtown on Sunday; the one with the holes in the pockets through which my BlackBerry likely slipped.
The last I saw my phone was Sunday afternoon at 2:49pm at Dundas subway station in downtown Toronto. I know that because I’d taken out my phone to check the time as I exited the train – who uses watches these days anymore? I walked upstairs to get a pre-movie burger at Five Guys, and while waiting in line went to pull it out to check into Four Square – I’ve fallen to 3rd in points among my friends and needed to catch up. Alas, no phone in any of my pockets.
I quickly retraced my steps back down to the subway platform where I’d last seen my phone barely 10 minutes before, hopefully scanning the ground along the way. Unfortunately, no luck. Inquiries at the TTC collector booth also proved fruitless. They have my details, and I’m to call the lost & found tomorrow, but I don’t have much hope.
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I quickly learned how much I’ve come to rely on my smartphone. I had plans that evening to attend a reception in Yorkville; the details were on my Facebook. I had to go into Future Shop and use a demo laptop to retrieve it and get the exact address. And to freeze my service with Bell Mobility, I had to find a pay phone, call information to get the number, and then memorize it, since they can’t just connect you. Took me a few tries to get it right. And the rest of the afternoon and evening I felt completely cut off, and had to dig up a watch when I got home so I could tell the time. Not to mention figure out my alarm clock to wake me up this morning.
Obviously I won’t last long without a smartphone. Assuming it doesn’t turn up in a day or two, it’s time to consider a new one. And that gets to the heart of the matter: is it time to end my five-plus years with BlackBerry?
I have one year left on my contract with Bell, so I’ll have to stay with them. And I’m not keen on re-upping, so that probably means buying a phone outright. So it’s something to consider carefully. My last phone is a Bold 9900; my previous phone was a Curve. Before that I had a Pocket PC, so I’ve been all about the hard QWERTY for years.
I’ve never been a big app guy; I’m mainly about e-mail and texting. Of course, with the dearth of apps for BlackBerry, it’s not like I’ve had much choice. I’ve also never been a big soft keypad guy, although everyone says you’ll get used to it. I have briefly played with the BlackBerry Q10 and it didn’t wow me. And my BlackBerry has been buggy at times.
So, I’m open to looking at alternatives. With the exception of Apple; this is a no iPhone zone. If I don’t stay with BlackBerry though (probably the cheaper Q5 if I do), I’m open to considering an Android or Windows Phone handset. Maybe Samsung’s Galaxy S4, or wait for the new Note 3? Perhaps Sony’s Xperia Z? Or the one Windows phone Bell has on offer, the Samsung Ativ? Or do I stay with BlackBerry?
All suggestions are welcome, but get them in soon. I’m already suffering smartphone withdrawal, and may not be able to hold out for long.
A sad story, Jeff. We can all lose things in our mobile society. Nearly all lost valuables are found by someone. The problem is that the finder needs a way to find you. Here’s a way to return lost phones without even turning them on (and subjecting yourself to GPS tracking as a thief). Give the finder a safe, private and secure service to notify you of the recovery location quickly, and at no cost. My Stuff Lost and Found works for me…my lost phone found me the same day. The service is free and worldwide.
Sorry to hear about your phone. It’s difficult when any of our technology fails or is lost, but lately, I see it as a good reason to upgrade and get something new that works better for me. It sounds like you are not totally happy with your blackberry, and that you wouldn’t be that unhappy to upgrade to something a little more useful, and maybe even a little more fun.
Note 3 might be the way to go. It has a stylus (S pen), which can help you with typing on soft qwerty. The S pen is not just an ordinary stylus, either; it works with photoshop, and interacts with the screen. I was a long-time Palm user, where you had to use the stylus for everything, and the S pen is a very different device. I have the Note 8 and I am still exploring all of the ways it helps me stay organized. Also, consider free Avast! Mobile Security, and Avast! Mobile Backup (also free) for Android. Your google calendar and contacts can be accessed and updated from all of your mobile devices, and your computer (or a computer at future shop). There are thousands of apps for android; you can get an app that does what you need it to do, and usually there is a free version.
Do keep us updated as to what you decide, and how it works for you!
This is why you registered it with https://protect.blackberry.com/ BEFORE you lost it, so you can lock it, display a message to any finder, and track it with GPS, right?
Jeff, I would recommend a Windows Phone and here is why. I had a Windows Phone and then lost it so I got another one. So I thought I would have to do like my wife and wait an hour is so at Best Buy as they tried to transfer my data. However what I found out was that as soon as I put in my ID’s for Live/Facebook/Twitter etc. all of my data, including email, texts, etc was populate on my phone in about 5 minutes. This was fantastic and the easiest upgrade ever for a phone. Not sure if many people are aware of how well this is integrated into a Windows Phone.