The joy of a new phone

So I got a new phone yesterday, an iPhone XR. That moves me from the technological hinterlands to the front lines -- it's not the fancy dan, top-of-the-line XS Max, but it's close enough. It's an expensive move -- new phones for the whole family set you back a few thousand dollars these days, especially when you outfit each phone with an Otter Box case. It also means an annoying round of password changes and technological song and dance moves to get everything you need moved over. But the benefits are already obvious, especially since the battery on the new phone is so much better than what I had before with my old Android phone, which could go from a full charge to "Danger Will Robinson" after about a half-hour of use. And although I haven't really tested it yet, the camera on the new phone has a lot more capability than the post-modern Kodak Brownie that my old phone had; with my continuing interest in photography, that's a positive change. And, as you can imagine, the kids are in heaven.

It also means I'm now in Apple world, for better and worse. I don't have any particular allegiance to any technology company; why the hell would anyone feel that way? Apple fanboys have always struck me as weird, but Android essentially shovels every move you make to an algorithm; as we continued to discuss getting new phones within our family, I would see ads on my old phone for new cell phones and cell phone providers. It's long been evident that we are under constant surveillance, not by Big Brother per se, but rather by a set of Silicon Valley frenemies who act like adversaries but aren't, really.

It's tough to stay away from the fray, really. Modern cell phones are ingenious gadgets and capable of doing amazing things. It is a marvelous tool to have in one's hand, but the servant becomes the master if you're not careful.