You Get What You Pay For

I'm a firm believer in splurging on great products and I truly believe that, for the most part, you get what you pay for. There are plenty of articles out there about what you should never skimp on and I don't think that technology is something to be skimped on.

This is the Motorola SLVR L7, circa 2005.

How I came to own one is a little bit of an interesting story. I had originally gotten the ROKR, which is the first ever phone to have iTunes on it. MP3's were the hottest new technology thing at the time and this is right around when the iPod was a huge status symbol rather than something just as routine as your socks. So, at the time this was the most technologically advanced phone on the market.

My parents couldn't see why I didn't just want to get the free phone offered with the new plan but I insisted. The ROKR was the one I wanted. Just one month later, the SLVR came out. It was thinner than the RAZR and had all the same capabilities as the ROKR. It was basically a ROKR-RAZR brainchild, and it came in a sleek shade of black. I was not happy.

But then my ROKR had a ringtone issue. One particular ringtone would never actually make any sound. It played just fine from "My Sounds" but never actually rang. I called customer service and they agreed to send me a replacement. Only, the ROKR was out of stock. So they sent me a SLVR instead. I was happy.

Fast forward 5 years and I'm still using the SLVR.

My only real complaint about it is that the center button of the navigation pad has broken off. (It really just means I have to move my thumb over 2 cm to hit "confirm" rather than pushing the center button.)

As you can see, it's still in great shape. Keys are never sticky and the usability is as good as ever. It has an impressive speaker for such a tiny phone and I can still occasionally go for 3-4 days without charging it.

Most impressive of all is that I've been using it nonstop for the last five years. Other people have gone through free phones like crazy but I haven't needed an upgrade yet. In fact, I could probably go on using this one for another 5 years if smart phones weren't completely taking over the cell phone market.

The real reason I'm bragging about the SLVR and how enduring it's been is because I'm thinking about a new phone. I don't want to leave AT&T, both because the customer service is great and because it will kill our minutes if Clement and I were on different carriers. So this essentially boils my choices down to the iPhone or the Nexus One. (Previously, the Blackberry Pearl was also on this list but touch screen is clearly the way of the future so I dropped the option.)

The iPhone has been recently rated by users as the number 1 smart phone according to a survey by JD Power, hurting only in the category of battery life. This survey, however, hasn't covered the highly anticipated Nexus One, which has been opened up to AT&T as of March 16, 2010.

Even in my quest to invest in a great piece of technology, with my first-hand experience in understanding that you get what you pay for, should I spring for the $200 iPhone or can I really justify a $530 phone? iPhone or Nexus One -- will it take a 5-year beating the way that my last investment did? Which one will I be bragging about in 5 years and happy I had made an invested choice in?

Technophiles want to weigh in?

Things I've Learned So Far This Year...

We're not terribly far into 2010 but it's already been a great learning year.

• Reading a cookie book right before bed is a bad idea. (Thanks a lot, Martha Stewart.)

• Finding out that I can put books on hold at the library via the online catalog is the best thing that's happened to my intellectual stimulation since Mental Floss. It's a million times easier to just add them to my list as I think of them and pick them up all together.

• It's so easy to fall behind on blogging! I'm stealing an idea for recharging this blog though and you'll see it very soon.

• GoogleMaps lies sometimes. Unpleasantness ensues.

• Google Mail is actually waaaaaaaaaaay easier and better to use than Yahoo! Mail. At first, I thought it was just because I was used to gmail... but then I got used to Y!mail and then it felt more like whymail. I'm actually considering writing a full post to highlight some gmail functionalities that make it so great.

• I kind of miss WoW like a lot... and I have a battle.net hacker to thank for reminding me how fun the game was.

Justice System, Just A System

Yesterday, Clement and I were in San Diego for our small claims court date. We drove down Monday night and stayed with a friend (thanks, Jason and Patty!) because we were scheduled for 9:30 AM Tuesday morn.

Mourn, indeed.

Let me backtrack a little and tell you about the case. When Clement and I decided to move out in early summer, our roommates found a replacement in the way of the guy's old Navy friend. As a show of good faith (and out of the need for someone who was willing to take over the lease for the handful of months remaining), I had Clement write a check to the leasing office for rent for the month of August and half of it was to be reimbursed by the new tenant. His check bounced. We called him, he apologized, and we began making arrangements for a money order to be sent instead of a personal check. And nothing came. So Clement and I called him again. Repeatedly. We called the roommates. Repeatedly. We called the leasing office. Repeatedly. Finally, we filed for small claims.

Then came Hassle Part 2, which was serving him the papers. Because he was never around, our certified mailing of the court papers never made it to him. I asked a friend to file substitute service, which means leaving a copy with the roommates (whom, by the way, also owed money from this guy at this point) and mailing another copy. (Thanks, Lisa.) Despite all our best efforts, there was no way to ensure that he ever actually saw the paperwork. However, we had done everything we could with the information we had and we were pressed for time since the lease was ending. If we didn't get this done before they moved out, we wouldn't have an address for him.

We did our research. We prepped our case. And off we went to the San Diego Superior Court.

Even though websites told us most cases would take 10-15 mins, we were at the courthouse for about 2 hours. The 8:00AM block went over. Our case was placed in the middle of the 9:30 block. After a misplaced "Proof of Service" form was dug up, we finally went before the judge. The case before ours was a little amusing, which provided a brief moment of distraction and relaxation. The defendant, who called in instead of appearing and wouldn't stop talking over the judge, had to be told several times by the judge "Shut up, Ms. Davis." And I thought only TV judges did that.

Before we presented the case, the bailiff asked us if he was in the military. Yes, we responded, he is in the Navy. She and the judge winced. The judge seemed regretful as she informed us about all the protection that military personnel had. Maybe she has seen a lot of people hide behind it. Because we had no evidence that he was not deployed (how could we, when we don't even have a phone number for him), our case was rescheduled.

What a hassle.

But there are always silver linings, I suppose. The judge agreed to hear our case next time even if he does not show up, if we can provide a letter or some other evidence that he's not off fighting for our nation. She kindly rescheduled us for a Friday, which means Clement doesn't have to run down there in the middle of the week, between work days. Plus, we may actually get some time to visit with people if we stay the weekend.

As we stood in line at the Small Claims Business Office, I chatted up this elderly woman with a friendly smile. She told me about her case -- they were suing a painting company for taking their contract and their money, only to do a bad job and run off. We bonded over our laments that the defendants in our cases were so hard to track down. Their case has been going for a year but they were determined not to let these people get away with it. I decided they were right. It's not about the money. If people get away with stuff like this, it should never be because no one wanted to try and stop them. Working the system, though, is another story...

"It is not a Justice System. It is just a system." ~Bob Enyart

Part 2 next month, after the hearing in early January.

Facing the Real World

As you know, I've been trying unsuccessfully to find a job since my college graduation in June of last year. Today, I went for an interview and tentatively accepted a staff position at an academic academy that does tutoring and standardized testing (SAT, ACT, etc.) prep. It's a 6-day work week and pays $9/hour.

She told me she wasn’t trying to lowball me, that it was the standard rate of pay for college-level or above education. Was that okay for me?

I wanted to say no, that I wanted the $36,000 average that UCSD claimed their new graduates made straight out of college. I wanted to protest about how my $40,000 education was only worth an extra dollar an hour compared to a high school education. I wanted to say that my internships were just as valuable as, if not more so than, any other work experience.

I wanted to cry, because I had always been taught that college was the fast track to success... that because I was smart enough to get into a good school and complete a degree there, I was supposed to have some kind of an advantage in the world.

And I know that I should consider myself lucky to get a job at all, because anything is more than $0/hour, especially for the experience and resume content... and I know that everyone has to start somewhere and that I will (eventually) move on to bigger and better things.

And even though I know, I know, I know.... that what I do as a job or how much I make isn't actually a reflection of what I'm worth as a person....

...it really hurts to feel like I'm not worth as much as I thought I would be.

The real world is pretty harsh.

Sound Advice

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Marketing 101

Know your target audience.

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