Simplifying My Life: Downgrading from a Blackberry

Let's start off by saying I loved my Blackberry. Well, it was a love/hate relationship with the little Blackberry Pearl. I first got it after the move to Alaska, since my previous carrier didn't exist in the state and I somehow convinced myself I would need a Blackberry with going back to school and how extremely hectic my life would soon be. Yeah right. I worked, I went home, I watched a lot of television. I really just wanted it to have a really cool phone. I can admit it though. I loved it nonetheless. I could browse the internet, even if it moved slower than the line at the DMV. I took pictures of my dog like crazy that I would email to anybody with an email address. Speaking of email, I had six different accounts set up on my phone. Only 2 of them would get constant emails, but the others were there and I liked seeing all those accounts lined up on my icons list. I downloaded games and a few ring tones. I
was in Smart Phone heaven!

But why? The Blackberry, despite all it's exciting extras, was just a phone. I still adhered to making calls and sending text messages. I didn't need to download "Oregon Trail" to play during breaks at work. All those email addresses? Six? That started to sound ridiculous, and it was once I started getting more and more emails. Facebook updates. Myspace updates. I didn't need to check those while shopping at Wal-Mart or eating dinner. Rarely did I use the planner function, which is the original reason I even bought the phone. I rarely replied back to emails using the Blackberry, I'd wait until I could sit down at a computer and use a comfortable keyboard. I started shunning the games once I purchased a Wii. There was still a problem though, even as I slowly weaned myself away from the Blackberry.

The monthly bill was insane. A Blackberry is definitely a phone for those who can afford one, not for those with a part time job standing behind a jewelry counter. After paying the bill for the Blackberry, school loans, and credit card I'd barely have pennies left to get something that I might want or need. Sometimes the bill would be manageable, sometimes it'd be almost the amount I would make in a month. It needed to stop. The Blackberry was making me poor. And for what? To get emails that would interrupt time with my fiance. To play games instead of reading a good book. To browse the slow, slow internet on a promised 3G network. It wasn't really worth it anymore.

So I took the battery out of the Blackberry and then put it in a drawer where I wouldn't find it for a long time. I canceled my service and went back to my old provider on an old phone. It doesn't have great internet access, so I'm not tempted to browse. There's no games. And the only email address on there is my main email, which does not receive any updates to Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter. Just important updates from AC, friends from Ohio, and family matters. The cell phone bill was decreased by more than half, which is very nice. Now I can buy hair dye when my roots show (that's another addiction that will probably never be remedied) and a cup of coffee when I need to get through my morning class.I feel better worrying less about money.

More importantly though, getting rid of the Blackberry gave me time for the more important things. I'm not checking my email while mid-conversation with my fiance, dropping everything just because my phone buzzed. I now have a set time for email. I don't find myself on Facebook or Myspace as often and being more connected to my surroundings. I can read without being interrupted. I can play with my dog without having to stop and email a goofy picture of her to everybody on my contacts list. I'm not playing a stupid game when I should be writing or reading. Getting rid of my Blackberry has not left me crippled and less connected to the world. I actually feel like I've grown closer to the important people and the important things in my life with out all the buzzing or alerts
that interrupted daily activities. And I'm saving a ton of money just paying for the features I need, not all the features I could use by getting on the home computer. I know the Blackberry was marketed to make life easier, but it made mine more disconnected. I've honestly never felt better since I got rid of that little Blackberry Pearl. That phone will be missed, but not that much.