Scott A. Roberts

I’m a tech geek, you all know this.  Maybe not as geeky as some out there, but I like my new toys.

One area where I’ve refrained from too much obsession is in my cell phone.  I’ve had my own phone for 9 years now (since I went to college) and I’ve been with Sprint for 7 of those 9 years.

Overall, I’m a very basic phone user.  I make calls.  I receive calls.  Recently, I’ve sent the occasional text message.  Okay, very recently I’ve sent more than the occasional message.  But regardless, the most very basic phone suits me just fine.  I don’t need to listen to music, take pictures, geocache, etc., because I have other devices that perform those functions much better than a phone would.

Lately, since the new wave of smartphones (Apple iPhone, etc.) has come out, I’ve begin to second-guess having a basic phone.  If it has enough memory as my Creative Zen, maybe I don’t need to carry it around separately.  If the camera is decent, do I need my Canon PowerShot with me every day, everywhere?

Three things have held me back from making a switch (or at least seriously considering one).  First, they require an expensive data plan, and I’m cheap.  This could be resolved if the phone I got had Wi-Fi, as I could quickly cancel the data plan, but …  Second, Sprint just doesn’t have many cool phones.  I’ve not drooled over any of the smartphones that Sprint sells, and none even have Wi-Fi capabilities.  Finally, I want to keep Sprint.  I’ve been with them a long time, I’m happy with their coverage and pricing, and my parents have them, so I call them for free.

Today, however, Sprint together with Palm announced a new phone that they expect to be available by July of this year.  They call it the Palm Pre.  Yes, I think the name is terrible, but the phone itself looks pretty awesome.  And it has Wi-Fi.  And it’s only with Sprint.  The remaining hurdle, $$$.  For that, we’ll have to wait and see.  But until then, I can begin drooling.