Telephone

New phone day! My previous phone was nearly four years old, and though it was up to date and worked perfectly, I was becoming increasingly frustrated with the limitations of the camera, especially as I use it for all my Blip photos. My plan, at the beginning of this year, was to wait until iPhone 14 came out and then buy an iPhone 13 Pro at what would - hopefully - be a cheaper price.
A brilliant plan with only two teensy flaws. Apple immediately pulled the 13 Pro as soon as the 14 was launched. And galloping inflation coupled with a falling pound meant that all phone prices had gone up, not down. So my options were to buy an ordinary iPhone 13 (not as good a camera) or bite the bullet and buy a brand new 14 Pro.
As it was a brand new model, I couldn’t buy it outright through the O2 store. Instead I have had to enter into a very convoluted agreement whereby I sign up for a three month contract on an expensive airtime tariff but then pay it off in full after one month and switch to a cheap SIM only deal. And if I did this, they could give me a “Black Friday” price for the phone and offer me a good trade-in on my old phone. To be honest, I was a bit baffled by all the numbers flying around but, as long as I follow the procedure above, I will end up with a spanking new phone for less than Apple are charging in their stores. The amount O2 offered for the trade in was also much higher than the indicative figure on the Apple site, so I think I’ve ended up with a good deal.
It was certainly excellent service from the shop and the setting up of the new phone, including transferring all the data from the old one, was completed far more quickly than when I last upgraded my phone. A couple of the apps - banking and NHS - didn’t like the change of device and made me jump through hoops to confirm my identity before I could access them. Bizarrely, Ticketmaster also needed me to enter all sorts of codes sent by email before I could access that app again - seems I can order a repeat prescription easier than downloading my tickets to Elton John!
I took the opportunity to clean up or update a few apps and I also went through my contacts and deleted a few who had died or emigrated along with another couple of dozen who I hadn’t spoken to for over twelve years. I doubt their numbers were still valid and if, for some strange reason, I did need to contact any of those people, it would be much more likely to be via WhatsApp or Facebook these days.
Very pleased with the phone so far. I even managed to pick up a decently priced case of the sort I prefer in the local phone accessories shop - I wasn’t prepared to shell out fifty odd quid for an Apple one! I’ve been playing around with the camera and I can see it’s going to be streets better than the old one, once I get to grips with the various settings. Which is my way of saying don’t expect a dramatic rise in the quality of my blips just yet…