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  #1  
Old 06-21-2022, 07:24 AM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Default Smart Phone silliness

We got our two Samsungs in August 2020.

We aren't that reliant on them - really just got a bit tired of looking for a mobile for a special number every time I entered a financial website.

we got fairly basic models - an A10 for Jane and an A21 for me.

Starting to get lots of calls from the company that we got them from, the company that bought the company we got them from and now the company that supplies the mobile service.

Yesterday was amusing!

Young chap phone up from Vodaphone to tell me that I was now "eligible for an upgrade".

I asked what upgrade to the service he was offering.
He said a new phone.
I said why?
He didn't understand the question.

Apparently everyone should wants "new" phone!
I said I'm happy with the one I've got, I just want a cheaper deal.

He continued trying to sell me a new phone - "wht if yours breaks down?

"Hm, are you saying that he product you sold me is unreliable?"

"Er, no, but I'm offering you a later improved model!"

(me) "Why"?

I said - "over the post two years - I've paid for the phone and the service. So now I own my phone and just want to pay for the service! What's you best offer?

He said "You can't change your deal until your contract finishes!"

So why are you calling me now?"

At this point I got tired of the silliness and said goodbye.
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  #2  
Old 06-21-2022, 07:27 AM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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Phone marketing is a stinky job, but somebody has to do it, just as mosquitoes have to feast on us in the spring and summer.

Tony
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  #3  
Old 06-21-2022, 08:16 AM
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Bob Womack Bob Womack is offline
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It fits their business plan to have you always paying them for something extra. Why? Puppy.



Bob
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Old 06-21-2022, 08:28 AM
RedJoker RedJoker is offline
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The last time I upgraded phone was because it was so old that it no longer received security updates. I don't particularly care for the latest phone but I do care to receive security updates.

YMMV
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Old 06-21-2022, 08:44 AM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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Hi, I'm calling from your guitar provider about your G.A.S. service plan. You haven't bought a new guitar in 2 years and you're now eligible for an upgrade.

What? The old one seems fine.

Yes, but we can offer you an improved model.

Why. When I play the one I've got, it makes music that pleases me.

Yes, but the new one is better.

How so? I bought the one I have because I liked how it sounds and plays.

Well, your old one might break down, or have scratches or dings on it. Those things happen.

Are you telling me you sold me an unreliable, fragile guitar with inferior sound that's unpleasant to play, even when I purposely selected a guitar from you just 2 years ago?

I'm sorry sir, you don't understand....


Thank you thank you. My time here at the AGF coffee house and folk club is up, and we will now present the engaging Americana songwriter stylings of Mr. Silly Moustache.
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Old 06-21-2022, 08:48 AM
imwjl imwjl is offline
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Forgetting a particular sales agent, franchise or shop wanting to make a sale, it's not silliness to try and market a phone with all of the radio specs known as 5G, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 or newer. It's not silliness to push and market the first tier phones.

On the value or reliability or "silliness", my department has 200+ Apple and Android mobile in management, and we support just shy of 1000 employees who mostly use smart phones for their HR and scheduling matters. The first tier stuff just plain works relative to what's out there.

It's really stressful on a lot of staff when there are service and reliability matters and it's expensive in real time and mental baggage so that's another reason to have good stuff.

Our Android has grown back to about 30% because of two particular solutions and apps and for Android is extra important to go first tier. That's a security matter as much as reliability.

The why for the radio specs I pointed out is it means you have what works best and will work the longest. The "5G" is network infrastructure that's now and the future. Top tier and commercial grade WiFi is becoming if not a WiFi 6 world like 5G. Bluetooth 5.2 probably pre-dates the two Samsung mentioned and means you will get the wonderful class of sound peripherals available.

In my personal experience, a 2 year old but 5G, WiFi 6 and newer Bluetooth phone combined with first tier carrier means I don't need a land line and I never seem to have the bothers or lack of function people around me experience.

Our CFO has calculated first tier phones and carriers cost less once 2-5 years pass. Our Apple stuff costs less than the Android over time. It might seem counterintuitive but that's via longevity, repairability, resale, training and support.
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  #7  
Old 06-21-2022, 08:53 AM
imwjl imwjl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankHudson View Post
Hi, I'm calling from your guitar provider about your G.A.S. service plan. You haven't bought a new guitar in 2 years and you're now eligible for an upgrade.

What? The old one seems fine.

Yes, but we can offer you an improved model.

Why. When I play the one I've got, it makes music that pleases me.

Yes, but the new one is better.

How so? I bought the one I have because I liked how it sounds and plays.

Well, your old one might break down, or have scratches or dings on it. Those things happen.

Are you telling me you sold me an unreliable, fragile guitar with inferior sound that's unpleasant to play, even when I purposely selected a guitar from you just 2 years ago?

I'm sorry sir, you don't understand....


Thank you thank you. My time here at the AGF coffee house and folk club is up, and we will now present the engaging Americana songwriter stylings of Mr. Silly Moustache.
Well, for one each of first tier acoustic and electric cut the GAS problem, they stay in tune well, and one's gained value. They are easier to work with and on. Everyone loves the tone and the looks. It might be that anyone doing a similar upgrade will be better off over time.

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Old 06-21-2022, 09:04 AM
Daniel Grenier Daniel Grenier is offline
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Silly, all I see here is the egregious injustice inflicted on poor Jane. She got a measly A10 while you, yes YOU, got the fancy A21??? Woefully unfair, Sir!
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  #9  
Old 06-21-2022, 09:51 AM
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rllink rllink is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imwjl View Post
Forgetting a particular sales agent, franchise or shop wanting to make a sale, it's not silliness to try and market a phone with all of the radio specs known as 5G, WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 or newer. It's not silliness to push and market the first tier phones.

On the value or reliability or "silliness", my department has 200+ Apple and Android mobile in management, and we support just shy of 1000 employees who mostly use smart phones for their HR and scheduling matters. The first tier stuff just plain works relative to what's out there.

It's really stressful on a lot of staff when there are service and reliability matters and it's expensive in real time and mental baggage so that's another reason to have good stuff.

Our Android has grown back to about 30% because of two particular solutions and apps and for Android is extra important to go first tier. That's a security matter as much as reliability.

The why for the radio specs I pointed out is it means you have what works best and will work the longest. The "5G" is network infrastructure that's now and the future. Top tier and commercial grade WiFi is becoming if not a WiFi 6 world like 5G. Bluetooth 5.2 probably pre-dates the two Samsung mentioned and means you will get the wonderful class of sound peripherals available.

In my personal experience, a 2 year old but 5G, WiFi 6 and newer Bluetooth phone combined with first tier carrier means I don't need a land line and I never seem to have the bothers or lack of function people around me experience.

Our CFO has calculated first tier phones and carriers cost less once 2-5 years pass. Our Apple stuff costs less than the Android over time. It might seem counterintuitive but that's via longevity, repairability, resale, training and support.
We are older and retired folks, but my wife was VP of an e-learning software company before she retired a few years ago. There is an underlying fear in our house of getting left behind and I get dragged along for the ride. We have the latest technology and it isn't based on whether the stuff we already have is still performing adequately.
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  #10  
Old 06-21-2022, 10:26 AM
FrankHudson FrankHudson is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imwjl View Post
Well, for one each of first tier acoustic and electric cut the GAS problem, they stay in tune well, and one's gained value. They are easier to work with and on. Everyone loves the tone and the looks. It might be that anyone doing a similar upgrade will be better off over time.

You live where I lived for nearly two decades with my day job (though cell phones were in the later part.) Sounds like you do a good job of it. Support for employees and an enterprise is a whole 'nother ball of wax, and employees (and sometimes employers with budgetary approval) don't understand that. You do.
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Guitars: 20th Century Seagull S6-12, S6 Folk, Seagull M6; '00 Guild JF30-12, '01 Martin 00-15, '16 Martin 000-17, '07 Parkwood PW510, Epiphone Biscuit resonator, Merlin Dulcimer, and various electric guitars, basses....
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  #11  
Old 06-21-2022, 10:51 AM
imwjl imwjl is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankHudson View Post
You live where I lived for nearly two decades with my day job (though cell phones were in the later part.) Sounds like you do a good job of it. Support for employees and an enterprise is a whole 'nother ball of wax, and employees (and sometimes employers with budgetary approval) don't understand that. You do.
Thank you.

What I try to convey is we've found great benefit in encouraging our staff to make similar purchases personally. We help them know of good refurbished purchases and bargains on the good stuff for phones and computers. Problems and in and out of warranty issues come up with first tier products but they're rarely the nightmare some stuff can be.

Of course people can not like us because of security and compliance but reality for my team and our execs is we support who we sincerely consider our precious people.

For the annoying sales calls topic here, I get lots of them and try to take a breath and remember to treat them as I'd like to be treated.
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Old 06-21-2022, 01:51 PM
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I have a 3 year old LG flip phone - I got Mom and I the same one.

Since she passed, I've still got hers (which has been used a lot less than mine!) and when mine kicks, I'll hopefully still be able to use hers.

I got 7-8 years out of my last LG Exalt. Had to upgrade because of 3G.
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  #13  
Old 06-21-2022, 02:34 PM
Silly Moustache Silly Moustache is offline
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Hi, Red Joker : What is is "security" of which you speak?

Frank Hudson : heeheehee!

Imwjl : Thank you for your response. Sadly I couldn't understand any of it. (Thank goodness I'm retired!)

Daniel Grenier: "poor" Jane wanted the cheapest one available. I went one up.

Fitness1 : I kinda preferred my Motorola V3 RAZR. It worked, and it was small My current phone is too big!
I asked them why mine is longer than Jane's -they said it was better to play games on! Seems I'm NOT in the Smart phone generation!

Thanks all.

Thanks all.
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Silly Moustache,
Just an old Limey acoustic guitarist, Dobrolist, mandolier and singer.
I'm here to try to help and advise and I offer one to one lessons/meetings/mentoring via Zoom!
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  #14  
Old 06-21-2022, 03:32 PM
tbeltrans tbeltrans is offline
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I don't get the kind of phone calls that the OP described. We did upgrade from our older flip phones to smart phones when the cost of the service dropped to an affordable (i.e. justifiable) level. Our phones cost us $300 each (OnePlus N10) at the time we purchased them, and the plan costs $35 per month per phone for unlimited everything with 5G, and it includes Netflix which we seldom use.

As usual, I appreciate imwjl's informative posts. I am retired from engineering, so I have a sense (gist) of what he is talking about, though not always the specifics.

When one retires from a technology career, s/he begins to realize that technology is like a conveyor belt. When you are standing still (i.e. retired and off the conveyor belt of technology), you can see where you were on that conveyor belt getting farther and farther away.

Reading about technology is NOT the same as being in the middle of it, developing it for future use by business and consumers. imwjl is still in the middle of it and I am not anymore. When I was in the middle of it, the stuff I worked on would typically become commonplace 10 years or so later. Two really obvious and now common technologies that this was true for me as an engineer were the internet and later, the cloud. Other projects involved either the military or scientists and will probably never be commonly visible. The medical projects I worked on when contract engineering in retirement before COVID are yet to come through FDA.

Tony
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  #15  
Old 06-21-2022, 05:01 PM
ewalling ewalling is offline
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I got my first cell phone in the summer of 2019 (I considered it was time!), and that's the one I have now. I will use it for as long as it works or as long as I am able. I'm still in the work-force, by the way.

Neither my wife nor I get annoying calls because neither of us ever answers the phone to people we don't know - unknown people either leave messages or they don't get through. Any messages selling anything get deleted immediately, no matter what the product is. The good thing is, the sales sharks don't usually leave messages.

I have everything I need from this phone. The day I feel frustrated at not being able to do something, I'll make inquiries; however, I seriously doubt that day will come anytime soon.
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