Confessions of a tech rookie on Mission Mobile

HOW I ENVY MY CONTEMPORARIES AND THEIR COOL COMFORT WITH GIZMOS. HERE I AM, STILL FINDING MY WAY AROUND VOICE TYPING KEYBOARD BECAUSE THE IDEA OF WORDS TAKING A TEXT FORM, AS YOU SPEAK, AMUSES ME

No, it was not about buysome-land advice or the you-really-need-conveyance pitch. The whole ‘event’, as I like to call it, was about getting a new mobile phone.

Mind you, this drill looks quite easy-breezy; go to the nearest ATM, take out cash, go to the store and voila! You have a new toy. The other, more convenient is a click away. Order the phone online and chill.

But getting myself a new phone turned out to be a Herculean task. I must confess I’m technologically challenged and have little or no knowledge about the new phone on the block or the difference between multiple versions of Apple.

I somehow managed to duck two D-days (read salary days). But the battle was getting tougher as I had run out of all ammunition, from citing my three-figure savings to waitingfor-a-new-offer plea.

The other day, while working amid all the hustle and bustle in the editorial room (it becomes a hot spot after 8pm) my close friend and colleague sidled up to me. With an unsmiling face, she thrust the day’s newspaper in front of me. My eyes skimmed the paper in a flash before her fingers guided me to a big, bold advertisement for phone sales. As we both knew how this discussion was going to unfold but didn’t have the luxury to go there, thanks to the pile of reports left to be edited, she said, “Decide the day” and went off giving two hoots to my plea.

I was warned by another friend, who is ‘technologically sensitive’, against the likes of new Chinese phones cluttering the market. “The phone should at least have a decent snapdragon,” he said. Oh, my soul, it just churned at the mere thought of what could that possibly mean. He joked, “Do you even belong to this generation? You are like the Nokia 1100.”

Finally, the day dawned when my colleague and I embarked on our mission to snag the new toy. After an exhausting search lasting countless hours amid the scorching heat and my humble murmurs of let-us-do-it-someday-else, we not only narrowed down on a mobile but also got a popular SIM too. I was told it is a must in today’s age. I could see a wave of joy sweeping my friend’s face as I loosened my purse strings.

Forever-tech-rookies like me are left to conquer a multitude of apps. The battle is surreal; you are pitted against powerful, faceless armies of Zomatos and Ubers, dominating and guiding your every move. These smarties even have a touch-sensitive sensor to recognise you. While I must confess every time I use the finger sensor to unlock the phone I feel like John Connor against Skynet, getting closer one step at a time.

How I envy my contemporaries and their cool comfort with gizmos. Here I am, still finding my way around voice typing keyboard because the idea of words taking a text form, as you speak, amuses me. Even though I wrote this piece on my one-time investment, the eternal struggle with new updates while figuring out the oldies carries on, for now.