I was never one for the super-fancy cell phones. To me, functions like MP3 playin’, movie-watchin’, video-takin’ just drain cell phone batteries too fast. I wanted a reliable cell phone that’s easy to use with basic functions quickly accessible, and Nokias have always done that for me. It’s got a pretty decent little camera, too.

However, since I lost internet access at work, I’ve felt totally crippled. I can’t get information about things, spellings of streets or specialized terminology, or get store hours and addresses. I also can’t check my account balances or pay bills online. It’s just totally sucked. So I decided to get an internet-capable cell phone, since my current cell phone needs to be replaced anyhow. It keeps dropping calls and telling me I need to insert a SIM card. The problem is that AT&T, which I have now, doesn’t have reception in my courtroom. I wasn’t sure if this meant that even the powerful iPhone would not work in there. My courtroom assistant’s Verizon phone works in the courtroom, but she didn’t have internet so I don’t want to switch companies and then realize that after buying a SmartPhone, I have to leave internet at the door.

So today, I called around and found a coworker with an iPhone. Indulging my reception experiment, she walked into my courtroom watching the reception bars on her iPhone. Immediately, the bars dropped. By the time she’d reached my desk, it said “no signal.” I still had high hopes for Verizon. I found another coworker with a Verizon internet-capable SmartPhone, an LG, and things seemed great when she came in. She even pulled up a website standing by my desk. However, the website froze, and everything we tried afterwards just brought up a “server inaccessible” error message. DAMN IT.

I guess I can save the moolah on an internet-capable cell phone and just get another Nokia freebie with AT&T. The monthly service plans would be cheaper, too. Maybe this time I’ll even relax the purse strings enough to get a plan that includes text messaging.