Monday, November 28, 2011

The Old and the New

There seems to be this unspoken feeling that new editions of a given item are an improvement over the old.  And sometimes this is very true.  But more often, there is a trade off on features.  Some that we like may not be continued on the new item and others that offer us better options or functions are added.

I was reminded of this a few weeks ago when I upgraded my cell phone.  I was anxious to be done with my RIM Blackberry.  This company has had some innovative ideas but they seem to focus more on the businessman than the casual user.  It was sort of slow, the interfaces were boring and there weren't many apps, or not as many "fun" apps available.  I love my new Android phone and it is so much more readable to my old eyes.  It is even smart enough to conserve its battery and shut down when I'm not using it.  But I have to admit that I miss the little light that used to tell me if I had new email or a new message without turning the whole phone on.  And I'm still figuring out how to deal with the email rules on the new phone.

So, I definitely like the switch, but it was not without a few (minor) sacrifices.  And those are no big deals except for my expectation that I would get a lot of new features without giving up any of the old.  It's a bit like the "motherism" of "Appreciate what you have.  You'll miss it when it's gone."

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