#firstworldproblems

okay, so this is firstworldy, but i'm wondering if i should just get a new phone.  right now, i'm buying minutes ten bucks at a time on a phone the government gave me and it's okay.  it does what i want it to.

i also already have a smartphone, but it's the dumbest one they sell.  i "innovated" to the prestigious samsung admire... about two years after the release of the first galaxy... about six years ago.

y'know, thinking about it, most of my electronics purchases are "obsolete in box" like that.  the guy who sold me my laptop knocked fifteen bucks off the price and gave me a bunch of extra norton's because he felt sorry for the poor shmuckette who didn't know the company was going to stop supporting the model within a month (srsly - lenovo announced the obsolescence of my laptop [G560] the week after i bought it, so the salesguy knew. but he also knew i couldn't go up in price at all... and that he was gonna need the empty shelf soon.  better to sell the pos while you still can, right?).

the problem is that my smartphone will only connect to my own router.  everywhere that offers "free wifi" offers it through some method that my smartphone is just too stupid to handle.  i can't use the wifi on campus, i can't use the wifi at the bus terminal, i can't even use the wifi at the friggin burger king.  my phone can see their routers and connect, but it can't transfer data.

it would be very nice if i could have access to the campus wifi while on campus, considering that everyone else on that campus has access, and they're set up to communicate that way.  i'm the one who's kept permanently out of the loop over not being able to generate a condition for myself that's "good enough" for their system.

and this is, like i said, kind of perpetual for me.  the reason i'm even having to think about whether or not to update my technology (considering that that's what the government gave me the pell grant for) is because no matter what i buy, no matter how much i spend, no matter how carefully i research, the second i put my money down, not only will my tech be obsolete, but every last network and system that prompted me to purchase the upgrade will immediately upgrade to whatever new thing that i will subsequently be unable to use.  i'll just have a more expensive collection of bricks tethered to my couch.  what's the point of having mobile tech if it doesn't work anywhere but my living room?  if it's just going to be a waste of money anyway, i have other things i'd rather waste money on.

eventually, i'm going to need something with which i can write an article on the fly and then access a network and email it to an editor, but i figure once it gets to that point, the editor will be the one providing me with the tech.  then, it'll be his problem that the world appears to have summarily decided that anything i touch must necessarily be obsolete.

or maybe i'll just buy the most advanced smartphone on the market, and anyone who wants to stay ahead of me is going to have to invent a new motherfuckin' phone.  then i might actually be able to use mine for a couple of months.