A decision!

So you know, gentle readers, that I’ve been agonizing over a major decision. To iPhone or not to iPhone, that was my question. I hated being out of touch when traveling, but hated just as much the thought of my e-mail dogging me relentlessly throughout the day. I also worried that, nearly alone among all the people I know, as a non-smart-phone user, I was looking, and actually being, slightly behind the curve. 

A poetry reading isn’t usually the place for technological insights, but here’s my story: last Wednesday I went to a terrific reading--in fact, the first of two very fine readings I heard that night. This one was by Louise Gluck and Katie Peterson. Louise Gluck needs no recommendation from me, but she was beautiful in word and presence, reading from a book due out next fall which I will spend the intervening months eagerly awaiting. I was only slightly familiar with Katie Peterson’s work, but liked what I knew and am now a huge admirer. I got to hear both of them read, though then had to miss the Q&A to rush to the book launch of Denise Bergman’s “The Telling.” 

None of this has anything to do with cell phones.

What does, though, is that a lovely woman in a red coat, many years my junior, took the empty seat next to me and happened to take out her phone as we were waiting for the program to begin. And to my surprise and gratitude, the phone owned by this young and au courant-looking person apeared to be a cousin of mine, complete with slide-out keyboard. When I commented on it, she said something about not wanting too many intrusions on her time. Exactly, I thought.

So I came to a two-fold recognition, that I do want to protect my time and that I’m not alone in this. I decided that the answer for me was to keep my less-than-smart phone and get an iPad for when I’m traveling. And that is exactly what I did--I got an iPad Mini, very cute, with a bright blue cover and plenty of promise as a traveling companion. And, say what you will, my chunky intrepid little phone with the slide-out keyboard, continues to be just what I need.