A smartphone tale:

It all started with the iPhone. It was our first smartphone and needless to say the experience wasn't a good one. Not that the iPhone is a bad phone -- it has a lot of great qualities -- but it just wasn't right for either of us. So we dropped it and went back to basics: a plain old phone for just calling and texting. It actually worked really well for us and for a long time, we were really happy. They were cheap and easily replaced (I left mine in an airport, Andrew's got washed). We didn't have to worry about data. But then we started to wonder: are we doing ourselves a disservice? Doesn't the bill for these simple phones seem a little expensive? Would a different smartphone be a better fit for our lifestyle? So we started searching for the answers to our questions.

I'd been doing online research for about a month and was really interested in the Nokia Lumia 1020 because of the amazing camera. The camera feature is what I use most and the only thing that I really missed about having a smartphone. I take a lot of pictures and dragging my huge DSLR around everywhere was started to become a hassle. I missed the days of a good camera in my pocket. I know Andrew was also interested in a good camera as well, if only to catch some good images from his telescope. So, it looked like the Lumia was leading the pack.

Then we did some investigating in stores. And we completely changed our minds. Isn't that always the way? You think you know something, you think you have your mind made up, you're ready to act on your decision, and then suddenly there's a wrench in your plans. Long story short, we ended up not only not going with the Lumia, but leaving AT&T altogether and going with Verizon. The customer service is better (for us at least), our bill is cheaper, and my work discount is higher.

So, after much discussion, demonstration, online research, and two trips to the store, we are proud owners of the Samsung Galaxy S4 (me) and the HTC One (Andrew). I chose the S4 because of the 13 mp camera. Andrew really liked the look and feel of the One. And he'll still get to use the better camera on my phone for taking pictures of the night sky. It's a win win.

It's a weird feeling to go from something so simple to a device that can recognize my face, tell when I look away, and even control my television for me. It's a bit of a learning curve, for sure. But we are enjoying the experience and I am excited about being able to take more photos of the world around me.