My old phone was 5 years old. Battery lasted till about 1 pm, so I carried
a charger everywhere. In the Kondapur office I had a favourite socket near the pantry. People
knew it was mine. Apps crashed twice a day. The camera took 3 seconds to open,
and by then the moment was gone. My mother kept saying, just buy a new one.
I kept saying, it still works. It sort of did. Last Saturday I
finally went to the shop and bought one. Took me 20 minutes to
decide. Setting it up took the whole afternoon. The transfer tool moved most apps
and settings by itself. 3 apps made me log in again, and one
bank app wanted a fresh verification before it would open. The photos were
the slow part. 5 years of albums took most of the evening on WiFi.
The speed is what got me first. Apps open instantly, and the camera is ready
the second I tap. I hadn't realised how much I was working around the old phone.
I used to tap, then wait. Now I tap and my thumb keeps
going before the screen has even changed. Old habits die hard. The new gestures
are the annoying part. I keep swiping wrong and closing things I was reading.
The shop offered almost nothing for the old phone, which made me a bit sad. The battery
was done. My mother noticed on Monday that I'd stopped hunting for the charger at lunch. She just
smiled. The old phone is in a drawer now, switched off, with the cracked screen guard still on.
I'm giving it to my nephew to play old games on. Not sure that counts as a gift.