Tony decided that he and I needed to get new cell phones. I'm sure it's because our contract was up and he wanted an excuse for a new toy, and not because he actually thought that new cell phones would sound / perform any better than the current models we have, but I finally allowed him to drag me into the store so we could begin the process. (And let me tell you, when your husband says that any trip into an electronics-type store "will only take a few minutes," don't believe it for a second.)

I knew my choices were going to be limited because I'm one of apparently only 9 people in the ENTIRE WORLD who does not want - in fact, can not have - a camera phone. It's not an everyday thing, but there are a lot of places I go where I can not bring a camera phone. (Actually, it should be an everyday thing, since my gym is one of those places, but I digress...)

Given the number of people who work at jobs or in in buildings where cameras and camera phones are prohibited, I can not believe how few phones are available without cameras. And the ones that are out there are either insanely expensive (because they are really small laptop computers in disguise), or they have no features whatsoever. I usually don't really care, since I'm not the type of person who uses my phone to bid on eBay or clean my windows, but there are some things I would really like my phone to do. Like integrate with a Bluetooth headset. None of the three no-camera-and-under-$300 models I was shown had that option.

Oh well, we each settled on a phone and began the "I-can't-believe-this-has-to-take-so-long" process of signing a new service contract and porting our old address books into the new phones. 90 minutes and 2 phones later, we were out the door.

One of the reasons I HATE changing phones is because I hate to lose my ring tones. Last time I lost "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride," and this time I lost "Sorcerer's Apprentice." So I was trying to settle on a new ring tone when I discovered the first - and most serious, imho - example of camera/phone elitism. I found this really great site that has tons of ring tones, including "No One Mourns the Wicked." I was all set to buy it when the site asked me for my exact model number. Ooops - we don't support "your kind." So I checked - they DO have that tone for the camera/phone version of my phone, but not for the non-camera model. (And apparently I can't give them the camera/phone model number, because my phone won't download the tone) Time after time, site after site, tone after tone, I discovered the same thing - Tony could get a certain ringtone, I could if I used the camera/phone model number, but I couldn't if I used the correct one.

There are games and applications that Tony's phone and the camera/phone model of my phone will support, but that the non-camera version won't. He was telling me something yesterday about his phone, and stopped himself - "oh, that's right, yours won't do that."

Geeze - you'd think I had purchased a Mac or something! :~D I finally found a site that has some pretty decent tones for my phone, so I was able to replace Cannon in D with "Seasons of Love" and "100 Years to Live," but I'm still hoping to find some Wicked tones that will work with my poor camera-less phone.

AVP

I knew my choices were going to be limited because I'm one of apparently only 9 people in the ENTIRE WORLD who does not want - in fact, can not have - a camera phone.

I'm a member of an even smaller group - don't want my phone to have a camera and don't really want my phone for anything other than phone uses (though the calculator comes in handy sometimes) and don't care about downloading ring tones - horror of horrors, I'm actually using one of the ring tones that just comes with the phone! :~D :~D

AVP, what format does your phone take? Mine does the gcd/qcp thing, and I found a nice tool to make my own ringtones from CD tracks ripped to WAV format. My tones include Fantasmic exit music and part of Illuminations. If your phone takes the same format, I can either steer you to it or make some for you from music that you already own.

AVP, what format does your phone take? Mine does the gcd/qcp thing, and I found a nice tool to make my own ringtones from CD tracks ripped to WAV format. My tones include Fantasmic exit music and part of Illuminations. If your phone takes the same format, I can either steer you to it or make some for you from music that you already own.My phone is silver. It matches my computer. For technical questions, I need to refer you to the Guy Who Likes Gadgets.

(TONY - HELP???)

AVP

I had the same problem AVP-- in switching phones recently I lost my Edna Mode screen saver and "Spoonful of Sugar" ringtone. I didn't want a flip and I didn't want a camera -- I wanted a phone that was a phone. I now have a flip phone that takes pics. The upside? I was able to obtain a previously downloaded ringtone of "Thank you for Being a Friend" -- and I can use pictures from Disneyland as my screen saver. I think it stinks that with the thousands of phones out there, you can't find one that has the features you want (the only one that would have fit in that group was a Nokia that seemed really old).

I agree with your vent. Though I'm so minimilistic, I really would rather not have a cell phone at all (though appreciate it at times when I'm meeting someone and one of us is running late).

One place where I go semi-regularly had a no cameras and no camera phone policy. They had to change their policy because they could not get non-camera phones for the work-supplied cell phones. Now the policy is 'no taking picutres with a camera phone'.

And I wonder how the gyms really do deal with that issue. I know mine has a 'no cell phone use in the locker room - at all' policy because of the camera phones, yet if you're running late, you probably want to be calling someone from the locker room to let them know.

I also have a non-camera cell phone. I also insisted that I did NOT want a camera on my cell phone.

I don't know how many "cool" tones we found but I know I have Baroque Hoedown, Animaniacs, Tiki Room and You've Got a Friend in Me. Mine is also "silver." I think it's a Samsung. I know it starts with an S and it flips.

Adrienne

Mine's a Sanyo VI-2300 (http://www1.sprintpcs.com/explore/PhonesAccessories/PhoneDetails.jsp?navLocator=%7Cshop%7CphonesAccess ories%7CallPhones%7C&selectSkuId=sanyovi2300). It has text messaging and Internet, but no phone. Sound files use the gcd/qcp format.

It has text messaging and Internet, but no phone.
Doesn't seem very useful...

(Did you mean "no camera"? ;))

Doesn't seem very useful...

(Did you mean "no camera"? ;))
Um, yeah. Duh. :rolleyes: