Latest and Greatest? OR Something that just WORKS for you? OR BOTH?
I sometimes marvel at how fast technology outstrips my spending budget, or at least my "willingness" to spend more money on the latest and greatest Smart Phone.
Other than a BlackBerry 7520 that I had on Nextel for a few weeks (the network was too sparse for me and I had to jump back to Verizon back then), My truly FIRST Semi-Smart Phone that I actually used for a while was a Palm Phone. Palm Pilot and Cell Phone merged. It had a Black and White screen, came with s Stylus that you had to use, and I don't recall if it truly was able to surf the internet. But I considered it Smart at the time. Soon after I upgraded to a Motorola Q. This was the old Windows based phone from about 8 or 10 years ago where you truly could surf the internet through a browser, and get all your emails and texts via a QWERTY keyboard, in color. Then one day on a whiff that T-Mo allowed WiFi transparent calling, I Got a BlackBerry Curve, and that was the end of my searching for a Smart Phone that worked for me. Yes, I upgraded, but the platform stayed basically the same through the years.
I have not really chased latest and greatest since then. Sure, I happened to get a 9780 two weeks before the official launch thanks to a friendly T-Mo store manager in Redmond, Washington. But other than that, I focus on something that works, rather than jumping on the latest and greatest. I have not yet jumped on Q or Z 10 yet. I probably will, but for now the legacy still works for me. Heck, for me a 9900 would be an upgrade to my 9780. And by the time I upgrade to a "10", it will hopefully be available for pennies on the dollar in the used market.
I have an Android as a backup. It's a Virgin Mobile running Android 2.3 that happens to be on their unbelievable $25 now grandfathered unlimited data plan at 3g. You know what? It's a great backup phone, and it works for me. If i upgraded to 4g or LTE I'd loose the grandfathered plan. It does what I need it to. I can deposit checks remotely to my bank, it's got good navigation, and the footprint of Virgin service many times goes places where my Simple Mobile (T-Mo MVNO) does not.
I had an iPhone 4s that I used for a while. It was after Apple introduced the 5, and the owner (a friend) sold it to me for $150 with a ton of accessories. I ended up giving it to a friend of mine for the same price. She loves it. I didn't, but it allowed me to play with Siri, and experience iOS hands on for a few months to see if I could use it as my primary phone.
I see all the clamoring to jump on the latest and greatest. This is admirable in a way, but costly, and disruptive (to me) with having to constantly jump on new technology the moment it comes out. I just got a WindowsPhone 8 via the T-Mo 521. At less than 100 bucks with accessories it was a good deal to try. Nice thing, if you can believe what you read, from WindowsPhone 8 and beyond, MS says you will be able to upgrade to their latest and greatest (software). Hardware permitting. I guess that's the rub.
Do you just go with what works for you? Do you jump on the latest and greatest ASAP? Or is it a combo of both for you?