I need to buy a new cellphone. I've had mine for going on three years now, and it's starting to fail. By that I don't mean that the battery is dying or anything, simply that whatever little piece of silicon that's sitting inside and making it run has run out of juice. The odd part is the method in which my phone chooses to fail.

For example, yesterday I tried to dial someone's number, and received an error message. Frustrated, I tried again, only to receive the same result. I then checked the number in the phone, and it turns out that 281 had been replaced by 2P1. But wait, it gets better. I did further investigating, and it turns out all 8's were turned into P's in my address book. O's were changed to I's, and R's were changed to S's. I'm sure there's a fairly complex reason why this is occuring, but to my mind it's a big warning flag that my phone is possessed and I need a new one. This sort of thing has been happening for months now with increasing frequency.

Anyway, commencing a search for a new phone is a task unto itself. I am amazed at the cut-throat competition, and the advance in technology since I got by last phone (now affectionately referred to as "the tank"). There are phones that take picture, phones that surf the web, that allow you to send emials and instant message. There are phones that will give you directions, and phones whose ringtone can sound like anything you want. In fact, there are even phones out there that will do homework for a student up to a 5th grade reading level.

I just want a phone. Small, light, and with a good battery life. I don't want to be any more connected than that. It's hard to decide on a model, but I'll be posting here as to the trials and tribulations of my hunt for the perfect cellphone. For now, let me just express my annoyance that if you sign up with a new company, you get good plans and rebates, but if you want to stick with your current provider you don't get squat. Guess which one I'm leaning towards?