RAZR, KRZR OR CHOCOLATE? I do not know if I should shave with it or eat it. Can you believe these are the names of phones? I can̢۪t.

My boyfriend and I have been looking for new phones. Our batteries died a long time ago and we need something new, but I do not know where to start.

It used to be pretty easy to shop for a cell phone. I used to ask myself a couple of questions. Number one, what color do I want?
And number two, should I get another color phone cover as a back up? The questions were not complex.

Now I find myself asking many more questions: music, texting, pictures, movies, Internet? Which of these features are most important? To be honest, I can̢۪t decide. In fact, I am so confused and frustrated by the phone search that I want to pull my hair out.

A phone should have one purpose: to call people. Everywhere I go I see people on phones. At school, you can not walk through the Free Speech Area without every other person you see on a cell phone. In stores, most customers either walk in on their cell phones or they answer them while trying to check out.

Now, texting has gotten very popular. I̢۪ll admit, I text a lot. But it is not because I have to or because it is the only way to get in touch with people. I do it because my phone can do it. It would probably save me money if I just called people. But it would also save money if I did not have the phone at all.

But let’s be realistic — in this day and age, if you don’t have a phone, you have no way of getting in contact with anyone.

My brother is a senior in high school, and he texts so much that his bill is astronomical. I am glad I do not pay that bill. But that is my whole point. He would not get into so much trouble if he just used his phone for calls. In fact he would not get into so much trouble if his phone did not text at all.

All of the phones that are available right now have texting abilities. Most phones are camera phones, and some take video. The KRZR and the CHOCOLATE play music and can be linked to the Internet. And let̢۪s not forget about Bluetooth. Every phone at the Verizon booth is Bluetooth compatible. What I want to know is what tooth? It goes in your ear.

All these different names, all these different functions, I do not know what is worse: the name or the function? How about the size of the phone? Some of the phones are getting so small that there is no way not to lose them. The phones flip open or slide up. Some of them have touch screens and some have full A-Z key pads. When did it become okay to carry around a palm sized computer that was not a palm pilot?

I don̢۪t know that I can complete my search without loosing several clumps of hair. Just talking about it makes me want to scream. But my search must continue.

As much as I do not want to deal with a new phone, I am too tired of my current dying phone to care.