The Dip
Okay, so last week I shared with y’all an image of the Hernando Velvet Cream, as a teaser to something else entirely: the announcement that I’ve gotten a new cell phone!! I know that may not sound like much to some of y’all, but you need to understand that for the entirety of the time I’ve been on flickr, I’ve owned and used only one phone: my trusty LG G2. Seriously, that thing has been with me since January 2nd, 2015. Some of my earliest images uploaded to the site came from that phone’s predecessor (which, by the way, was very short-lived and was my first smartphone, which should give you even more of an idea of how big an event this new phone is in my world), but other than that, all of the images you’ve seen in my photostream come from the G2. And that will continue to be the case, too, for a good long while, as I still have oodles of unposted photos taken with that device waiting in my archives, collecting virtual dust (to borrow a phrase from one of y’all :P ). But now, I have a new phone to go on all sorts of new photographic adventures with: the Google Pixel 3a!
Alright, so this came about primarily because we, as a family, switched networks from Sprint to AT&T. We’d been with Sprint since the dawn of time (give or take), due to an employer discount my dad gets, but never really thought to investigate the other carriers’ prices. Turns out, we’ve been getting ripped off for a long time, so for as much as I am loyal to Sprint, it was time to part ways. (Besides, the company was going to cease to exist soon enough anyway, should the merger with T-Mobile go through.) Beyond price, we obviously wanted better coverage, as “Sprint” and “Mississippi” never computed. That left us with two options: Verizon, the best network… and they-who-must-not-be-named AT&T (aka the most evil, greedy, terrible company out there).
As you might be able to guess, I had a strong preference given those two options :P But ultimately, we went with poor customer service AT&T anyway, primarily because that allowed us to get further discounts on our TV and Wi-Fi bills by bundling (since AT&T already provided those services for us and could thus use phone service as a way to complete their unrelenting grip on our entire livelihood). I will give credit where it is due; the rep who helped us switch was helpful. And he’s promised to sort out any and all problems we have in the future – supposedly AT&T has realized they suck at customer service, and are trying to change that by introducing these new dedicated experts – and indeed, he’s already helped with some things. So there’s that. But my hatred of AT&T is deep-seated and it will take a lot more than that to win me over. XD
I digress, however. The main point of this description is to talk about my new phone. Switching to AT&T (of course!) presented another issue on this front, as AT&T is the only of the major carriers NOT to carry the Pixel. So, I had to instead go through the Google Store itself and pay full-price for the device. Now, the price wasn’t bad as far as phones go, as the 3a is the cheaper version of the full-blown 3 or 3XL. But it did kind of bug me that I couldn’t get a free phone, as my parents did. Nor did I have a free upgrade over at Sprint, which really ticked me off since, back when I first got my G2 eons ago, I had entered into a two-year contract whereby I should have been eligible for a free upgrade two years later. But they phased those out, which voided any discount I may have had. So I was, understandably, annoyed.
Having not looked around the phone market at all for, oh, “ever” amount of years, I guess you could say I was out of touch with details like that. Turns out I was also quite out of touch with how phones had changed since I got my G2. I’m assuming the poor G2 went out-of-date approximately three minutes after I got it, based on all the changes in the new phones we got from the AT&T deal! My Pixel blew my mind at first in how different it was compared to a normal Android, and my parents’ Galaxy S10E’s were somewhat different, too. A new iPhone XR was also included (just for the heck of it), and I can definitely make more comparisons between the Pixel and the iPhone than to a regular Android, which is disappointing as there’s a reason I’ve always stuck with Android phones. There are plenty of other hiccups and quirks I could drone on and on about, but suffice to say, there was a definite learning curve at first. But I think I’m finally starting to get used to the thing, and hopefully I’ll be comfortable with it soon (already approaching that state now, in fact). And just as an extra level of comfort, I still own my G2 – which is disconnected only from phone and text service – so if I ever feel the hankering to pull it out one of these days for a browse around the internet or a store tour, I have the freedom to do so :)
The reason I latched onto the Pixel so much is because of how fantastic its camera is touted to be. I’ve now taken it on one full stour (EDIT: four, now!), and it’s nice, but nothing super mind-blowing, in my opinion. The best feature compared to my G2, I’ve found, is the “Night Sight” option, which produces much better neon/nighttime images than my G2 ever could (turns out The Dip, which I hadn’t been to in years and only inadvertently wound up at that very first night with my new phone, was just about the best place to test that feature out!). I’m further disappointed by the “black bar” that covers one-fourth of my viewfinder as I take photos now; since I use the 16:9 ratio for my photos, previously on my G2 the viewfinder took up the whole screen with only a floating camera shutter button on the right, but now my Pixel seems to imply that 16:9 is “wrong” and thus blocks a not-insignificant portion of my view. I was discussing this with l_dawg recently; see examples of the old G2 view here, and the new Pixel screen here (middle image; it’s even more pronounced in person and on other colors besides the ones shown). So you can see how I would be annoyed by that. But, again, this all goes into my whole adjustment phase and whatnot. It’s not the end of the world, but I suppose I was spoiled with my evidently-very-cool G2 for four and a half years!
Bottom line: I am adjusting to, and learning to like, the Pixel 3a so far. Will I stick with it as long as my G2? Possibly not. But at least now I’ve learned what sorts of things I need to investigate before buying a new phone, instead of just assuming it’ll all be the same as always.
More photos, as always, upload this weekend. And look out for more new pics from my Pixel 3a in the future!
Velvet Cream // 2290 Hwy 51 S, Hernando, MS 38632
(c) 2019 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)
The Dip
Okay, so last week I shared with y’all an image of the Hernando Velvet Cream, as a teaser to something else entirely: the announcement that I’ve gotten a new cell phone!! I know that may not sound like much to some of y’all, but you need to understand that for the entirety of the time I’ve been on flickr, I’ve owned and used only one phone: my trusty LG G2. Seriously, that thing has been with me since January 2nd, 2015. Some of my earliest images uploaded to the site came from that phone’s predecessor (which, by the way, was very short-lived and was my first smartphone, which should give you even more of an idea of how big an event this new phone is in my world), but other than that, all of the images you’ve seen in my photostream come from the G2. And that will continue to be the case, too, for a good long while, as I still have oodles of unposted photos taken with that device waiting in my archives, collecting virtual dust (to borrow a phrase from one of y’all :P ). But now, I have a new phone to go on all sorts of new photographic adventures with: the Google Pixel 3a!
Alright, so this came about primarily because we, as a family, switched networks from Sprint to AT&T. We’d been with Sprint since the dawn of time (give or take), due to an employer discount my dad gets, but never really thought to investigate the other carriers’ prices. Turns out, we’ve been getting ripped off for a long time, so for as much as I am loyal to Sprint, it was time to part ways. (Besides, the company was going to cease to exist soon enough anyway, should the merger with T-Mobile go through.) Beyond price, we obviously wanted better coverage, as “Sprint” and “Mississippi” never computed. That left us with two options: Verizon, the best network… and they-who-must-not-be-named AT&T (aka the most evil, greedy, terrible company out there).
As you might be able to guess, I had a strong preference given those two options :P But ultimately, we went with poor customer service AT&T anyway, primarily because that allowed us to get further discounts on our TV and Wi-Fi bills by bundling (since AT&T already provided those services for us and could thus use phone service as a way to complete their unrelenting grip on our entire livelihood). I will give credit where it is due; the rep who helped us switch was helpful. And he’s promised to sort out any and all problems we have in the future – supposedly AT&T has realized they suck at customer service, and are trying to change that by introducing these new dedicated experts – and indeed, he’s already helped with some things. So there’s that. But my hatred of AT&T is deep-seated and it will take a lot more than that to win me over. XD
I digress, however. The main point of this description is to talk about my new phone. Switching to AT&T (of course!) presented another issue on this front, as AT&T is the only of the major carriers NOT to carry the Pixel. So, I had to instead go through the Google Store itself and pay full-price for the device. Now, the price wasn’t bad as far as phones go, as the 3a is the cheaper version of the full-blown 3 or 3XL. But it did kind of bug me that I couldn’t get a free phone, as my parents did. Nor did I have a free upgrade over at Sprint, which really ticked me off since, back when I first got my G2 eons ago, I had entered into a two-year contract whereby I should have been eligible for a free upgrade two years later. But they phased those out, which voided any discount I may have had. So I was, understandably, annoyed.
Having not looked around the phone market at all for, oh, “ever” amount of years, I guess you could say I was out of touch with details like that. Turns out I was also quite out of touch with how phones had changed since I got my G2. I’m assuming the poor G2 went out-of-date approximately three minutes after I got it, based on all the changes in the new phones we got from the AT&T deal! My Pixel blew my mind at first in how different it was compared to a normal Android, and my parents’ Galaxy S10E’s were somewhat different, too. A new iPhone XR was also included (just for the heck of it), and I can definitely make more comparisons between the Pixel and the iPhone than to a regular Android, which is disappointing as there’s a reason I’ve always stuck with Android phones. There are plenty of other hiccups and quirks I could drone on and on about, but suffice to say, there was a definite learning curve at first. But I think I’m finally starting to get used to the thing, and hopefully I’ll be comfortable with it soon (already approaching that state now, in fact). And just as an extra level of comfort, I still own my G2 – which is disconnected only from phone and text service – so if I ever feel the hankering to pull it out one of these days for a browse around the internet or a store tour, I have the freedom to do so :)
The reason I latched onto the Pixel so much is because of how fantastic its camera is touted to be. I’ve now taken it on one full stour (EDIT: four, now!), and it’s nice, but nothing super mind-blowing, in my opinion. The best feature compared to my G2, I’ve found, is the “Night Sight” option, which produces much better neon/nighttime images than my G2 ever could (turns out The Dip, which I hadn’t been to in years and only inadvertently wound up at that very first night with my new phone, was just about the best place to test that feature out!). I’m further disappointed by the “black bar” that covers one-fourth of my viewfinder as I take photos now; since I use the 16:9 ratio for my photos, previously on my G2 the viewfinder took up the whole screen with only a floating camera shutter button on the right, but now my Pixel seems to imply that 16:9 is “wrong” and thus blocks a not-insignificant portion of my view. I was discussing this with l_dawg recently; see examples of the old G2 view here, and the new Pixel screen here (middle image; it’s even more pronounced in person and on other colors besides the ones shown). So you can see how I would be annoyed by that. But, again, this all goes into my whole adjustment phase and whatnot. It’s not the end of the world, but I suppose I was spoiled with my evidently-very-cool G2 for four and a half years!
Bottom line: I am adjusting to, and learning to like, the Pixel 3a so far. Will I stick with it as long as my G2? Possibly not. But at least now I’ve learned what sorts of things I need to investigate before buying a new phone, instead of just assuming it’ll all be the same as always.
More photos, as always, upload this weekend. And look out for more new pics from my Pixel 3a in the future!
Velvet Cream // 2290 Hwy 51 S, Hernando, MS 38632
(c) 2019 Retail Retell
These places are public so these photos are too, but just as I tell where they came from, I'd appreciate if you'd say who :)