I have a new phone.

My prior phone was more than 3 years old. It had a small screen that I found increasingly difficult to use. It worked well as a calculator but was unable to connect with on-line app repositories.

In dealing with my injury, I feel the need for something that provides “personal decision support.” I wanted a way to carry task lists with me so I can remember what I am attempting to do. I wanted to capture fleeting insight that arrives in the middle of a walk. I need a functional shopping list. I need a set of check lists I can reference to ensure I have done what I know I should do before leaving the house, or going to sleep. In brief, I wanted assistive technology that I could carry with me at all times – a pocket full of memory aids.

I have become very reliant on my desktop for this type of assistance but am hampered by the need to remember to create and carry paper notes. I want to avoid having to manage paper documents as I recognize I am no longer proficient at such tasks.

Samsung makes the Galaxy Note 3 which appears to fulfill most of my needs. I held off obtaining one as the market price was $300 on a 2 year contract. This was $300 more than my budget could accept. Since the Note 4 is coming to the market in September, the Note 3 is now being discounted. I went to my cell provider to obtain a quote. They were extremely unhelpful.

My three year contract expired in March of 2014. I calculated the contract includes $20 a month to amortize the initial cost of the phone. Since the phone was fully paid for after 3 years, I had paid Rogers over $120 in phone amortization costs despite the phone being bought and paid for. I explained this to the clerk. She seemed trained in not understanding either the customer, or basic business math. Amortization was a fuzzy concept to her. There was no willingness to consider any form of discount, new phone availability could not be confirmed until I placed a signed order, the terms of my existing service contract would be altered, my costs would increase, and my feature set decrease.

I quickly became frustrated dealing with the clerk. I have been a Rogers cell customer for 18 years. There was no sense that the Rogers organization valued our relationship. Next day I went to a Videotron booth. There I was able to obtain a Note 3 at no cost on a two year contract that offered more monthly data (6 GB compared to Rogers 2 GB), and a further discount of $50 as I was transferring an existing number. The Videotron people handled the entire task of transferring the number and closing the existing Rogers account while I waited. Clean, quick, excellent service, with a savings of $229 on the cost of the phone, a $50 one time discount, much better service terms, and a saving of $10 a month. You cannot beat that.