ASTORIA, New York City- Something inside me hates to say this, but the smartphone is the #1 piece of digital nomad gear. While I’d love to say that my MacBook Pro is tops or my Blackmagic cinema cameras, I know that if I could only choose one piece of electronic gear with which to run my operations, I would have to choose my smartphone (a Blackberry Key2).
The reason for this is simple: If I had to, I could do everything with it. I cannot take photos and video with a laptop. I cannot write, edit, and publish with a camera. While a smartphone does none of the above better, it does do it all.
The smartphone is not the device to skimp on … although I bought a new phone the other day that initially seemed like I was skimping. For some reason that I don’t quite understand, Google was selling the Pixel 3a for $299, which is $100 off the current list price of $399 and less than it was being sold for anywhere else.
The Pixel 3a is an anomaly in the smartphone ecosystem. It is a basic Android phone with a top end camera slapped in it. Seriously, the camera in this thing can challenge an iPhone X.
$299 is nothing for a tool that would enable me to increase my production value on a daily basis.
I saw the deal and bit.
Initially, I intended to buy the phone for myself. I need to replace my iPhone SE — the companion to my Blackberry Key2 that I used for photos — and I know that there are a few social media moves that I need to take in the coming year (much to my chagrin). I really need a competent camera phone, and the Pixel 3a is by far the cheapest out there, even before the $100 discount.
However, I couldn’t help feeling for my poor wife who has been using her SE as her main driver for the past three years. The phone has a teeny screen. It looks like a relic from another age.
I initially put two phones in my basket — a black one for me and a white one for my wife — but then looked at the price: $650 or so with tax. I couldn’t do it.
I deleted the black one.
I gave my wife her phone last night for the Hanukkah. She tried to say thank you but “Why the f’ck would you buy this when my phone still works?” came out.
She deposited the unopened box in a pile on her dresser next to her deodorant and comb, and that’s probably where it will stay for the next three to six months.
My wife hates three things in life: outer space, the letter X, and new stuff.
Hey, it was a good try, right?
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Where the Pixel 3a landed. So much for that camera.
