The trials of technology

A fortnight ago, my old mobile phone was adjudged as sufficiently battered and ill functioning for me to be awarded a new one.  I was pleased about this - until the moment the thing arrived and I started trying to work it.

It was hardly the most encouraging of signs that it took a full 15 minutes to sort out how to get the back off and the battery in.  However!  Undaunted, I overcame that considerable hurdle, only to utterly thrown by what awaited me when I got as far as switching the phone on.

The new phone is one of those touchscreen things. It took me a while to understand why there was no keyboard... As for what it can do, the list is seemingly endless - surf this new fangled internet thing, send and receive emails, find out the weather anywhere in the world, tell me my GPS position, inform me of my appointments, so much in fact I was a little disappointed there wasn't a function to iron my shirts and cook my tea.

Anyhow, aside from pointing out what a technophobe I can be, the other thrust of this blog is to crow my achievement.  You'll be so impressed, I know.  Two weeks on and I have at last mastered how to make and receive calls, and send texts too. Now, how about that for progress?!

The real point of this blog, apart from wondering about the extraordinary advances of science etc., is to lament how such remarkable bits of kit can make the life of a crime writer much harder.  These days, it's more or less impossible to put a victim somewhere where he or she can't phone for help.  And as for disguising the movements of a murderer, it's not so easy when their mobile can be traced to within a few inches...

One final word on the subject of technology, and again I think you'll be impressed. Today, it being a Saturday of leisure and all that, I've decided to attempt to be ultra cool and modern and try to load some music onto my phone.  Something about MP3 players, or some other such jargon?  The only trouble is, looking at the phone, I just can't work out where to slot the MP3s in...