Welcome to the iCult

For a variety of reasons, I decided to go back to an Android, this after having an iPhone for the past many years. Yesterday, we meandered over to the Horizon store and took a gander at the phones of the world. While the wife was drooling over the i6, I contemplated the meaning of flip phones and non-Apple products. There was nothing "wrong" with the iPhone--I just really enjoyed my work Android (right up until the very moment it was stolen off my desk, rat bastard). I found it compatible with all I do in my daily life. I'm a gmail/PC kind of girl. (The wife, on the other hand, has every Apple product known to man, so it makes sense she stay within the iApple iCult. I had an iPhone. I had little to lose. She's swimming in iPods and iPads, uses an iPhone and Mac computer.....)

Prior to going to the Horizon store, I did some research (the wife was so proud). I found I could get the phone of my choice (a smart phone--no worries--I ruled out the flip phone) for free if ordered on line. Thankfully, there was a "coupon" on the website that could be printed out so I could get this offer at the local store. The phone also came with a free tablet. BAM! Who was I to argue? I printed out the coupon and headed toward the Horizon.

Long story short, I got my phone for free--this after the lady told me it was $199 with my discount. I proudly pulled out my coupon and wa-la--the $199 phone became free. I got the tablet for free, too. The only charge was the stupid "upgrade" fee they charge everyone. (It's like when you buy a car and they have those dealer fees of which are non-negotiable.) The wife, on the other hand, had to order her phone (those iPhone 6's are in hot demand) and choke up a whole bunch of money. 

I kept my iPhone, figuring it is still useful when on wi-fi and I could use it as an iPod. Sure, I could have turned it in to get $100 but all my music is on iTunes, so it made sense to me to keep it. Besides, my speakers at work are set up only for iPhones and iPods. I have no energy to run around and find an adapter for my expensive iSpeakers. I paid a lot of money for those speakers--I'm not giving them up.

Within hours, I learned it is VERY difficult to leave the iCult. Apple isn't stupid; in fact, they are downright genius, evil as they may be. It's like the Hotel California--you can check in but you can never check out......

When I got home, I sent some texts out, proclaiming the purchase of my new phone. I was very sad when no one texted me back. I waited and waited....but, nothing. 

Later, while adding apps to my new phone, I pulled out my iPhone--I wanted to make sure I wasn't forgetting any apps I use daily. That's when I saw I had a whole bunch of texts.

Dang, my texts were still going to my iPhone.

Here's how the iCult works: I had been using an iPhone and thus had been iMessaging but had now switched to an Android which does not send or receive iMessages. This is a problem: friends don't know I no longer have an iPhone, so their texts to me still go out as an iMessage.... which, in turn, end up on my no-longer-a-phone iPhone instead of my new Android. 

The iCult was holding me hostage.

I was concerned. I mean, I didn't want to carry around a non-phone iPhone just to get texts. There had to be a way around this. An internet search led to affirmation that it is very hard to get out of the iCloud and iCult. Steve Jobs was taunting me from his heavenly cloud, I just know it.

Within seconds of googling, I learned that I was not exactly the only one experiencing this problem. The iPhone-to-Android people of the world expressed strong disdain for the iCult and lamented about how hard it is to resolve this particular problem. I visited many a site trying to figure this out. While there were tons of ideas--everything from deleting my iCloud account to sending a text to some unknown place indicating STOP--it seemed that the most effective method was to contact all iPhone friends and tell them of my plight. That way, they could re-set their contact list to indicate I was no longer using iMessaging.

Seriously. More sites than not indicated this was by far the best way to go.

I felt iStressed. How the hell was I going to do that? I decided to change my iCloud password (one of the big suggestions), turned off my iMessaging, sent the STOP text to somewhere (who knows) and signed out of every iPlace I could think of....

Although that seemed more than enough, I had serious iDoubts. I trembled at the thought of missing texts....so, I emailed everyone I could think of who I thought had an iPhone and asked them to change my contact information to reflect I no longer had an iPhone. I tried to include directions how to do this but I was clear as mud and am sure I made the problem more complicated for some. Since that didn't seem enough (overkill is a friend of mine), I posted a blurb on Book de la Face, alerting people of my non-iMessaging status.

Thankfully, I was quickly flooded with texts on my new phone. Friends across the globe texted, each asking if I had received the text. I was giddy! Had I escaped the iCult? It seemed I had at least one foot out the door.

Here's the thing: I still don't know if I'm getting iMessages or if I'm missing texts. I'd turn my iMessaging back on to check but I am afraid that would screw things up. I don't have time to do this again. Curiosity can't kill this iCat. I have to leave well enough alone. I have to trust the iUniverse can supersede the iCloud.

Besides that, I love my new phone and tablet. I can't say one bad thing about this phone. I do love an Android. Take that, iCult.....

....here's hoping that I really was able to check out of iHotel iCalifornia. Time and texts will tell.