Keep Your Cell Phone Humming Happily

I lost a bet, and had to write an essay. Hey, now it's a post!

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Most of us have no idea how a cell phone works – and unless they start acting up, we don’t give them a second thought. Once a cell phone starts misbehaving – watch out! It’s a hunk of junk, and clearly we were gypped by that sinister cell phone company!

Any electronic device can have issues – either problems with the basic design, a shipment of faulty circuits from a manufacturer, or even flawed software. Actually, most problems with most of the high-tech gizmos you own are caused by...You!

Modern cell phones are very much like mini computers – they do everything from telling time, taking pictures, playing games and music, even internet – and oh yeah, they make phone calls too.

There are a few very simple steps you can take to make sure your cell phone stays happy and healthy. First of all, be kind to your phone. Treat it as if it’s a fragile living thing. Leaving a phone on your car’s dash all day in the hot sun or leaving it in the car overnight to suffer through sub-zero temperatures are a sure way to shorten its lifespan.

Taking your phone with you to the kitchen, sauna, swimming pool or bathroom is a bad idea – sure, it might be fun to play a few hands of digital poker while you’re soaking in the tub, but the chances of dropping it into the soapy water or accidentally knocking it into toilet are too great. Even a high-priority call can wait during your call of nature – in any case, would you really want to answer the phone while so… preoccupied? As expensive as replacing a cell phone at full retail can be, think about this -would you carry a $300 bill (if they existed) around in your hand into wet and dirty areas?

A coworker told the group that she'd destroyed two phones in one year by dropping them into her tea. We recommended she invest in a sippy cup.

Take good care of your battery – it might be small, but it packs a lot of power. Never remove the battery while you’re charging – you could damage the phone itself. Also, don’t make or receive phone calls while charging – it can short circuit the phone, cause an electric shock or a fire. Many people wait until their battery is completely empty before recharging – this was necessary with older models, but the cells phones of today can be charged at any battery level without shortening the battery life.

One of the simplest things you can do to keep your cell phone happy is to turn it off. How many electric devices do you own that you never turn off? In the ‘your cell phone as a computer’ vein, you need to reboot it regularly. The phone runs on a battery – but more importantly, it runs on software.

Software tells the cell phone what its phone number is, where the nearby cellular towers are, which tower it’s currently using, and what the phone’s hardware capabilities and limitations are.

Hardware is the plastic and metal, buttons and battery. The software is hundreds of lines of computer code that tell the phone how to work. The hardware doesn’t change, but what might surprise you is that the software can and does change – your cellular provider (Cingular, Sprint, Verizon, etc) can transmit software updates to your phone at any time, sometimes several times a week.

However, if you never turn your phone off, the software update never gets put into use. The phone can’t fully upgrade its programming while you’re using it – that would be like trying to change a hot light bulb while it’s turned on. You could try, but why risk it?

Cell phone providers are constantly the process of upgrading their technology – new innovations and pressure from the competition means continuous improvement of the cellular network (hardware and software). So if your phone never has a chance to update, it falls behind bit by bit, like a kid missing day after day of school.

One day soon you’ll be too far out of date. Even with a strong signal, the phone can try to connect to the network – and fail! For the last few weeks, the class has been learning French, but you’ve been playing hooky. You show up just in time for the final test in French – bad dream? Bad day.

Turning your phone off for just thirty seconds at least a couple of times a week (once a day is best) will allow it to refresh its program, stay current and connected.

Taking care of your phone by keeping it warm, dry and up to date means that it will be more likely to be happily humming along and working when you need it.