Today I had lunch with a friend of mine. Our chitter-chatter was normal for the most part, but in the middle of our visit she took out her phone, and I saw she was carrying a Palm Pixi. I said something along the lines of, “I bet you can’t wait for your upgrade, huh?” She kind of laughed and said, “My upgrade has been available to me for a few months now.”

I asked her what was stopping her from upgrading, or if she’s even looked at some of the newer models of phones out there. She said she’s stopped in and looked, but even though the phones were faster and offered more, she really liked the way her keyboard worked. She said it lets her use her nails, where if she were to get a touchscreen only device she’s not sure she would be able to adjust very well. “Besides,” she said, “I don’t use any apps except for Facebook and Pandora.”

I’m normally one to try and tell somebody why they should upgrade and show them all of the cool features newer phones can do. But she just seemed so content with how her phone was. It wasn’t as if she’d never seen a new phone, because she’s gone in and tested them out. She knows they have more apps to choose from, more features, and higher specs, but why should somebody upgrade if they’re happy with what they have? After all, having the latest and greatest isn’t necessarily what everyone wants in their phone, and it’s not affecting me what phone they carry (except I can’t use iMessage if it’s not an iPhone! Oh no!)

For me, I’ve already stated that an app store is very important for whatever phone I’m carrying. That’s why I pretty much stick to Android and iOS. Although I’m considering trying Windows Phone 8 when it launches, I’m still wary of the limited selection of apps. I find myself always looking for and downloading new apps on my phone because I find them fascinating. I have six and a half pages full of apps. Do I use all of them all of the time? No, but I do use quite a few, and the others that I don’t normally use for myself are there for my toddler to play with to keep him busy.

So while some people, like me, are more involved in the app selection that some phones have to offer, other people, like my friend, care more about the physical design. Then there are people like my parents, who are actually more concerned about how simple a phone can be. They don’t need or care for anything complex, they’re happy as long as the phone works. Everybody has different tastes in what they want their phones to do.

So that brings me to my question to you, dear readers. What is it that’s most important to you in your phone? Is it the way the phone fits in your hand, the internal features of the phone, maybe even just a brand name you trust? Let me know in the comments!

Images via Appadvice and HPwebOS