On Saturday, I mentioned that the iPhone wasn’t what I was looking for. But I really do want to replace my phone before it dies completely, so I visited the AT&T store this afternoon to look at the alternatives.

All I really need is Bluetooth (to work with the car) and voice. Quad-band is a nice-to-have, but not completely vital. I don’t care if I get a camera or not, and I’m not a texter. Clearly, I’m also not in the target market for phones these days. Every phone I looked at had a camera, a keyboard, or both; most also did music, and all of them had a prominent Cingular (err, AT&T) media button, which, if you don’t have a data plan, costs at least five cents every time you hit it by accident.

The only phone, in fact, that really made much of an impression on me was the iPhone. And since it comes with a mandatory unlimited data plan, the danger is gone (and there’s no Cingular button anyway). But it would be nice if it ran on a faster network than EDGE….

Your advice is eagerly solicited.

This week on 43 Folders, Merlin Mann is documenting his war on clutter, a topic near and dear to my heart. We’ve made considerable progress at home, but this bit in Merlin’s blog was very much on point to me:

I start seeing things that I hadn’t ever noticed. Like the phone cords and SCSI cables.

You see, yesterday I was moving our new computer into the space formerly occupied by the old computer; while the space was vacant, I took the opportunity to neaten up the wiring and reduce the number of plug strips necessary. During that neatening, I found an old parallel cable that hadn’t been connected to anything for years — and so I wrapped it up and put it in my Drawer of Cables, along with yet another RJ-11, making at least 6 in that drawer. I did think about getting rid of the parallel cable instead of stowing it, but….

Time for a rethink.