Buy technology only when you need it.

When cell phones first came into use, I had one from my company. It was the size of a brick.

I never checked it because I wanted to be left alone while I was driving, a big part of my job. When I finally did check, months later, it didn't work. The service had been cut off because I never used it. They had to send me a new phone. The tech guy said, "You might want to check it every week or so." Nowadays I do check, once in a while, just to keep it working. (And now it's the size of my wallet.)

The problem, of course, is that I'm kind of retro that way: I don't want or need to be in constant contact with anybody, even my family. For the record, I do check in with my wife to be sure I didn't miss an urgent call, but, otherwise, I'm okay being out of the contact zone, at least for a while every day. Whatever happened to down-time and privacy and all that?

Which brings up the point of this post: What technology do you really need?

Do you have to be in constant contact with friends and family? Do you really need to download a thousand songs to your I-Pod? (How many songs do you want to listen to over and over? Maybe a hundred?) Do you need a cell phone that takes pictures? (What are you going to do with all those photos?) Do you need a certain ring-tone, which only serves to alert you to who is calling you, or can you live with the default one that tells you that you have a call? Do you need satellite radio? If you're a cross-country trucker, maybe yes. If you listen to the radio at home and have a few favorite stations you listen to regularly, probably not.

I think we should buy and use the newest technologies as we need them. And keep in mind that they will all likely be out-dated, replaced by something newer and much more cool, by the time we learn how to use them.

If you record TV shows to view later, TIVO is the latest innovation, but a VCR and tapes do pretty much the same thing.

If you want to watch rented DVDs, you obviously need a DVD player. But some smart marketing people have developed machines that play both tapes and DVDs. (If you want to record on a DVD, apparently you need something different, a DVD recorder, but that's a subject for someone who is more techno-savvy than me.)

Of course I'm behind the times, and of course there are or will be developments in technology that I will have to embrace -- including TIVO and DVD recorders -- but until I have to adopt them, and learn all the new stuff I have to learn, I'll stick with what I know and feel comfortable with. Hey, if it works and ain't broke, why fix it?

Let me give you another example. LPs, meaning long-playing records, were long ago replaced by tapes and then CDs and now by computer downloads, but if you put an LP on a turntable (which do still exist and are for sale), you will be -- assuming you have good speakers -- amazed at the sound quality. I think sound recording hit a high with LPs, and anything that's come after was just for convenience. Plus you have all that great LP art. Those covers are worth framing.

So I trudge along through life with my cell phone, which I never turn on except when I'm picking someone up from the airport or whatever, and my laptop computer, on which I check email once a day or whenever I think of it, and my VCR/DVD player, which is good for airing whatever bad movie I've just rented. What else do I need?

By the way, I don't need to take photos on my cell phone. As a father, I took thousands of photos over the years of darling children doing cute things, using a real camera, and had them printed out and put into albums that are easy for any relative or guest to peruse just by turning pages. No need to boot up the computer and hook it up to the TV to display the images.

And I don't feel the need to capture every new vacation vista as a download slide-show that some guest will have to suffer through while huddled over my computer monitor.

That doesn't mean that if I run across a robbery in progress, or a horrific car accident where someone drives away, I shouldn't know how to capture that -- as evidence -- on my cell phone camera. But how often does that happen? In the meantime, how many more photos of mountains and sunflowers do we need? We're awash in them.

So what I'm saying is don't be intimidated into buying a computer that will store a million photos if all you really want to do is email your friends. Don't get a high-resolution monitor if you only want to see photos from friends and family -- or just the text of emails. Don't buy a high-end digital camera, with many mega-pixels, if you only plan to take photos of the family.

In short, don't buy anything more than you need. Whatever technology you're buying, start with the basic model and then upgrade only if you find that you really like it and/or need it and want to move on to a more expensive model. These days, the most basic models are more than most of us need.

What about traditional phones?

Should you get rid of your land line -- the telephone hooked up to your wall? Lots of people are doing it. They use only cell(ular) phones. I still keep mine, for several reasons. I like being able to pick up the big receiver and nestle it against my ear and dial whoever and get an absolutely clear -- by land, not air -- connection. In case of a power outage -- because of a storm or a blizzard or whatever -- the land line is most likely to still be functioning. Also, I like the comfortable size of the receiver: it fits my ear, and my shoulder if I have some kind of attachment so that I can talk hands-free. It's reliable and proven. It works. Why not keep it?

Use -- and buy -- technology as you need it. Don't be cowed by others. There are always those who have to have the latest and fastest and most advanced. But you may not need it. When it comes to the developing technologies, decide what's important to you and tell the sales person how you plan to use the technology before you spend your money.

And remember this: technology is advancing so fast that you not only don't lose anything by waiting a while, but the longer you wait, the better equipment, and the better deal, you'll get.

Oh wait. Is that your cell phone ringing? I think I recognize the Star Wars tone. I just hope you're not in the movie theatre. Or crossing the street in front of me when my light is green and your phone is at your ear. I hate that.

Watch out!