“We want your business, but we don’t care if you ever learn how to use your phone.”

I am a new Verizon-ite, making the switch from Nextel. Is it just me, or is picking a cell phone provider boil down to what types of problems you can live with.

For example, Nextel’s coverage in my area was horrible. With my wife’s Cingular’s plan, roaming fees started at the end of my driveway. Verizon has great coverage in my area and no roaming fee, but the manual for the phone barely covers how to turn it on.

I purchased a middle-of-the-road phone. Nothing special, but it has a few nice features. I just wish I knew how to use them. Verizon must assume you can figure it out on your own.

I just use my phone as a phone. I don’t use it for as a camera (I have a camera), an MP3 player (I have an iPod), to stream videos (broadband connection on my laptop), or to check the weather (I look out my window).

But to get a phone with Bluetooth (to use a Jabra headset), I had to buy a bucket of features I’ll never use or need. Why can’t a phone just be a phone?

Or if they could just be honest about what they are selling. My phone supposedly has mobile web. Except that it doesn’t. I was told that it does when I purchased it, but when I tried to use it it’s not there. They call it VCast, and it’s not true mobile web, which I expected to mean I could have true access to the web on my mobile phone. How naive I am.