My phone: Motorola Moto G8+ plus 4/64GB. Purchased on Sep 13, 2020

I was perfectly happy with my previous phone. But, as I noted below, the phone stopped working in 2020 for reasons I won't repeat. As noted earlier, Tracfone service doesn't work outside the USA, and neither it nor GoogleVoice allow for international texting, but using the Internet, I have no problems outside the USA using Google Voice or calling or texting via Telegram or Signal or whatever, so I'm fine with a phone like this. Other apps I had on it: Evernote, Bluemail (webmail), Slack, Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, Skype, Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, Instagram, Chromecast, HotSpot Shield, Google Calendar, the Washington Post app, various airline apps, GoogleNews, mass transit apps, Lyft, Google translate, Scrabble, DropBox, LibreOffice, and PulsePoint, an app so I can see the nature of local firefighter calls. Not using Facebook messenger on this phone. I also use it to take photos and video, which I edit on whatever my latest laptop is.

It's been a great phone - though I liked my previous phone better, both because of the size and because I liked the camera placement better. But otherwise, I have loved this phone. And, after having it barely a year - apparently, I have to get rid of it. Because Tracfone says it's not going to work after February 2022, because AT & T won't let it. I am so pissed, I could scream.

My former phone: Motorola Moto G4 Plus XT1642 16GB Black, 5.5", Dual Sim, GSM Factory Unlocked International Model, No Warranty.
This is NOT the one that has Lockscreen Offers & Ads. Bought for $250 in February 2017.

        Android OS, v6.0.1 (Marshmallow)
        5.5" Touch Screen Display
        64GB, 4GB RAM
        SD card slot that supports up to 128 GB of additional storage.
        Wi-Fi® Connectivity and Bluetooth® Wireless
        Camera: 16 MP, f/2.0/ & 5 MP wide angle selfie camera & Video Recorder, phase detection & laser autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
        MP3 Player 
        GSP Capabilities

It was surprisingly simple to activate it using the Tracfone BYOD system. Downsides: (1) it will not work via BlueTooth with my computer, so any files I need to transfer, I have to use a wire. (2) I wish it was the physical size of my previous phone.

This phone stopped responding to the touch screen. The phone store guy said that something inside of it was damaged by water. He asked if I had been in a lot of rain, and I had, two months previously, on a motorcycle trip through Mexico, but I just don't see how it could be damaged in just one place inside, two months later. But, alas, it was.  

My primary computer: MacBook Pro 13-inch (2019, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports, 2.4 Quad-Core Intel COre i5 Processor, 8 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 memory). Bought in early January 2020. Running whatever the latest OS is. But has only 250 GB - and I have just 40 GB left after deleting some huge PDFs from previous employers and some duplicate videos. I use it for everything: my work and my personal life: to access email, create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations (I use LibreOffice), create and alter graphics (I'm no graphic designer, however), talk on VoIP like Skype (audio-only or video-conferencing), surf the web, manage my web site (I'm now using Cyberduck for FTP), interact on social media, work on shared files in the cloud (Google Drive, BaseCamp, Slack and whatever online spaces I'm asked to use for work), create and edit videos and audio files, listen to music, lead and watch live webinars (usually via Zoom), create and distribute surveys, stalk Benedict Cumberbatch, plan vacations, and anything else one does with a device connected to the Internet. I do not plan on it leaving my home. Downside: the key faces started wearing off within four months of purchase. Good thing I took typing and know which keys are what.
 

My travel computer from 2016 through 2019: A used, refurbished Acer 1830T-3505, 11.6 inch, originally sold in 2010, running Linux Mint as its OS. Yes, that's right - not a Mac! I bought it for $100 from the amazing Phil Shapiro, who has been writing about technology access and low-cost software tools since 1992 and who I've known online since the late 1990s. I needed a simple laptop just to take on the road, to access email, Google Drive, Basecamp, Slack, etc., that I wouldn't be heart-broken and financially devastated if it got broken or stolen, and I had very little money to spend - I posted to a few communities about my need for a used computer and Phil came through (check out his popular video, "My $20 eBay Laptop"). I use LibreOffice on it for word processing, spreadsheet work, presentations, etc., I check email, work on Google Docs, Basecamp, Slack, etc. I can't do Zoom video conferencing on it - I use my phone for that when I'm on the road. I also can't do any graphic design or video editing on it, but when I'm traveling, I don't do those things anyway. I can watch YouTube videos on it - and hear them (it does have a sound card). I realized I needed to retire my 2013 MacBook when I realized just how much faster this old computer had become than that high end Mac. I love this little computer. Only issues: sometimes, it cannot access wireless networks, because the wireless network won't allow this old of a computer, running Linux, on the network (this was the case in goddamned Microsoft corporate office in Austin, Texas - the IT person looked at it and all but said, "Hell, no.").
 

My computer from 2013 through 2019: MacBook (laptop - 2.3 GHz Intel Core 2 i7), with 500 GB of storage, last running Mac OS X 10.15.2 (Catalina). It's actually a 2012 computer that was refurbished. I bought it from Apple. I have used it longer than any other computer and have used it for everything: to access email, create and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations (I use LibreOffice), talk on VoIP like Skype (audio-only or video-conferencing), surf the web, manage my web site (used an FTP program with the WaterFox browser until Catalina came out - not compatible), interact on social media, work on shared files in the cloud, create videos and edit videos and audio files, listen to music, work offline, work online, lead and watch live webinars (WebEx, ReadyTalk and Zoom), create and distribute surveys, support online volunteers, volunteer online myself, stalk Benedict Cumberbatch, plan vacations, and anything else one does with a device connected to the Internet. It didn't leave my home office - it went on visits to different rooms of my home only. I bought the only IBM-clone I have ever owned as my travel computer (see other entry), because I didn't want to take this out of the house. I loved the huge screen and the massive amount of storage, neither of which my latest computer has. But I had to retire this computer because the processor is really struggling - even cutting and pasting would call up the spinning wheel of wait. It freezes often. It started to run a BIT better when I upgraded to Catalina, but I don't think it can upgrade beyond that. The battery also holds only about 90 minutes of charge anymore. I used this so much, many of the keys no longer have letters on them. I donated it to a nonprofit computer refurbisher in Portland.
 
 

My computer from 2008 to 2013: MacBook (laptop - 2.16 GH Intel Core 2 Duo), running Mac OS X 10.6.8. From 2008 to 2013, I used it for almost everything I use whatever computer I am using now, but it never could run several programs at once well. I used it to create and edit videos, podcasts, and to create and manage databases (I used FileMaker Pro), as well as video conferencing, play on Second Life once a year, and all the other usual stuff. I tried to use it as my travel computer when I bought a newer computer in 2013, and even used it as my work computer in Ukraine in 2014, but by 2015, it was too slow to do even offline things (like work on OpenOffice docs) so I had to retire it from all use except for running programs that don't run on whatever I'm using now (I do something need to open and use an old file, particularly old media files). IMO, it can't be upgraded beyond 10.6.8. Google Chrome was working on it better than anything other program. It works best when I don't have it connected to the Internet, playing music and podcasts downloaded to the computer. I also have had to use it access and resave old videos and audio files into something I can use on a newer computer.
 

I still have a lime iBook clamshell laptop running OS 9. It was my primary computer from 2001 through all of 2007. It was tough, reliable, did everything I needed it to do, ran lots of programs at the same time, I used it to watch movies when I traveled, it restored my faith in Apple, and people would STOP to admire it in airports and hotel lobbies and at conferences. I still use it to listen to music, and to run software that does not work on my latest computer (like old data files that have some info that I can't find anywhere else). I could still use it to edit video and audio, believe it or not. I would love to be able to use it to listen to online radio programs and podcasts, like those that are on NPR, but I can no longer get this computer to access the Internet (because it doesn't work with the version of Airport I use now). If you know how to get this connected to the Internet, please contact me! Yes, this computer has its own page on my web site.
 

My second computer at home was a a version of the Performa - I don't know which one. It had a DVD / CD Rom player and I think it still had a disc drive. What CLUNKER. The day after my AppleCare expired, the hard drive failed. I was glad Apple agreed to honor AppleCare, but nothing on the hard drive could be recovered, and I lost most everything I'd ever had on a computer. And that might not sound like much, but there were some essays and old emails from when I first got online that I still get upset about not having anymore - my writing is very important to me. I barely had it five years. What a piece of crap. It was so bad that I didn't buy any Apple stock, at a time in my life when I actually could have afforded some, because I thought the company might go under.
 

My first computer at home was a Mac Classic II. When I bought it, it came with an external dial up modem and an America Online disc. I had used IBM clones at newspaper offices where I worked in the 1980s and at nonprofits I had worked in the 1980s as well, but starting in the 1990s, I had used a Mac a few times at various jobs, and immediately fallen in love with it - something I had never done with a computer before that (hence why I had never bought one). I bought my first Apple from CompuUSA. I used it to read and send my first emails, tour and post to various AOL communities (Star Wars and the Ronald Colman communities were my favorite), play Tetris and to navigate USENET. When I got it, I'd never heard of the World Wide Web - that wasn't really a thing yet. Once the web became so dominate, I replaced it when I realized it couldn't really surf the web well. I wish so much that I'd kept it, just for nostalgia.
 

My former phone: LG Optimus Fuel™ running Android™ 4.4, via Tracfone. $80.
        3.5" Touch Screen Display
        3G/Wi-Fi® Connectivity and Bluetooth® Wireless
        3 MP Camera/Video Recorder
        1.2 GHz Dual Processor
        4GB microSD™ Card (Included in Phone) - Supports microSD™ Card up to 32GB
        MP3 Player 
        GSP Capabilities
        Access to over 1,000,000 Apps on Google Play™
        Battery talk time up to 10 hours, Standby time up to 11 days

My former phone: LG 500G feature phone. It looks like a Blackberry, but isn't nearly as powerful (or as expensive). When I'm did business away from my home office, I usually have my travel lap top with me (see above), which I greatly prefer using for reading mail, writing and reading information, surfing the web, etc., so I didn't really needed a smart phone. This phone has a major downside: the battery life. Yes, I've gotten a new battery - no difference. Here's how I used my LG 500G:

• Primarily as a phone.
• I live and die by Google Calendar, and have reminders for all appointments coming to this phone via text at least 15 minutes before they happen (and sometimes also the hour before, even four hours before).
  
• It has web browsing capabilities, though such are woefully slow (it's a Tracfone) - I rarely use such, but if I need to, I can surf the web: if your organization has a mobile-optimized web site, I might look up your organization's physical address, phone number or email address and opening hours when I'm out and about and need such urgently - but I'm not going to read your annual report on my phone, no matter what phone I have. The Opera mobile web browsing app, works better on it than the browser it came with.
• I've downloaded apps to my phone so I can read my own web mail account, read my Yahoomail, and view Yahooweather and YahooNews - but I use those only when I need the information urgently and can't wait to get to a laptop (usually when on vacation). Here's a list of all Yahoo mobile apps. Unfortunately, no Google mobile apps work on this phone.
• I occasionally used it to take a photo and upload such to my Flickr account (subscribers to my personal Twitter account automatically get a tweet if I do this), but usually, if I took a photo, I just waited until I could later move it via Bluetooth to my computer.
• I  used it sometimes to send a short update to my blog via text.
  
• I listened to music that I download on to it from my home computer, via Bluetooth or a data cable, and listened to such while riding buses to or from Portland (on a longer trip, such as by airplane, I take my vintage iPod)

What I wish I could have used it for: to listen to the local NPR radio station affiliate live. I have no idea what to do with it now - I'd like to recycle it properly, but can't find out how.  

For two years, I had a LG 600 cell phone. It's a feature phone with a tiny display window. I could use it to browse the web (it's also a Tracfone) in a pinch - for instance, when I needed to find a phone number of something urgently. Other than as a phone, I used it primarily for its texting abilities: I texted updates to my blog and to my Twitter account when I was away from my lap top. I tried using biNu on it, but never got it to work. I liked Opera for feature phones more than the browser that came with this phone, for those times when I needed to access something off of a web site. I'd have used it for  years more if I hadn't put it in the washing machine by mistake (believe it or not, it still works except for having no sound whatsoever). I've no doubt I could have done everything that I ended up doing with the replacement phone that I did with this phone. I have no idea what to do with it now - I'd like to recycle it properly, but can't find out how.

I still used this phone until the summer of 2016! The Nokia 1100 is the best selling mobile phone device, world wide, of all time. It can be used as a phone or to send and receive texts - that's pretty much it (it has a really cool centipede-like game on it that I still play sometimes). It's keyboard is such that sand or other dirt can't get into it easily - there's no openings inbetween the buttons at all. My husband bought this phone in 2005 in the USA, when he did a six week motorcycle tour in several Western states. When we moved to the USA in 2009, I used this as my primary phone for a year. I still used it as my almost-always at-home phone or my backup phone until summer 2016 - it rang when anyone calls my primary phone number, and I used the number on any form related to something I buy, so sales calls went here instead of to my main phone. I also still used it to receive text notifications regarding pending appointments on my Google Calendar, and to let me know when someone mentioned me on my professional Twitter account. I could also send an update to my professional Twitter account, in a pinch, via text message. Sadly, Tracfone quit supporting it. I still have it! I just can't part with it.