I love my phone. It fits into the front pocket of my jeans nicely, it has OK ringtones and I’ve memorized the buttons so I almost don’t have to look anymore when I text. It has two functions: calling and texting. There are no games, no email and no mp3s downloaded onto it. When I want to tweet, I text Twitter. When I want to call “Mom,” I press 3 then Send. It is an uncomplicated phone and it fits the bill.

During the past three years in college, I watched as all my friends steadily upgraded to bigger, better phones. I half-listened when they debated the merits of BlackBerrys versus iPhones versus Droids. I glazed over when the discussion turned to iPhone apps for making cell phone pictures look like Polaroids. I tuned out completely when my “CrackBerry”-addicted friends exchanged PINs to “BBM” each other.

Before I knew it, I found myself in the very small minority of J-Schoolers without a smartphone. While my friends chased sources for stories and contacted editors via email throughout the school day, I waited to email until I was behind a proper computer. Still, I was unperturbed.

Even when the Pew Research Center reported this summer that 35 percent of American adults own a smartphone, I didn’t get the itch. There’s something to be said for a phone that does nothing but call and text. It’s quieter. It’s smaller. The battery lasts longer. It’s less expensive and not as big of a deal when I drop it on the sidewalk.

BlackBerry 8830 (aka not my phone)

Two weeks ago, I officially reached my threshold. Keeping up with deadlines and late-night emails from reporters have finally cracked me. It took becoming an editor at Vox before I truly felt that I need a smartphone.

I’ve spent the better part of two weeks trying to convince my dad that this is necessary purchase. For a man who doesn’t even need the texting function on his phone, this was no easy task, but he agreed at last.

I’m going to miss my tiny simplephone. It and others like it have served me well ever since my first cell phone that I got when I was 15 and started driving. My new phone arrives on Thursday. I will probably spend the weekend trying to figure it out.

What do you think? Do you use a smartphone or a simplephone?