I have a complicated relationship with technology. Whenever something new comes out, I really, really want it. I inherited that trait from my late father.

But over the years a few factors – namely reality and my wife’s love of thrift – have taught me the difference between wanting something and needing something.

I have appreciated this newfound part of my personality. Sure, I miss the thrill of the impulse buy, but I feel much more secure when I do break down and buy something fun.

This is why I couldn’t understand her angst recently over the new cell phone she had her eyes on.

When it comes to mobile technology, we fall way behind the curve. Neither of us has a smart phone even though I am slowly moving from want to need on that one. Maria lags way beyond me, something which draws eyerolls from our daughter.

Yes, my wife has to push buttons two or three times just to get a single letter while composing a text message. Yes, she has a phone where she buys minutes instead of using a monthly plan. Yes, she wonders if moving to a touch screen would represent “too much phone” for her to handle.

She certainly has the intelligence to handle much more phone so I didn’t always get her reticence. The store had a good deal on the phone she had her eye on so money didn’t dominate the decision. I think it’s just that nagging concern about change.

To be fair, neither of us use our cell phone that much. We text some, call each other on occasion, but that’s about it. I will use mine to check my e-mail and surf the Internet a little, but don’t go overboard, hence the smart phone staying partially in the “want” category.

So I could see some reason for hesitation when Maria faced this choice. But when the three of us ended up at the store together, she still couldn’t decide if she wanted to pull the trigger even though I knew she had stood in front of the display previously and thought things over. I even found brochures at the house so she could learn about the phone and various plans.

That just gave Bridget and I a chance to wander around the store and work on our comedy routine about cell phone technology. I can neither confirm nor deny reports that I antagonized my wife about her concerns.

In the end, she went ahead and bought a new phone which has a keyboard which slides out. She doesn’t have to worry about trying to type on the screen, but can have something which resembles modern technology.

When we got home, she charged it up and promptly let it sit on her desk until she had time to learn all the features and uses up all her minutes before she transferred her number from the old phone.

That’s OK with me. She doesn’t need to start using the new phone right away even if I want her to. We’re going to take baby steps into the 21^st century.