You see, I am technologically challenged. Woefully so. Not when it come to learning to use new technology or playing with it or sharing it with others. No, when it comes to that, I totally rock, if I do say so myself. And when I do get to play with toys and gadgets, I'm as happy as the first cat who's learned to use a can opener (to nick a phrase from Hallmark). I've always loved technology, all the way back to when the first 1.5 MB floppy disks came out. Who could ever need so much space?!

But I digress. (Shocking, I know.) Back to my confession.

My particular challenge when it comes to technology is not uncommon. In fact, you might suffer from it, too. My technological challenge lays purely in acquisition.

There, I've said it.

Case in point. I (like many, many others) want an iPhone. I don't need one. Not really. But man, do I want one. And this is where my challenge rears its ugly head. The little one -- the 4G version -- is $500. The big one, with 8G of memory, is $600. And that's before including monthly service fees. Neither one is going to happen. At least, not any time soon. I simply can't afford it.

Now I'm not saying I'm destitute, but I am kinda cheap ... when it comes to some things, anyway, and when I look at price tags, my mind automatically converts them into something more prosaic -- say, rent or a car payment. Or right now, I'm saving for a trip to Greece later this year.

So, say I caved and bought the much-desired iPhone -- it looks like just the coolest thing ever -- I'd probably go with the little version, although perhaps the bigger one makes more sense ... twice the memory for $100 more. Anyway, by the time I've run that $500 price tag through my mental calculator, it comes out to be nearly two car payments or more than half of a rent payment. Practicality will win out. And then there's Greece.

I'll have to hope that playing with it to tell you about it will satisfy my deep-seated techo-spider tendencies. At least until the price comes down a bit. (By the way, when I test products, I don't get to keep them. Common misconception. Back to reality.)

So, what cell phone do I use day to day? I have a RAZR V3. I didn't buy it, though, not even refurbished. And I didn't get it with a new two-year service agreement.

Until a couple of weeks ago, I was using my trusty Motorola v220, which I got nearly three years ago (December '04). I was eligible for an upgrade at the first of the year, but I didn't want to pay for the phone and services I wanted. Greece, you know.

So, when my sister, who is technologically challenged in the true meaning of the phrase (I've told you about her before.), upgraded to a Blackjack (No, there's no irony there.), she donated her old RAZR to the charity of me. It was very nice of her.

It's a cool (and cheap) upgrade for me. But I still want an iPhone. Last month, it was a BlackJack. I was soooo close to buying a refurb, but then I thought about the additional monthly fees. Greece.

Now I think I'll sit tight and maybe stash some cash from my paycheck into a special iPhone account. That's what I do for my car registration, which falls most conveniently in December, and for holiday shopping.

So, there it is. I've admitted that technology acquisition is a challenge for me, and I'm sure I'm not alone here.

I, like many of you, ascribe to the belief that if it ain't broke, don't replace it ... unless there's a realllly good reason. And just wanting to doesn't qualify. Oh, how I wish it did. Scooping up every new upgrade is not only expensive, it's just not practical. Or so I keep telling myself.

Because of my belief and my mental kinship with Ebenezer Scrooge, I provide a kind and loving home for lots of older technology.

I have three computers, the newest of which is an iBook -- Nahla (I've already told you about my penchant for naming things like cars and computers.) -- that's nearly four years old. They don't even make 'em like her any more. Then there's an HP laptop that's a little over four years old. And the Mac G3 blue-and-white desktop that's seven or eight years old. That's practically medieval in computer years. What's more, I still have the little Mac Classic that got me through college. (I graduated in 1995.) It was top of the line then, and still works today. Talk about medieval! Or maybe it's just retro.

I have a scanner. At least, I had one. A UMAX Astra 600s. It was a Christmas present several years ago (made my all-time best-gifts list), and served me well and faithfully until about a month ago. Now it would cost more to fix it than it would just to get a new one. Greece.

My digital camera is a Ricoh 5300, 2.3 megapixels. (The camera in the iPhone is 2MP. What does that tell you?) I bought it from a friend a few years ago. I was still using (gasp) film until then. (That almost sounded like 8-track, didn't it?) The Ricoh works fine, mostly. But it's kinda big and clunky, it doesn't handle action shots all that well and it doesn't shoot video. Every time my boss sees it, she teases me -- good naturedly, or course -- about needing to upgrade. That one I might do before I go to Greece in October ... if I have enough AmEx points.

You can't argue the irony of being a tech-challenged tech columnist. But I figure it puts me in the same boat as the readers. That's why, you'll notice, I often look for things that are free or relatively inexpensive. They can be true gems. (Check out some of my columns and you'll see what I mean.)

But that doesn't mean we (you and I) can't covet the expensive stuff, too.