I Finally Downloaded a Ringtone. Have You?

I have owned a cellphone in one form or another for well over 10 years. I even remember when a Motorola Star-Tac phone--which I don't think you can even get anymore, they're so "old"--cost more than $1,000 retail. (Though my cousin Leslie, a lawyer in New York, got one from her wireless company FOR FREE in the late 1990s by threatening to take away her business. That would NOT happen anymore, sadly.)

But in all this time I used the (free) canned ringtones that came with the phone. You know: Fur Elise by Beethoven or some bit of Mozart or John Philip Sousa, or just chimes or whatever. I finally decided it was time to spend the $2.99, get with the hipsters, and download a ringtone that reflected "me." Or at least the tinny, not-much-like-the-original-recording "me."

I'm not really a Mariah Carey or 50 Cent kind of gal, so I went to a site offered by VerizonWireless called "British Invasion." I figured I'd download something by Coldplay. I love Coldplay and nearly all their songs can be gotten as ringtones. Unfortunately, I soon found that a ringtone of, say, "Fix You" or "Speed of Sound" or "Clocks" or "The Scientist" or (my favorite) "A Rush of Blood to the Head" sound like ... sound like ... well, not much like Coldplay.

So I chose a song that for some reason sounded at least passable on tones: the Police's "I Can't Stand Losing You" (one of the greatest whining songs of all time--makes me laugh every time I hear it) from the early 1980s. So much for hipster. Although maybe it's so retro that it is hipster. Have to think about that.

So, dear reader: Have YOU downloaded a reflection of "yourself" in ringtone form? Or is it just me? Discuss!