(Before I start, remember that I'm a tech idiot, so be gentle.)

Here's the story:
1. About a week ago,as I was bending to empty the bathroom wastebasket, my cell phone fell out of my pocket into the toilet. So I need a new phone.
2. I'm thinking of switching my phone number number (and all the rest) from US Cellular to Verizon. (the only two options here)
3. Old phone is Blackberry 8830, new phone...haven't decided but if I go to Verizon am thinking of Droid 3. (Yes, I know, Kevin and others, Sprint has better phones, but I don't get to go Sprint with my zip code. Wahhh!)
4. I took the MicroSD card I had added to my 8830 out and copied all its files to my Mac. All of the copies (primarily Happy photos and nightwish ringtones essentially) transferred fine, so I'm okay there.
5. There's one file I transferred I can't open, so I don't know what it is. It's in a folder called "system" and is named info.mkf. Finder says it is a "Unix Executable file", but I have no idea how to execute it. (unless the water in the toilet bowl already has already managed to execute it in a different way, of course.) So I guess a second question is: can someone tell me what this might be, and is it relevant to my main question?

Which brings me to the main question?
Is there a way to get my address book from the old phone to my new phone (a) if I switch from US Cellular to Verizon; and (b) if I don't switch but just buy a new phone from US Cellular?

Thanks in advance.

Wade

Originally Posted by: Wade 

What type of damage was done to the Blackberry? I ask because if it's just a display thing, then most likely the Verizon techs can transfer your address book no problem. But if it just doesn't turn on or something more serious like that.. You might have to start over with your contact list.

Originally Posted by: Formo 

Wade - I can't answer your question. However, I can tell you how to find out more about that file.

Transfer that file to your Mac. I'm assuming you don't know how to do the following so forgive me if I'm oversimplifying to the point of being condescending. Believe me, that's not my intention.

Put the file on your Desktop. Then open Finder and go to Applications. From Applications go to Utilities. (Most people don't know this but Macs are now Unix). From Utilities, double click Terminal.

You now have a Unix window open.

In that Unix window, type the following:
cd Desktop
file info.mkf

That will tell you exactly what kind of file it really is. It's a lot more accurate than Finder.

Now type the following:
less info.mkf

If it's a bunch of garbage, then it's in computer format, i.e., not human readable. If it's actually human readable, then you can take a guess what it the file really is. To get to the next page in the 'less' program, hit the space bar. To exit 'less', type q to quit.

Now, if the file is in computer format, you can type the following to see if it can give you any clues:
strings info.mkf | less

Once again, hit the space bar to get to the next page and type q to quit.

--

As for phones, I know nothing. I got a phone that's thousands of years old before smart phones existed.

Originally Posted by: zombieslayer 

All that happens is a little red light comes on and blinks three or four times real quick...pauses....then does the same thing over and over.

Will the current provider tech be able to do anything that the verizon tech cant? I guess what I mean is, do I have a tradeoff between (i) staying with USCellular and having better odds of getting the address book back and (ii) going to Verizon and getting a better new phone but more likely to lose the address book. (Also, don't know if this makes a difference or not, but there also is no Verizon store here, so if I go Verizon I either go to WalMart or buy it online and have it sent to me.)

Originally Posted by: Wade