Sponsored post -- The internet in my pocket is the ultimate fact-checker

(DA -- This is a sponsored post.)

Growing up, my family tended to be late adopters when it came to technology. I'm not talking about GPS devices, PDAs, or other luxury gadgets -- I mean the basic stuff people my age and socio-economic class took for granted, like a clothes dryer or CD player, neither of which we had until the late 1990s. I think as a result, I'm the kind of guy who loved having an MP3 player for the first three weeks, but slowly stopped using it. After I realized I hadn't fired it up in six months, I gave it to the Official Fiancee of Rufus on Fire and haven't missed it since.

So, it's no surprise that I didn't get my first cell phone until my second year in college (Christmas, 2002), and waited until earlier this year to purchase a phone with capabilities beyond making calls and texting. Perhaps this is an obvious result to many of you, but having a phone with internet access has changed my life.

With the internet in my pocket, no conversation need end with hands thrown up and a frustrated, "We don't know." Instead, I -- and my like-minded hyper-rational sports-dork friends -- can fact-check instantly and advance the discussion. For instance, just the other day, my buddy went on a rant about LeBron James, how The Decision was a cowardly jump to a guaranteed stacked team, and that the only comparable action was when Shaquille O'Neal joined a young Kobe Bryant to form a perennial contender...

Twelve months ago, I would have thought something sounded wrong with that statement, but I wouldn't have been able to act on that thought. Now? I whipped out my phone and confirmed that Shaq signed with the Lakers a week after Kobe had been traded to L.A. for Vlade Divac. Though Kobe was a highly-regarded prospect (lottery pick, yadda yadda yadda), I doubt anyone at that moment truly believed he'd be the all-time great he's become. My buddy acknowledged misremembering the timeline, the conversation bounced off that comment in a new direction, and we were slightly less ignorant of NBA transactions that took place thirteen years ago.

All that's to say that my phone's internet access has served primarily to provide driving directions, keep me on top of my email, and keep my sports arguments as accurate as possible. What a world.