Dummy with a Smart Phone

I've had a cell phone since 1995, in fact I still have the same phone number 17 years later.  But I've been feeling left behind with all the new Smart Phones that have been out a few years now.  Even my wife has one and of course my kids do too.
So a friend of mine just bought himself the latest iPhone.  I asked him what happened to the old one.  He said it was sitting in a desk drawer at home.  I asked what was wrong with it; apparently it has some difficulties with "the cloud."  I have no idea what "the cloud" is but my 10 year old Nokia never complained about it.
Anyhow, we made a deal; I'd buy him  a "Loop 'n Cheddar" at a local burger spot and I'd get the Iphone.
Quite the deal if you ask me.  He gave me the phone ( without a charger, without a connector, etc.) and I started trying to find out what company I could use it with; AT&T was the answer.  I didn't particularly like that answer after viewing their monthly plan.  The young clerk then told me there was a store in town that could "unlock" the iPhone pretty cheaply.  Wasn't sure what that was but headed down to the store where they told me they could, indeed, unlock the phone enabling me to use it on any network I chose.
One day and 50 buckazoids later, the phone was unlocked and I signed up with "Simple-Mobile" (cheap, generic version of T-Mobile) - non contract, 1 month at a time, everything for $45 bucks.  We'll see how it goes.  If I don't like the new phone company I can always change.
I feel like a new man but at this point in time my iPhone do anything but make and receive calls, just like my 10 year old Nokia.  More precisely; I don't know how to do anything but make and receive calls.  I did download Skype and Kik; hopefully I'll be able to use them with my daughter living out of the country.

Now I'm a dummy with a smart phone.  We'll see how this works.