Yesterday I received a nice surprise. My father was in town, and he left me a very unusual little gadget. It seems to be the latest technology. It can… get this… it can be used to call other people from anywhere in the world without the medium of wires or fibers! That’s right, it works just like a telephone, AND you can carry it with you in your pocket. I think they call it a cellphone…?
But, seriously now, am I the only one in the planet who’s never owned a cellphone since they became popular about a decade ago? I have never had use for it, and even now I don’t think it’ll be used much. I feel awkward carrying it around and having to learn about minutes, chips, and whatnot. Now this, this is a phone!
You are not alone, but are becoming a rare specimen anyway. I was also in the same position, till a month ago. Privacy is now gone. All the people were asking me for my mobile phone number, and I fell embarrassed to tell them all the time, I don’t have any cell phone. They would then look at you, as if you’d just fallen from the sky. Now that I have a cell phone, it’s too expensive to use it. Except for short emergency messages, I prefer to use the old standard phone. It seems to me, other people are thinking the same, for no one called me on my cell phone. But there are also good sides of the story. I can use it as a radio, take pictures with it, it’s a good ipod, and a very useful alarm clock and to keep notes in the agenda.
Mobile phones have their uses, the most obvious is in emergencies. For that reason, I rarely leave my house without my phone, not because I’ll be in constant contact with others, but because if something goes wrong, I’ll be contactable.
You got that right. I don’t know why people don’t feel embarrassed to talk about their private lives among strangers, and in a loud voice! Sometime ago, while on a Trolley, I witnessed an old lady get thrashed by several young passengers around her, for daring to complain about the loud voice and beeps of a very inconsiderate cell-phone user. Is silence, or at least relative silence, no longer golden?
Except for short emergency messages, I prefer to use the old standard phone.
That’s what I plan on doing, using it for emergencies only. I don’t want to get sucked in this “awful” trend of using it for just about anything. In fact, I may even give it to my mother, so it won’t be left there to gather dust.
ὀτοτοῖ! My favorite recent incident of this was a woman on the bus loudly discussing how her jail time was negatively impacting her ability to find a job. Without my iPod to shield me from this sort of thing I would probably quickly lose what remains of my mind.
I’ve long had a cell phone but I am infamous among my friends for not carrying it. I sort of have to have one for work — I have had to use it far too often the last few weeks — but it’s occasionally useful for other things.
I was born in the 80’s too, yet I have this strange feeling of being very off-sync with my generation. Not only do I not use a cell-phone, but jeans, t-shirts and tennis shoes are a big no-no for me as well. I should have been born in the 1880’s.
Well, to tell you the truth, I do have one for some time but it’s rather _im_mobile It sees more use these days since my parents refuse point blank to learn the number of the land line here. Plus, my husband’s alarm clock frightens the hell out of me so I refuse to be woken by it more than once. My cell phone has a nice, irritating enough to wake you noise that doesn’t cause me to perform amazing feats such as bodily jumping a few inches above the bed on hearing it.
Other than that it serves its usual purpose as a clock (I haven’t worn a wristwatch ever since my mother got the hint -finally- after my sabotaging some 5 in a row at a rather young age).
Word of advice: Do not give your cell phone number to any people from work, ever. Clients expect you to be at their beck and call 24/7 if you do. If you do that you will end up with 2 phones or one of those that combine 2 in one.
On the other hand, when cell phones are useful they are REALLY useful.
am I the only one in the planet who’s never owned a cellphone since they became popular about a decade ago? I have never had use for it, and even now I don’t think it’ll be used much. I feel awkward carrying it around and having to learn about minutes, chips, and whatnot. 
Now this, this is a phone!
Is silence, or at least relative silence, no longer golden?
