Life without a mobile telephone

[Linton]

Yesterday I happened to visit Gander, Newfoundland for 13 hours.It is a small town with an airport that has a couple of long runways.
Unbelievably it has no mobile telephone service.This caused some consternation to some of my colleagues who have never experienced it before.I also found it quite hard to believe that my tri-band phone wouldn't work but then after a while I began to feel quite liberated from this electronic leash!
They did have broadband in the hotel at a speed of 100mb though!!.Is there anywhere else that doesn't have mobile coverage in a town?

[AVGWarhawk]

If I could dump my phone in the river it would really make my day. I tell my friends (before the cell phone), if you can't find me at work or at home, then I do not want to be found. Then I discovered the off button!

[Platapus]

I keep my cell phone in my car for emergencies. Few people have the number and that's the way I like it.

I wonder how many cell phone calls are made just because people have cell phones?

[Blacklight]

I've never even HAD a cell phone. I simply can't budget for it and no one ever calls me or talks to me on the phone that much anyway.

[Trex]

I have this recurring dream. It is the day after my retirement. I am on a beach, with perfectly still water stretching to the horizon. I have a huge, top-notch driver, a tee and my electronic leash...

[Ducimus]

I hate cellphones. For one, they distract people while driving. For two, in my mind it's still the sort of thing that only yuppies induldge in because it's hip, and for three, its is nothing short of being an electronic leash.

To me, a cellphone is alot like a beeper. Back when i was in highschool, there was a certain crowd who' just HAD to have a beeper because it made them look cool and look important when their not. (this was before cellphones). Eventually the beeper gave way to the cellphone, but in my mind its the same damn thing.

So ive gotten along quite well without. If i break down.. well... you know.. there is such a thing as call box or payphone. Always have spare change in my cars ash tray. Then........the signficant other starts really disliking me not having a cellphone, so she gets a 2nd phone on her account, and now im stuck with it. SHe pays for it cause she knows damn well if it was left up to me, i wouldnt have it. How now im at her beck and call. At least i dont pay for the damn thing. :rotfl:

[Tchocky]

I have my mobile for the basic reason that there's no landline in this house.
My girlfriend and I move often enough to make the additional hassle and expense of changing landlines unnecessary. Mobiles are more convenient and you've always got the same number.

[Torplexed]

I rarely use mine. Judging by what I see everyday I don't know how half the human race survived without them when they were still plugged into walls.

But then I used to be able to live just fine without the internet too.:cool: Now, I'd probably have withdrawal symptoms.

[bookworm_020]

Plenty of black holes in the coverage on my train trip in and out of the city!:x I tend to use it to SMS my wife when I'm about to get home so she can pick me up from the station, the joys of doing a late shift at work!:roll:

I can survive without it without to much trouble. I some times wish they would block the signal in trains so I don't have to listen to the loud converstaions of a teen or 20 something that is expletive filled!:nope:

[August]

Yesterday I happened to visit Gander, Newfoundland for 13 hours.It is a small town with an airport that has a couple of long runways.
Unbelievably it has no mobile telephone service.This caused some consternation to some of my colleagues who have never experienced it before.I also found it quite hard to believe that my tri-band phone wouldn't work but then after a while I began to feel quite liberated from this electronic leash!
They did have broadband in the hotel at a speed of 100mb though!!.Is there anywhere else that doesn't have mobile coverage in a town?

You've had a glimpse of heaven my friend. I got rid of my cell phone almost two years ago now and i love it.

[Yahoshua]

The only reason I still have a cell-phone is because I have a mother.

Get rid of one, get rid of both!! :hmm:

(okay so maybe that's not the most efficient way to go about doing this :oops: )

[Sailor Steve]

I never had a cell phone until I rented a room in the basement of a house. I couldn't use the landlady's phone, and a cell was the only choice, other than having no phone at all. I got one and now I wouldn't live without it. It has a built-in phone book so I can make any important call with no problems. It has a clock and a calculator, and a converter that I've programmed to handle nautical miles and long tons. I love it.

On the other hand, I found that my calling habits are so limited that any plan I subscribed to would be a waste of money, so I'm using pay-as-you-go cards at 10 cents per minute. Last month my total phone bill was $4.32. My usual phone call is to the temp agency about a job, and if I call a friend it's just to plan where to meet and talk face-to-face.

I love mine, but it's a tool, not a leash.

[Geno_Mariner]

I got a cell phone. And a better one now (since it's an early birthday present, my b'day's on this Saturday :D).

I hardly use it much, and my friends hardly call me at all! Let alone a few text messages... since I am hearing impaired. So... to me, my phone's my mp3 player, camera, internet browser and MSN/Yahoo. I've just discovered this site's adaptable to my phone :lol: Though it takes a lot of scrolling to reach the General Topics :-? Blasted phone keeps fading the screen light :nope:

[3Jane]

Never had one, never will have one!!.

[Graf Paper]

Cell phones can be convienient but they can sometimes be a pain.

The thing I dislike most is those people who yak-yak away on their phones, oblivious to their surroundings until they nearly hit you with their shopping cart or run over you with their car...and some of them have the nerve to look at you as if it was your fault!

I do have to wonder what the consequence of the global spread of cellular phones will be to the human race, in about ten or twenty years, after having half of your skull bombarded by high-frequency microwave radiation. :ping:

:o

[Geno_Mariner]

Cell phones can be convienient but they can sometimes be a pain.

The thing I dislike most is those people who yak-yak away on their phones, oblivious to their surroundings until they nearly hit you with their shopping cart or run over you with their car...and some of them have the nerve to look at you as if it was your fault!

I do have to wonder what the consequence of the global spread of cellular phones will be to the human race, in about ten or twenty years, after having half of your skull bombarded by high-frequency microwave radiation. :ping:

:o

Yeah, I hate that. And especially on buses when I want to get off and I get stuck with window seats. I had to give the person a real good poke to let them know I have to get off. Darn near missed my stop once.

lol, I wonder about that. My phone apparently communicates via wireless unlike others. Discovered that when I checked the 'Aircraft Mode' button out. So I don't really know how much radiation wireless devices spit out.

[kiwi_2005]

I dont own a cell phone never have never will, if anyone needs to get hold of me they can get me on the main phone line, msn, email. Thats it. Sons own cell phones and all they do with it is txt - what a waste of time.:roll:

[3Jane]

Cell phones can be convienient but they can sometimes be a pain.

The thing I dislike most is those people who yak-yak away on their phones, oblivious to their surroundings until they nearly hit you with their shopping cart or run over you with their car...and some of them have the nerve to look at you as if it was your fault!

I do have to wonder what the consequence of the global spread of cellular phones will be to the human race, in about ten or twenty years, after having half of your skull bombarded by high-frequency microwave radiation. :ping:

:o
Yeah, I hate that. And especially on buses when I want to get off and I get stuck with window seats. I had to give the person a real good poke to let them know I have to get off. Darn near missed my stop once.

lol, I wonder about that. My phone apparently communicates via wireless unlike others. Discovered that when I checked the 'Aircraft Mode' button out. So I don't really know how much radiation wireless devices spit out.

And now we have them on airlines. 'I'm on the plane' etc :-?

[kurtz]

I had a cracker on the train in this morning, some middle management lady banging on loudly about how she was going to investigate some people, she gave the 4 forenames out, that they worked shifts in a care home, how she was going to solicit written complaints about one in particular, and how she was going to do this formally in an informal way and about how one in particular had already been spoken to about this but had started backsliding again...So if your manager gets the train into London Euston, getting on somewhere after Tring you know what's coming:down:

I had another one saying to the office,"tell them we've posted it, but post it to x as he's been complaining for weeks"

I think we should start a thread and put in these overheard conversations just so people know they're being shafted.:arrgh!:

Yes I have a mobile but then I freelance so need to be available. It's also to text Frau Kurtz pick me up from the station and my MP3 player for the 2miles I have to walk when she doesn't pick me up:cry:

[HunterICX]

I have a Mobile phone too,
but the only time I carry it is when I'm out to work.
for example when my Scooter breaks down or have a accident.
(handy buggers to get fast to work)

when at home I have it mostly switched off

HunterICX

[XabbaRus]

Have one and hardly use it. Hence it is out of charge most of the time.

I won't start having it on all the time until work demands it and even then if I am on holiday I'll tell them to stuff it.

[3Jane]

A nobel prize to the inventor of the mobile phone box

[Platapus]

And now we have them on airlines. 'I'm on the plane' etc :-?


There I was no S***.

I landed at good ole Dulles Airport at about 0300 one morning. During the transport back to the terminal I was standing next to this guy who made five cell phone calls, left five voice mail messages, all saying the same thing "Hey, we just landed".

I wonder if cell phones are becoming a social crutch. People seem to have lost the capability to wait. Now it seems that they simply must make a call just to pass the time. Heaven forbid should you ever talk to the human next to you :nope:

One of the few good things about air travel is watching all the addicts. :rotfl:

First it was the smokers. They could not wait to deplane before feverishly lighting up.

Now it is the cell phones. Like Pavlov's dog as soon as the seatbelt light goes off, they have to light up. Listen to some of the conversations sometime. It is not difficult as many cell phone users have no courtesy about their neighbors. These people are talking about nothing, but they have to use the cell phone. Pretty comical at times.

From a social standpoint, I think Cell phones were a technology that created the need instead of the reverse.

[Graf Paper]

At least now smokers have someone to laugh at for being addicted to something that will probably eat you up with tumors by the time you're in your fifties. :dead:

I just wonder if , in a decade or two, cell phone companies will be facing the same legal attacks as the tobacco companies did in the 1990s?

Wouldn't it be a real wrench in our society to also discover that all man-made electromagnetic transmissions are mainly responsible for the rise in cancer rates over the last 50 years? :hmm:

There is some evidence to support this theory, but noone has had the nerve or funding to find out for sure.

The way we think, people would scream for a cure rather than eliminating the cause and living without T.V., radio, satellites, computers, etc. :p

I agree that "texting" has to be one of the most useless features of a cell phone. It's a phone, people! You want to talk, then call me, not waste my time trying to type back and forth on those twelve dinky little keys! :nope:

[STEED]

STEED HATES THE BLOODY MOBILE PHONES, THEY MAKE PEOPLE TALK SHAT. :hulk: :hulk: :hulk:

[Tchocky]

I loathe talking to people on the phone. The idea of a telephone call is just about the rudest mode of communication.

NOISE! NOISE! I'M GOING TO MAKE LOTS OF NOISE UNTIL YOU PICK ME UP AND TALK TO ME! NOISE! NOISE!

I love text messages. You don't have to answer them immediately, or even at all. And the annoyance factor is nil.


I'm not sure about the anti-mobile sentiment here, a lot of it seems to be of the you-know-how-to-contact me variety. Look at it the other way. Having a mobile line of communication is nothing but beneficial in unexpected situations.
When's the next bus?
Where the hell are you?
Police, help me plz.
And believe me, no matter what the method of communication is, people will always talk rubbish. It's who we are, guys.

etc

Oh, and txtspk is incomprehensible.

[clive bradbury]

Hey, notice I most of us here don't like mobiles (me included), but we nearly all own one!

In common with most men, I don't like telephone conversation, and getting me to answer any phone, mobile or landline, is not easy. However, I do travel quite a bit in my work and I have to admit that a mobile is useful for that. Trying to find a payphone in the UK nowadays is a bit of a challenge! So they do have their uses, and texts are also useful at times. In common with several others here, I certainly don't use it often, and can't justify an account, so use pay-as-you-go.

You can fall into the trap of using them more and more, though. A few years ago I would have said that I would only ever use a mobile for work, but that is no longer true. I play friendly cricket for a local club, and we go to pretty out-of-the-way grounds in villages. Well having a mobile has got to to many a match I would have missed when I get lost!

[DeepIron]

Life without a cell phone would be ... heaven.

[Takao]

Ah yes, a mobile line of communication is beneficial in unexpected ways.
It does provide me with brief minutes of hilarity to get me through the day.

1. Do not threaten, in a loud voice on your cell phone, to beat your child, and then proceed to do so. People will overhear you and call 911 on their cell phones to report you. The police will come and you will be arrested.

2. Call your S.O. to inquire on the spelling of your child's name. If you don't know, it's probably not your then, is it.

3. Do not reagle the world in general with tales of your sex life. I don't care and besides there are children present.

4. People have forgotten what a pen/pencil and paper are for. If you can't remember a simple shopping list without calling for help, how the hell do you expect to find your way home.

5. Those people who have the "hands free" headsets/ear clip-ons. Don't you wonder about all those strange looks you get as you walk around talking to nothing.

6. Wait until you get home to argue with your S.O. The government has classified this argument as "Need to Know" and I don't need to know.

7.One cell phone rings and four people search desperately for their phones, find them, but only one answers.

While there is a need for cell phones. It is very small compared to the number of self-important people who use them.

No, I don't have one. Not until I get a job that requires something other than a land-line.

Yes, I wish cell phone jammers were legal to own in the U.S.

I think there have been exactly 4 times when I really needed a cell and had to use a pay-phone.

But without cell phones we wouldn't have "Cellular Degeneration" by Sudden Death.
http://www.thefump.com/fump.php?id=29

[kurtz]

A great one I've seen twice on the last train home is a couple who've sat in seperate carriages and argued via mobile phones taking it in turns to put the phone down on each other, before meeting up to carry on the argument face to face.

ps I'm a big fan of texting for when you've got a short simple message which doesn't need a reply..."I'm on the 1934 train from Euston" is the one I'm most looking forward to sending right now;)

[Zayphod]

I've never even HAD a cell phone. I simply can't budget for it and no one ever calls me or talks to me on the phone that much anyway.

THANK YOU!!! I thought I was the only guy left without one.

I have no life, no one calls me at home, so why have one? :roll:

[SUBMAN1]

Well, you all know that I don't have a cell phone. though I lost the battle with my wife not getting one earlier this year. She now owns one, but I still dont' own one and have no plans to ever get one.

-S

[baggygreen]

I have one, its a private one i originally bought for contacting parents back in the day, because it was rare to find a working payphone in town.

Now, its good (even essential) for each of my 4 occupations, and i use the same-carrier deals to call mates interstate every now and again.

I do however use a wired earpiece where possible, and dont keep the bloody thing on my person where possible - a bag, or on my desk is the norm.

[Onkel Neal]

I have a cell, I love it. Very convienent device. I have the cell in place of the landline. If someone needs to get in touch with me, they can do it no matter where I am. Brilliant! Likewise, I can conact people no matter where I am. No searching for a phone booth or wasting hours because plans change and I cannot let the other party know. If I am making a long drive, I can catch up with friends, do some business, and in general, get some things done. And if I don't want to be bothered, I know how to turn it off or leave it at home.

Very surprising to read so much angst over a modern appliance or tool. This thread sounds like the discussions 100 years ago when them new-fangled horseless carriages began showing up :p

[Takeda Shingen]

I have a cell, I love it. Very convienent device. I have the cell in place of the landline. If someone needs to get in touch with me, they can do it no matter where I am. Brilliant! Likewise, I can conact people no matter where I am. No searching for a phone booth or wasting hours because plans change and I cannot let the other party know. If I am making a long drive, I can catch up with friends, do some business, and in general, get some things done. And if I don't want to be bothered, I know how to turn it off or leave it at home.

Very surprising to read so much angst over a modern appliance or tool. This thread sounds like the discussions 100 years ago when them new-fangled horseless carriages began showing up :p

Ditto. I use my cell all the time. It can ring. It can vibrate. It can do both at the same time. It can forward my calls to voice mail if I don't want to talk to anyone. It can also fail to do this, leaving my answering service unbothered.

[SUBMAN1]

THe only use I could think of is for employees looking for me to fix something, and as the only positive is to call a toe truck if my car broke down. So for the most part, it's just a big negative and massive leash. To each his own I guess. I know I'm in the minority here.

-S