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Living without a mobile/cell phone - Page 2

post #31 of 43
8/25/08 at 7:16pm

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam Lenhardt
My biggest regret with cellphones is the change in boundaries. When people were confined to landlines, only a few of the most intense fields required calls to one's home. Work calling the house was considered an invasion into the personal space. But with cellphones, it feels like so many of us are on call 24/7. I take pride in putting in my best effort on the job. But I like the idea of checking out at 5 and having the rest of the day for my time.

Well put. When I first started, I worked many late evenings, but once I was out of the door, I was "free", at least until the next working day. Nowadays, I get calls from the bosses on the weekends, sometimes it's really urgent, but other times it could easily have waited till Monday.

Also, the other big change I've seen is how everyone becomes far more lackadaisical with making social plans. It used to be that we'd agree to meet at a particular pub at a certain time, be there or else, and people would either agree -- and endeavour to keep the appointment -- or they'd give a definitive "no", or at worst a "if I'm not there within 15 mins, means I'm stuck at work and go ahead without me". Nowadays it's inevitably a wishy-washy "let's see how it goes, I"ll call you guys".
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post #32 of 43
8/25/08 at 11:02pm

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yee-Ming
Nowadays it's inevitably a wishy-washy "let's see how it goes, I"ll call you guys".
I ran into that today in an experience that reinforced the importance of cellphones. After attending a concert with a local friend and a mutual friend visiting from Boston, we planned to meet "in downtown Saratoga." Well, I get to downtown Saratoga, and my phone is nowhere to be found. Then I remember I didn't have it when I tried to call them from within the fences of the performing arts center. I know I don't have any prayer of finding them without the phone to triangulate, so I hightail it back to the far distant parking lot and search in vain for my black phone in the grass in the dark. Fortunately, there were still a few roadies left packing things up, and one of them agreed to dial my number for me. I ran to the general area where I'd remembered parking and used the sound of the ringtone to zero in on the phone. By some miracle, none of the other cars had run it over. I thanked the roadie, called my friends and we hit the bars. But if I hadn't been able to find my phone, not only would I not have been able to find them, but I would have been completely unable to let them know I wasn't coming.
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post #33 of 43
8/26/08 at 5:16am

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

I use a cell phone, but not on it all the time. But, you'll not hear my phone ring, out in public. I keep it on vibrate most of the time, and keep it in my shirt pocket, so I can feel it.

For those that want one only for emergencies...............
Get someone's old phone, when they get a new one. Keep the battery charged, and keep phone in glove compartment of your car. If you break down or have a wreck, you're still supposed to be able to call 911, even on a phone that has no regular service on it.
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post #34 of 43
8/26/08 at 6:12am

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

I didn't have a cell phone for the longest time but just a landline. When I decided to spring for a cell phone (because of my bike commute, like to be able to call for help or the cops), I did the reverse, dropped the landline and well cell phone only.

Like most people here, I don't feel the need to have the thing on and when I'm at work, I get horrible reception anyway in this metal box I work in so I turn it off. Works for me!

Jay
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post #35 of 43
8/26/08 at 9:23am

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

My wife and I commute separately due to the unpredictability of our job hours, but we follow the same route. The cell phone is a great way for us to warn each other of possible traffic issues that could be avoided by at least one of us, since we have some alternate routes available to us. Also if I am running really late I can call ahead to daycare to let them know it's okay to send the kids home with one of the daycare workers (we have set up this arrangement in advance). That way they don't sit there waiting and wondering.

Other than that, I don't use the thing much except to remind me of appointments.
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post #36 of 43
8/26/08 at 11:33am

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

I only have one for work- it allows me to make a personal call here or there. My wife did have a plan with Verizon, but right at the end of her contract she lost her phone and instead of renewing, she went with a pay-as-you-go phone (Tracfone). It's worked out well, and one less monthly bill to worry about.

We still have a landline, which I would love to get rid of. Given that we have DSL, I can't remember how much the phone co. would jack up the DSL rate if we cancelled phone, but I think there'd still be some savings there.

And I totally agree about people are conditioned to answer the phone. I was finally able to break myself of the habit a couple of years ago, but I still cringe a little when I hear a phone ring - means somebody wants something from me.
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post #37 of 43
8/26/08 at 12:05pm

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

Makes me wonder how old some of you guys are. Sound like my grandparents. I'm 29 and most of the people I know, and work with, have become very accustomed to the cell phone. I do find myself screening calls a lot, I don't pick up just because one person is calling. But just because it rings doesn't mean that someone needs something, at least for me.
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post #38 of 43
8/26/08 at 12:56pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

Steve, I'm in my early forties, so I grew up during the time cellular phones came into existence. And while the technology has definitely improved our lives beyond anyone's wildest expectations, it has also created a level of rudeness that's simply beyond belief. What you're seeing now is a bunch of middle-aged people who now realize the errors of their ways and have finally decided to stop being slaves to that beeping, vibrating demon in their pocket.

Yes, I'm talking about the phones.
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post #39 of 43
8/26/08 at 1:07pm

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

About the only negative thing I can say about cell phones is that hell-spawned Nextel chirp!

It is the most obnoxious sound around and whenever I hear it it makes me want to rip my own god damned ears off just so I won't have to.
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post #40 of 43
8/26/08 at 1:16pm

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

Quote:
Originally Posted by Francois Caron
Steve, I'm in my early forties, so I grew up during the time cellular phones came into existence. And while the technology has definitely improved our lives beyond anyone's wildest expectations, it has also created a level of rudeness that's simply beyond belief. What you're seeing now is a bunch of middle-aged people who now realize the errors of their ways and have finally decided to stop being slaves to that beeping, vibrating demon in their pocket.

Yes, I'm talking about the phones.

I would agree with that. And my phone has been on vibrate for about 2 years now.
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post #41 of 43
8/26/08 at 1:18pm

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

I am 43 and I couldn't imagine doing without my phone although when it rings it is usually my wife or my mom and dad. We are not big time cell phone users and do not require one for work. That seems to be the rub with most people who are tired of being always connected and never being fully "away" from work or their bosses, even after hours.

We use ours for convienence, it has saved many a trip back to the store for groceries or take out dinner when I am driving home from work. We could save about $60 a month by disconnecting our home phone but we want to keep our number which we have had for 14 years and the fact that the moment we do one of us will have forgotten to charge our cells. We have cordless phones all over the house so we don't have to go searching for the cell whenever it rings and at least two are fully charged at all times.

Of course, I could be biased as I got my start doing Q.A. work for Mitsubishi back in the late 80's when transportable phones were the size of a hardback book and portables were anything but.
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post #42 of 43
8/26/08 at 2:53pm

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

Have never owned or even used a cell phone. I think the car I bought a coiuple of years ago has one built in with the Onstar system but I've never used that either.....nor a debit card, ATM machine. Ipod, etc My home computer was manufactured in 1981 so I don't have much use for internet access at home. Life is peaceful.

Mort
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post #43 of 43
10/4/08 at 6:38pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Living without a mobile/cell phone

Well, so much for going cold turkey.

I just came back from a two week European vacation. I wanted to stay in touch with the family back home, so I studied the possibility of getting a mobile phone while I was over there. I stumbled onto the major Carphone Warehouse outlet on Oxford Street in London and found...

Paradise!

I ended up getting this phone as a test, a dual-band Nokia 1650.



The phone itself only cost me £10 or $20 in our currency. This was conditional on the purchase of a £20 ($40) prepaid SIM card. As it turns out, one third-party provider, TalkMobile, had a "World" package that offered rates to North America for only 4p (8¢) a minute! No system access fees, no 911 fees, no sign-up costs, and the SIM card is free!

It took me a lot longer to drain the card than I thought. I discovered the clerk made a slight mistake. TalkMobile had a promotional offer during September where all foreign calls only cost 2p (4¢) a minute!

So for $60, I had a phone AND a service that would have lasted well beyond my stay! That is until I hit Paris and the roaming charges kicked in. SCHLOOOOP!

As it turns out, Carphone Warehouse sold me an unlocked phone. So I got a Virgin Mobile SIM card for 30 Euros at their Megastore on the Champs Elysées and was gabbing away, but at a much higher rate.

Once back in London, I topped up the TalkMobile SIM card. Then I was thinking: what if I got myself a quad-band phone so I can use it in Canada? So I got myself a £159 Nokia 6500 Slide with a £10 prepaid Orange SIM card (the card gave me a £70 rebate on the cost of the phone).







So now I had two phones and three SIM cards. And I could use any SIM card with any phone without any restrictions whatsoever. The biggest surprise was discovering how cheap were the data rates while trying to wipe out the £10 from the Orange card. It took me forever! I was browsing all over the place with the Opera Mini browser pre-installed on the Nokia 6500, yet it was taking me a long time to drain the account!

When I got back to Canada, I still had £15 left on the TalkMobile SIM. So I used it as a temporary card while I shopped around for a prepaid Canadian SIM. I narrowed the "choice" down to Fido. In fact, it wasn't much of a choice at all. Canadian mobile phone service sucks BIG time! On the Canadian GSM network, you can't get a data package unless you use an "approved" handset and software. That rules out both unlocked phones and Opera Mini. And the data rates without a plan are 5¢ per kilobyte. That translates to $50 per megabyte! Ouch!

At least Fido's Pay As You Go rate of 20¢ per minute is not too much out of line. It's just too bad that on my highly advanced Nokia 6500 Slide, all I can do with it is talk. All data intensive options are out of my reach.

Oh. Have I mentioned that the Fido SIM was the only SIM I actually had to pay for? $35. I did get a promotional top-up of $20, but that means the card still cost me $15. There was no way to get it for free, unlike in Europe where many providers will mail them to your home for free on request!

Maybe on top of my television channel, I should also start a mobile phone service. Microcell, Fido's parent company, made a mistake selling out to Rogers and creating a GSM monopoly in Canada. We now get ripped off no matter who we choose.
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