Foo - The "I do not own a cell phone" thread

I do not. I hate them. I want to go back to my little phone that I hung on the wall with a tape type answering machine. Rotary dial just to make people wonder how in the heck you dial on this thing.

My wife has one of those Iphone things that is smarter than me.

I had a cell phone for the longest time and never really used it so I chucked it. I tried cutting my plan down and down and finally ended up with TracPhone. Nice product decent plan and price. Still could not justify the price or need.

BTW I do not Facebook, Myspace, or anything else. Heck, Bike forums is pushing my boundaries.

I have been told that I was born into the wrong era that I should have lived in the 50's.

This thread confuses me.

GET OFF MY YARD!!!!!!!1

GET OFF MY YARD!!!!!!!1

This is me, yelling at the neighbor kids while I sit on my porch with an old dog, a rocking chair, and a shotgun. My wife, meanwhile, will pat my head and tell me its ok. Which will cause me to grumble something you cannot repeat in polite company.

How about I wish I didn't own a cell phone thread. Quite frankly if it could stay 1993 forever I would be ok.

How about I wish I didn't own a cell phone thread. Quite frankly if it could stay 1993 forever I would be ok.

I'd prefer not to own a phone at all.
Someday, it will be that way....I will do all communication via email and snail mail.
As for the 1993 comment....nah. We'd be hearing Millie Vanilly on the radio all the time. I hated that.

I own a tracphone that is only ever used when I'm travelling or something. I take it with me on bike rides in case of emergency, but never use it. It's almost never turned on and no one has the number (except a bunch of bill collectors who're trying to track down the last guy with that number). I'd prefer not to have one at all, but sometimes when traveling to new places you need to have one to coordinate airport pickups/directions/etc.

Everyone else at my work has one and wants to add my number to the list at work and don't understand why I don't want to. I don't see why they need to contact me every second of the day. They have my home phone and can see me if I'm at work, what more do they want. When I'm not near a phone, I don't want to be interrupted by things that aren't relevant to what I'm doing right now (exception, it was on in the 2 weeks before my wife's due date pretty much every second I wasn't around her as I didn't want to miss the birth of our daughter).

I'd prefer not to own a phone at all.
Someday, it will be that way....I will do all communication via email and snail mail.
As for the 1993 comment....nah. We'd be hearing Millie Vanilly on the radio all the time. I hated that.

I do still write letters. I think I'm the only one of my age set that I know (32) that sends out handwritten Christmas cards (or any at all for that matter) every year.

Our daughter has one of those little rotary phones with wheels and a face on the front of it (similar to the one that played a big role in the most recent toy story movie), and I think when she gets older she's going to be so confused as she'll never see a rotary phone and probably never a corded one. I do, however, keep one around plugged in always in case of power outages, so she might see that. I grew up in a rural area where we'd lose power at least 3-4 times a year and would need a non-electricity powered phone to call it in so the power company would know. Heck, where I grew up we were so rural, we had a party line phone until probably 1990 and I still listen for a dial tone before I dial as a result.

Cell phones cause brain cancer, according to the World Health Organisation.

When people ask for my cell number, I love telling them I've never been in prison. :)
Hilarious to me that some people react hurt, as if I don't consider them close or important enough and would lie to avoid giving it to them. ("Oh, so you just don't want to give it to me, huh?")

I've also met two women via internet dating whose eyebrows went up when they found out and I immediately knew my not having a cellphone was a deal-killer.

Several months ago I bought a peanut butter cup in a supermarket to make change for the payphone. When I asked the market teller where the nearest payphone was, her eyes bugged out and she said loud enough for everyone at the front of the market to hear, "How can you not have a cellphone! Even HOMELESS PEOPLE have cellphones!"
...guess I'll take my peanut butter cup business elsewhere from now on.

Thank god my gf is cool with me being cell-free. :)

+1 on the Milli Vanilli. (Baah-bababa-baah-bababa-blechblech-blechblech...)
http://www.badrecordcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/milli-vanilli-robandfab.jpg

I do not have a land line. My cell is always with me. I do have rules though. I do not answer the phone whenever it rings. If I am with another person, or eating dinner, or riding my bike, the phone goes to voicemail.

Cell phones are good for emergencies. Other than that...worthless.

Trac phone: cost $10. Airtime: $20 every 3 months. Had it for 3 years now and for about $7/month its an emergency use only device. Last year had a tire blowout (yes tire....tread separated on an almost brand new tire and I don't usually carry a spare tire) about 4 miles from home. No pay phones around(are there any left at all?) and sure was nice to be able to call my wife and put the bike in the back of the van instead of carrying it home. Also makes me feel a bit more secure knowing that if I go down in a rural area I can call for help.

Well, I like cereal, you may want to think about getting with the times. After all, the losers who thought they would never have a use for a TV set back in the 50's sure as hell had finally get a clue and eventually bought one. Show me someone who never bought a TV or a microwave.

I do not have a land line. My cell is always with me. I do have rules though. I do not answer the phone whenever it rings. If I am with another person, or eating dinner, or riding my bike, the phone goes to voicemail.

Oh if only the rest of the world had your etiquette :thumb:

Well, I like cereal, you may want to think about getting with the times. After all, the losers who thought they would never have a use for a TV set back in the 50's sure as hell had finally get a clue and eventually bought one. Show me someone who never bought a TV or a microwave.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/37/Theodore_Kaczynski.jpg/220px-Theodore_Kaczynski.jpg

I didn't own a tv in the 90's and most of the rest of that millennia, and didn't miss it. In fact I'd love to chuck the thing now to end the bickering over xbox/soap opera but no way I could get away with it.

I'm another tracfone guy. I think I'd prefer a text-enabled pager with smtp if such thing still existed.

I didn't have a cell phone until last Febuary when I snapped a chain seven miles from home in single digit temps. I walked the bike about 3 miles until I came to a store, then borrowed a phone from the clerk to call my wife.

After that my wife insisted I get a cell phone. I bought a TracFone that I can carry for emergencies and it only costs me $7 a month to maintain.

The funny thing is that with my wife's sleep schedule, she's in bed during my morning commute. She turns off all of the phones in the house before she goes to bed so they don't wake her up. So if I did have an emergency on my way to work, I couldn't call her anyway.

There are times when it's handy, but I survived 41 years without one. I could continue to survive without one if need be.

We also don't have a landline, my wife and I each have a cell phone. It's nice to be somewhere boring and have a text chat with my wife, other than that it's pretty much used like a landline--I only use it from home (or where I'm staying if on a trip). With two toddlers, it's nice to have the extra security when on trips.

What I don't like are all these young kids out of college coming to work and being buried in their devices instead of paying attention to their job. I work at a pharmaceutical production facility--dumb mistakes cost at best thousands and at worst millions. We actually had to make new rules to deal with the stunods.

I have one. My first one was paid for by the company I worked for. I mostly used it to coordinate with people waiting on the ground when I would fly somewhere.

I have an AT&T Go Phone. Its kind of a silly rip. They say it's pay as you go, but if you don't use it it's really about 8 bucks a month, because if you don't keep paying $25 quarterly, you lose what you paid for. I think I've got over $100 in accumulated fees available.

You have to go with the times to some extent. As others have pointed out, there are very few pay phones anymore. I was at Texas A&M a few weeks ago. There were enclosures for 3 pay phones on one wall with attractive stainless steel grilles for sound absorbing. The phones were gone and some of us were speculating whether current students even knew what these were originally made for. Finally someone suggested that they should be converted to little shrines; maybe Elvis, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Einstein.

My real objection is that cell phones are uncomfortable to use. You've got this tiny little brick with no natural way that it should be held, and a tiny speaker and a nearly invisible microphone. It gives me no confidence that I am being heard. It's really a stupidly designed machine where a devotion to minaturization trumps good ergonomics.

Texting? Even with a mini keyboard, there is no way it is comfortable to text. Using two thumbs has to be slower than 8 fingers. Using a 12 button keypad, texting is something that should only be attempted in emergency situations. Having to wait for it to display the right character when you press a certain number and backing up if you miss is pretty trying.

I'm guessing that many cell phones will disappear. I think that data tablets with a head set will replace them. But I still pine for the traditional telephone handset with the big speaker and the big microphone.

But maybe I'm not alone. I found this while looking for a picture of the traditional handset. A bluetooth handset. There's hope. Put a small keypad and screen on the inside of the handle and I'm there.
http://www.gizmo-central.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/11/bluetooth-retro-handset.jpg
Bluetooth Handset (http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/electronic/8928/)

Someone once asked why firms made their lawyers carry blackberrys. The answer was simple. It's more stylish than a collar and leash.

We don't have a land line, and the cell phone we have is rarely on or even charged. I do know where it is right now because I was moving things around in the kitchen and spotted it, but 9 times out of 10, I don't know where it is. It certainly isn't with me!

We bought the first microwave I've owned since 2004 just this past weekend ... unpacked it ... tested it with a cup of water. And so far it just sits there. We're now trying to think what we might use it for. :lol:

We bought the first TV I've owned since 2004 back early 2010. I go through stages in my life where I have a TV, and then a period of time where I don't. I didn't have one growing up, so it's not like I became conditioned to having one at an early age.

The most modern technology I've got for music are CDs and MP3 players.

Even my camera is a 5-year-old point & shoot. Although I am considering buying something better.

I hate cell phones. It's like a tether.
I have to carry one for work. :(

I hate cell phones. It's like a tether.
I have to carry one for work. :(
Mine isn't a tether, it's a way to leave early everyday and take every Friday off.

I have a Tracfone also. I use it for occasional brief calls and text messages. Not for yakking. I don't always have it with me. I have a very basic land line phone, but I don't talk on that phone much either. It is useful for the $15/mo DSL internet that we have.

Mine isn't a tether, it's a way to leave early everyday and take every Friday off.

Good call.. lol...

I have a cell phone but it isn't a smart phone. I have to have one for work. I swear once I retire, I'm goona trash the cell phone and my computer. I will buy a nice expensive fountain pen and fine stationary and the snailmail is how anyone will be able to contact me.
Ernest

I own a cell phone. It's 7 years old. It was free 7 years ago. My friends all complain that their "smart" phones cost too much money. My phone lasts 8 days with one charge. My friends all complain that their "smart" phones can barely hold a charge for an entire day. My phone costs $40 a month. My friends all complain that their "smart" phones cost $80-120 a month. If my phone gets stolen, the thief can see my friends phone numbers. If my friends "smart" phones get stolen, the thief can access whatever financial information they've been silly enough to store on the phone.

My friends insist that they can do amazing things on their phone, like purchase movie tickets ahead of time. Yet the one time we tried it, it wouldn't work. My friends insist that it's the best way to find places to eat in a town you're visiting. Yet last month we tried it, and it took us to A) a dump, B) a place that burnt down, and C) a place that was on an amusement park's land, before we finally gave up using the phone, and used my method of finding food: asking the locals. My friends insist that they can't live without the GPS on their phone, yet last year one of them crashed their car trying to read the GPS while driving.


Cell phones are very useful, especially in emergency situations. But "smart" phones seem pretty dumb to me. My friends and coworkers call me a luddite. I just don't see a need to be connected to the internet 24/7. Ironically, I'm a smartphone developer at my job.

Many of us have become slaves to the new technology . . .

Was not going to get a computer and did my freelance writing via typewriter/snailmail.
One of my editors said 'get a computer.' Suggested to send me enough $$ for my next article to purchase one.
Yup, sent me a nice check so bought a darn laptop about 9 years ago!
So I slowly have succumbed to some of this 'new fangled stuff!'

I will take my cell phone any day of the week over the pager I carried before.

My friends all complain that their "smart" phones cost $80-120 a month.

There's a way around that. I have what is technically a "smart" phone without the internet (it does have WIFI). I just bought an inexpensive unlocked smart phone, mine is a Nokia E63, and put the SIM card from my regular phone in it. It has everything I need (mainly a full qwerty keyboard), including internet in a pinch (just need a WIFI hotspot and they're everywhere around here) without the high monthly expense.

Many of us have become slaves to the new technology . . .

I bet there was some old caveman grumbling that when the cave-nerds next door were discovering fire.

Raw meat was good enough for his father, it's good enough for him. If the gods wanted people to see at night, they would have left the sun in the sky. Only wussies need to be warm. Fire, phooey! :lol:

I wonder what today's infants will be grumbling about at age 50?

My friends insist that they can't live without the GPS on their phone, yet last year one of them crashed their car trying to read the GPS while driving.

Cell phones are very useful, especially in emergency situations. But "smart" phones seem pretty dumb to me. My friends and coworkers call me a luddite. I just don't see a need to be connected to the internet 24/7. Ironically, I'm a smartphone developer at my job.

I'm a geospatial professional. I work with GPS and GIS data at my job. But at home I have an old Garmin ETrex GPS unit that I seldom use. I prefer to use paper maps and common sense.

For those of you using Tracfone and others, give Page Plus a try. It is only $10 minimum every FOUR months. That adds up to only $30 a year to stay safe or deal with emergencies.

Well, I like cereal, you may want to think about getting with the times. After all, the losers who thought they would never have a use for a TV set back in the 50's sure as hell had finally get a clue and eventually bought one. Show me someone who never bought a TV or a microwave.

I bought several microwaves, but never bought a TV. Even when i was half of a Nielsen family (http://www.nielsen.com/content/corporate/us/en.html)The various people I've lived with (none of them were the unabomber either) either bought it and had it when they moved in, and one room mate and I used her TV for watching videos back in the days of the VCR.

I worked at a Radio Shack in the early 80s, before it was all computerized. We wrote the sales up on tickets, and I totaled them up on a calculator. Every so often some old jackass would start complaining about how everyone used calculators and how they did the arithmetic in their heads when they were...blah blah blah. I would ask him how did he get there today? Invariably the old fart would say he drove. I'd ask why did he walk or take a horse? Most of them didn't get the analogy.

Well, I like cereal, you may want to think about getting with the times. After all, the losers who thought they would never have a use for a TV set back in the 50's sure as hell had finally get a clue and eventually bought one. Show me someone who never bought a TV or a microwave.

Actually, I know a few people that don't have those things. In any case, I'd give up my TV (which shows crap I don't care or watch) and microwave (which is useless except for reheating and maybe steaming vegetables) up before I'd give up my cell.

I don't have a land line or a TV, but I have a cell phone. I've been tempted by smart phones recently (I'm a gadget-loving geek), but I think I'm going to resist to avoid paying for a data plan.

I keep my ringer totally silent when not at home. I usually set it to not even vibrate. I'll look at it occasionally to see if I missed a call.

I worked at a Radio Shack in the early 80s, before it was all computerized. We wrote the sales up on tickets, and I totaled them up on a calculator. Every so often some old jackass would start complaining about how everyone used calculators and how they did the arithmetic in their heads when they were...
Back then, young people normally did that stuff in their heads even if calculators were getting more widely deployed. I remember my HS trig teacher describing calculators as "the instrument of the devil."

I often poke fun at cashiers for using calculators to do simple math. Needing a machine to figure out the change if the purchase is $12 and I give $22 or if the purchase is $4.78 but I hand over $5.03 is ridiculous. But it happens all the time. I've even had them protest that they didn't want to mess up my change.

Ha, I thought I was Luddite for taking so long to get a smart phone.

I could live without it, but having GPS navigation, constant email access, and the ability to get in touch with anyone almost anywhere, all in the palm of my hand... pretty effin nice. I find this kind of stuff valuable, especially for work and new opportunities, in one way or another. I can understand if others do not. Cause this st*ff ain't cheap.

But at the same time, I'm very anti-facebook and give up personal information online very sparingly. Actually, I have three facebook accounts, all with different names and pictures (facial recognition be damned), multiple email, credit card, and bank accounts. Still working on multiple identities ;) But once Facebook gets contracted by the US government to provide a one stop shop for all citizen data, I'll be there :D Until then, tracking me isn't easy, unless I leave my phone on, haha.

I often poke fun at cashiers for using calculators to do simple math. Needing a machine to figure out the change if the purchase is $12 and I give $22 or if the purchase is $4.78 but I hand over $5.03 is ridiculous.

Speaking as one with dyscalculia, I think you are very prejudiced and acting immaturely. Basically I'm dyslexic with numbers. 45 and 54 are sometimes the same to me. This was mentioned by teacher after teacher in my report cards. I try to do the math in my head to keep that faculty exercised and once while walking through a canyon, I estimated the water it would take to fill it within 10%, but when it counts, like paying bills or taxes, I use a calculator.

Speaking as one with dyscalculia, I think you are very prejudiced and acting immaturely.

The reaction I get pretty much every time when I rib them is that they smile because they know they're being lazy -- you're the first person to suggest I'm picking on disabled people.

In any case, it would be pretty idiotic for a manager to force a person who has inherent problems with numbers to do a job that consists of practically nothing but dealing with numbers.

I balance the checkbook on paper and don't touch the calculator unless I need to triple-check something.

I control my technology, not the other way around: therefore a cellular device is an indefensible tool.

Windows Live on the other hand is utter crap.

Another Tracfone user. Starting to play with Google's version of VoIP, and my wife has a Skype account. If I could get my hands on a tablet that had WiFi and a free VoIP service, I wouldn't even need the Tracfone.

A tablet may be bulkier than a smartphone, but that just means it's harder to lose.

In any case, it would be pretty idiotic for a manager to force a person who has inherent problems with numbers to do a job that consists of practically nothing but dealing with numbers.

Strangely enough, I did have to do that when I worked at a pizza parlor. How did I do it? Apparently I can work well in base 5, but goof in base 10. So I'd do the arithmetic mentally in base 5 and converted it to base 10.

Strangely enough, I did have to do that when I worked at a pizza parlor. How did I do it? Apparently I can work well in base 5, but goof in base 10. So I'd do the arithmetic mentally in base 5 and converted it to base 10.

I'm a computer guy, so I work in base1 16. When you can do hexadecimal math in your head you get called a "hex nut". :lol:

I haven't had a landline in probably 15 years and then lived with people where we shared the landline - and had to deal with whose call was what, etc - so I've been cell phone 100% for the past 4 years and will probably stay like that. I MAINLY got it for when I'm out riding or hiking as I'm always solo and I love my night rides. However it's become a mainstay in my place. However - while I take it to work - it's turned off, and while I have the pic and texting part - I rarely use that anymore - I got through my giggle stage when I first got it but now it's meh.

It's a phone. Oh and my alarm in the morning. :D

I don't own a cell phone, but as I high school teacher I do battle with them in class every day. Some kids are flat-out addicted and can't go 10 minutes without checking to see if they have a text or text someone. My policy is clear: no cell phones in class. I confiscate about two a day. If the kids are nice about it, I'll return it at the end of the day. If they're not nice, it goes to security and they don't get it back until mommy or daddy come and get it for them. If you want to go to the bathroom, you need to trade the cell phone for the vest (I know who the 1% of kids are who don't own a cell phone).

Usually parents buy the phones for their kids because of the fear factor: "What if I need help? Get shot, stabbed, run over by a cyclist? My parents would want me to be able to call for help."

It's a wonder people managed to survive, let alone communicate, before cellies were invented.

On my car is a bumper sticker of a cell phone with a line through it. It says 'Drive now, talk later.'

On my car is a bumper sticker of a cell phone with a line through it. It says 'Drive now, talk later.'
:thumb:

Strangely enough, I did have to do that when I worked at a pizza parlor. How did I do it? Apparently I can work well in base 5, but goof in base 10. So I'd do the arithmetic mentally in base 5 and converted it to base 10.
The method that works best varies by the individual. Regardless of what others do, any method you understand is a good method, and any that trips you up is a bad one.

The path I follow when doing calculations in my head is almost never the one kids are taught in a math class. This got me in quit a bit of trouble at all levels as some teachers told me I wasn't showing my solutions properly. But so long as it is a valid path that leads to the correct answer, I don't see why there would be an issue.