Anyone else living without a cell phone??

[ilovewindex]

With my health being as bad as it is, and needing to keep vital medical info stored, I have no choice

I do text alot as its easier for me than talking, so thats another bonus.... We don't have a home phone and our cell phones are the only means we have to contact us, besides email

Im not a huge gamer or anything, but i do use it for music, as an organizer, and to keep my self going.. Im very fog headed so i don't remember alot of things half the time unless i keep notes

So yes My LG V10 is my dog leash sadly and there is no way around that

 

[mattl]

Hmm. I guess it's all in how you look at it.  In your case I would look at it as how much your V10 helps you rather than how dependent you are on it.  I look at it as a plus, not a minus.

 

[tolivac]

I use my Iphone 6S a lot-but not for games.Use it as a phone,music player-great for in the car-plays music via the Bluetooth connection into the car radio system.Also look up the weather when I am not near a computer.Don't have a wired home phone.The cell phone replaces it.And I have only ONE phone bill.

 

[tolivac]

Oh yes-the camera in the Iphone is handy,as well.You always have a camera with you!Don't have to lug a separate camera!Of course the phone camera won't appeal to real shutterbugs-but for many purposes its adequite.Do have Sony and Canon digital cameras.The phone one gets more use.

 

[mark_wpduet]

I have my

Samsung Galaxy S5 Active for maybe 2 years now. I swear I HATE texting!! HATE IT! I prefer emailing on a regular keyboard because I can type super fast. If I text, I use the voice recognition because I hate the phone keyboards..I'd rather talk on the phone than text...

but I do use my smart phone for some things, but not constantly most people do. It is REALLY like that when you go ANYWHERE - people are looking at their phones.

I doubt you're going to find very many people at all who don't at least have a cell phone. My dad still has an old flip phone too. If I try to send him a picture, he sometimes gets it and other times he says it's a huge red X

 

[rp2813]

Too Often Hazardous and Annoying Instead of a Useful Tool

About a year ago I threw a patio party.  Two invitees in particular are notorious for having their phones out while socializing, consistently aim to be the center of attention, and will often interrupt conversations repeatedly and force pictures on those of us who don't care.  Why did I invite them?  Because they also have a habit of stopping by on short notice, and they'd have been hurt to find out a party was happening and they weren't included.   Amazingly, they're actually very good-hearted.  They've since moved a safe distance from here, and our social group will be forever grateful.

 

Anyway, I posted a sign that read "DEVICE-FREE ZONE," and some guests were initially taken aback, but in the end they all appreciated an environment that wasn't polluted by self-centered electronic gadgetry.   Well, all but two of them, I suppose.   I privately advised some of the guests that the sign was only targeting two people in particular, and they supported with my decision.

 

I just saw an article on line about a British pub that has taken the matter into its own hands with a fairly low tech solution.  I hope it catches on across a wide range of businesses.

 

Here's the link:

http://https//www.yahoo.com/style/english-bar-found-nifty-way-211938217.html

 

[askolover]

I didn't get a phone until 2000 when I took my job in Nashville and had to commute on the interstate.  I have a basic QWERTY Pantech phone that looks like a Blackberry.  It will get on the net if I need to, but I don't have any extra data plan for it.  I keep it on vibrate except when I'm on call.  It ticks me off to even hear it buzz, or any phone for that matter.  I hear phones ring all night long at work and when I'm off I don't even want to hear one.  I refuse to become one of those people who walk out into traffic because they aren't even looking where they are going.  I think Nashville passed a law about that, but how can they enforce it?  Too many people doing it.

 

[frigilux]

The smartphone's impact on personal and societal behaviors is fascinating. Honest-to-God, if I were at the beginning of my career, I'd choose a field that has to do with treating addiction, mental/emotional distress, and social dysfunctions due to overuse of smartphones. I'm really interested to see where things stand in fifteen years, when there are far fewer people alive who didn't grow up with one.

People railed against the original telephone and television, too--which seems almost quaint now--but neither of those game-changing technologies had the all-encompassing abilities of the smartphone. Lifelike games, the sum total of human knowledge, banking, shopping, news, entertainment, social media, dating/hook-ups, porn, and a computer travel with you in your pocket.

From a sociological standpoint it's really uncharted territory.[this post was last edited: 8/8/2016-07:08]

 

[artcurus]

@frigilux.

Dead on post. It's absolutely scary to think of what it's going to be like in about ten years. While people DID complain about tv and radio when it first came out, the overall impact was nothing compared to the intrusive level of cell phones and rest of the screens.

 

[kb0nes]

Personally I can't imagine not having the tool available to me. If I consider the cost/depreciation of the phone itself I spend about $2.50 a day to carry my iPhone.

The phone gives me:

The ability to communicate (voice/text/email)
Access information on the Internet (even dreadful social media)
Navigate with real time maps
A passable camera to document and share photos
Music storage/playback and streaming
A mobile computer platform to run various Astronomy, Audio, RF engineering apps and various calculators

Many of the people I know spend well more on their cable TV subscription, to me that seems crazy. But in the end it is all about what works for any individual. I can't imagine living without the tool now and while I wish it were a little less expensive, I can't imagine not having it.

As for the negative social aspects of phone ownership, I'm not convinced the device is to blame. Those people just may not have much to offer the social world in the first place. No doubt that society is changing though, probably in many of the same ways that our parents complained about. Ultimately there are two choices, stay on the curmudgeonly safe rocking chair or go along with the changes. Neither is wrong and the choice is personal.

 

[launderess]

Been to a restaurant or similar setting lately?

In my day going out on a date or with family/friends you actually interacted, unless the date was going horribly bad then you were busy plotting your escape.

Now you see persons sitting at a table or whatever with both busy with their phones. I mean why bother? Couples walking down the street holding hands but each (or one) using their free hand to work that phone. It must be magic in the bedroom with some of these people. Do they put the thing on the headboard or merely on the night stand and keep glancing over?

 

[tomturbomatic]

The saddest thing is parents not interacting with their children because they are too busy with their devices. So much for bonding and creating great memories.

 

Fortunately, not one of my appliances is connected to the web either. They and I are all in with the out crowd.

 

[artcurus]

As for the negative social aspects of phone ownership, I'm not convinced the device is to blame. Those people just may not have much to offer the social world in the first place. No doubt that society is changing though, probably in many of the same ways that our parents complained about. Ultimately there are two choices, stay on the curmudgeonly safe rocking chair or go along with the changes. Neither is wrong and the choice is personal.

^ disagree. Phone/device ownership is hovering around 70-80% of the population, including preteens and younger. As I mentioned before, too much screen time is devastating to the younger set because it's limiting socialization, and actual hands on play which is how these children learn about their world and how to interact with it. It's also hamstringing problem solving because they are not getting the real experiences needed to work through problems.

Kindergarten teachers have seen marked decreases in attention spans, the quality of concentration, and the constant need to be entertained.

 

[launderess]

Kindergarten teachers have seen marked decreases in attentio

Well that is nothing new; educators and others have been saying the same thing pretty much since television arrived on the scene.

 

[blackstone]

Real experience to work through problems??

Not all updates and downloads work as flawlessly as intended. Computers are unforgiving. Everything has to work as planned. There is no option of hitting it with a hammer, or jiggling the handle. Problems have to be solved logically, using your mind.

Sure computers are more reliable than in the days of floppy disks. But they also can do more with more software. Phones are just small computers.

 

[Ultramatic]

 

 

I resisted having a cell phone for quite sometime. Until 9/11. The sheer horror of that day, and being unable to find a free payphone for me to call home. No, never again.

 

[artcurus]

@Laundress,

Agreed, but when you work with kids, and see daily what's happening, it's a completely different ballgame.

@blackstone,

No clue, it looks you're comparing apples to oranges.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

"Lifelike games, the sum total of human knowledge, banking, shopping, news, entertainment, social media, dating/hook-ups, porn, and a computer travel with you in your pocket."


 

One could argue that cell phones free up all the time/energy/money formerly required to procure these things, and to travel to and from the place of procurement. Whether those freed up resources have been used effectively is another issue.

 

As for dating/hook-ups, There are push factors as well. I don't think many people would argue that the average cost of a night out has risen a good bit faster than the average wage.

 

Personally, I have NO problem whatsoever switching my phone to 'silent' and leaving it in my pants pocket once it appears the bedroom is a likely destination, lol.

  "I swear I HATE texting!! HATE IT! I prefer emailing on a regular keyboard because I can type super fast."


 

This is why I stay with Blackberry. I type much faster, with fewer errors and much less fatigue on a physical keyboard than I do on a touch screen. 

 

Kindergarteners: Most teachers I work with agree with the changes, but they generally ascribe the changes to lack of Birth-3 stimulation and the lack of unstructured play time. Cell phones & tablets are frequently mentioned as fueling the problem but not as actually causing it.

 

Jim

 

[vacerator]

I just saw a news

report about a suburban police dept. getting reports of suspected stranger danger at parks where kids play Pokémon Go.

 

[norgeway]

If I was rich enough!

I would have only a rotary dial phone and drive a Desoto everyday!If I could, I truly would live as much in the past as possible, I would gladly watch a black and white tv, I already used only vintage radios and HiFi's, I don't even own a new vacuum or mixer, my washer is a 85 Kenmore and the dryer is a 73Lady Kenmore,I use a somewhat vintage stove, 1972 Westinghouse, that is almost too new, I do have a somewhat new fridge, that I pray will quit so I can replace it with a proper one with a latch on the door and round corners!A computer is a somewhat necessary evil, I use it for these groups , ebay and very little else, I still have lots of difficulty with it, the one at work is constantly crashing and loosing all our paper work, I told the boss if he would get me a file cabinet and a copying machine I would fix the problem, because if the building doesent burn down, what you write cant disappear!