I can still remember a friend getting a HUGE mobile phone years ago and thinking it was great to be able to make a call from the car - but what was the point when there were pay phones everywhere? Fast forward to today, and we have the internet in our hands, and information any time we want. We can make calls world wide or get off a plane in another country, turn on our phones and call home. We can text people, we can follow directions so we're never lost, or we can read if we get bored. Way back when, did you ever imagine you'd be holding a supercomputer in your hands?
Cellphones have certainly changed people's lives, but I'm not convinced that it's always for the better. I hate to see how much time people spend using them in places where it's really not appropriate. Although it's illegal, it's very common to see people holding their phones to their ears while driving here, and often people spend more time talking on their phones or texting than they do communicating with their companions. I've got a very basic smartphone, but don't have internet enabled on it, and for the most part I only carry it for emergency use. As soon as I walk into my house I switch it off.
Michell Stevens I agree with you, I don't have the need to have the phone attached to me 24/7. I have an internet enable smartphone for work. I listen to music on the phone but have not invested the time to learn to use it for all of the capabilities it has. I purchased a note to replace my dying tablet but have not used the phone a tablet yet. I keep telling myself "you know have spent alot of money for this thing and your are not using it". You can find a public phone anymore the assumation is everyone has a cell.
I only have a cheap pay-as-you-go non-smart phone. I bought it a few years back when I was doing some voluntary work and needed it to communicate with my team. I use it occasionally now, but not very often. Not only do I not want to carry the Internet round with me, I really can't afford it. Smart phones cost a lot more money here in the UK than in the US and then there is a data plan to purchase. I get mobile broadband on my laptop through a USB stick and it costs me a fraction of what people pay each month to get the Internet on their phones. I do know a lot of people who have them and I know how addictive they can be. It's just not necessary for my lifestyle or my budget.
My smart phone has the Internet but I rarely use it for that purpose, as my eyes aren't young enough to want to view such a small screen for long periods of time. Once in a while, if I want to check something while my wife is driving, or if I am in a restaurant, I might get online for a moment, but that's about it. I am grandfathered into an unlimited data plan for Verizon, though, so I use my hotspot to power my Roku, relieving the load on my regular Internet. Plus, when I'm traveling or if I want to get on my MacBook from a place that doesn't have wireless, I can set up the hotspot. My smart phone has a camera, but I much prefer a regular digital camera. Since I don't carry my regular camera with me all the time, it's nice that my phone has one, but I don't think my phone is a good replacement for a camera.
I'm always happy to see people say that. I've got a very basic smart phone and have hardly ever used its camera. I carry a digital camera everywhere I go, so there's really no need. I'm known as a photographer at my bonsai club, even though I'm not a pro, so from time to time I get asked to take photos for other people. If they hand me a camera, I'm fine, but if they hand me their phone I find it quite tricky to get the shot they want.
Exactly why I ended up getting a huge iPhone 6Plus... I look like a total nerd with this giant phone, but it's actually almost readable - if I put on reading glasses! (Which at least keeps me from ever being tempted to look at it while I'm driving - I can't see it...)
I purchased a regular cell phone some years back from T-Mobile for emergency purposes. No camera, no internet and it is pay as you go. I like taking pictures and I found a flip phone at a flea market for $10 bucks. The previous owner had a contract with the phone and I didn't want to go that route soooo what I did was take out the Sim card and replaced it with the one in my other cell phone and it worked for a long time until my granddaughter (2 years old) found it and decided to see what would happen when she dropped it in a cup of grape juice. So I was without a cell phone for a long time until one of my son's gave me a android. I'm still learning how it use it. The amazing thing is that the Sim card works in it too - actually both of them do. I just have to figure out 'how.'
I've always considered the telephone to be one of mankind's very worst ideas ever. No amount of registering on the no-call lists can prevent the eternal deluge of unwanted sales pitches, crank calls, hang ups and wrong numbers. Nowadays I maintain a no frills land line with no answering machine and the ringer turned off, which I use only to call out. Needless to say, a cel phone is the very last thing on Earth you will ever catch me with. Here is my answering machine message from the bad old days: You've disturbed me at home, that's a practice I bar I've no caller ID so don't know who you are If you're one of the handful I think of as friends Then just leave a message when this limerick ends. Now all I have to do is figure out a way to block the 3 to 4 dozen garbage eMails I get each day because my own internet provider can't be compelled to stop selling my eMail address to all comers. Technology really makes hermitting harder!
Peter, maybe this is the wrong time to tell you that marketing people aren't allowed to call cell phones? When everyone I know was getting bombarded with political robo-calls on their home phones, I got none, because I don't have a land line... and I've never gotten sales calls on my cellphone.
Unfortunately, Kevin, I have two insurmountable problems with owning a cel. (1) I am legally blind and can't see the screen or the keypad at all and (2) I have no one to talk to anyway. It's the one piece of tech that they'll never sell me.
Marketing people may not be supposed to call cell phones; but they still will do that when they somehow get the number. I have scolded several for calling me on the cell phone and told them I was going to report them to the Attorney General's office if they called me once more. Most of the time, I dont even answer when it is an unknown area code, and assume that if it is a legitimate call, they will leave me a voice mail. Usually, I don't use my phone for anything besides making necessary calls; but I do like the iPhone camera for taking photos. Since I am not a professional photographer, and I just want a picture of whatever it is to save and show other people what i was looking at; the camera is perfect for what I need it to do. I gave away my digital camera when I got the iPhone because it just sat around, and i had a friend who needed a camera. As far as the original question; I certainly would never say that a phone has changed my life; but on the other hand, it is nice not to have to hunt for a payphone when I was away from home and need to make a phone call.
Peter: Yeah, that could change things a bit... I've been diagnosed with macular degeneration... I'm trying to make sure it doesn't progress... I always wondered about the screens on phones like the iPhone - they always say it's "accessible" and you can adjust it, but maybe it sounds better in theory than reality...
I don't tend to answer numbers I don't know.. I always figure if it's important, they'll leave a message... and I'm glad you let the sales people have it... They can be so slimy... Ughh
I'll answer any call I receive unless I'm driving at the time, though a lot of the calls I receive are wrong numbers. If I don't get to tell people they've been given the wrong number they'll just keep trying and I find that really annoying. When it comes to making calls, I don't leave a message unless it's really urgent. I hate talking to machines.