Living Without A Smartphone

Discussion in 'Gadgets & Tech Talk' started by Tom Young, Nov 14, 2019.

  1. Micki Pembroke

    Micki Pembroke Veteran Member
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    Started out with a flip phone many years ago, used for when on the road, security if something happens, after that one, upgraded to a samsung smart phone, seven or eight years ago, don't live on it, mostly for texting and when on the road. Like the text part, can say what you need too, and done, that way the silent gap doesn't happen when you run out of conversation. Still have a land phone, always have and always will, land phone for long distance, and when i actually need the voice thing, very seldom do calls on my cell......What i hate seeing is 2 people texting and they're in the same room, talk about lacking social skills. Maybe the world just has too much technology. I know there are many that cells are their only device for business and communication, do understand that.
     
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  2. Tom Young

    Tom Young Very Well-Known Member
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    :(
    Guilty...
    For the most part we live in a different age group... Most of our social circle is far away... and long ago. Our current lifestyle is much more limited than in our younger days. Having to know where the phone was hanging out, a worry. Giving out any number other than our landline invites missing a call. In the case of our kids... instant panic. We have a smartphone... in the car, in case of accident. A ZTE flip smartphone. (not a cellphone) . BTW.. it does ave a flashlight and a camera, and internet access. Paid $56 for the phone including one year Tracfone access.

    Peripheral polyneuropathy... can't do texting.
     
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  3. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Both Bobby and I have hated having to be tied to a phone, and when Robin wanted to get me a cell phone , I was totally resistant to the idea of having to carry a phone around where someone could call me no matter what I was doing. After I had it, I discovered that it was handy after all, and I liked being able to take pictures to send to her.
    Eventually, she got me an iPhone, and I had to learn how to use that. Since I already had the iPad, it was not hard to learn because it was almost like a miniature iPad.
    I don’t like trying to text on the phone, although I CAN do it when necessary; but since the phone and iPad sync, I can easily text with the ipad that has an actual keyboard, and looks like a small laptop. I still don’t make many phone calls, but I like that junk calls are blocked, and with my Apple Watch, I can answer any calls even when I am driving.

    Most of the health apps are designed to use with the phone and not the iPad, so I have all of those on the phone, and that is actually what I use the iPhone for the most, but I also have apps for fast food places that give discounts when you use the app.
     
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  4. Bill Boggs

    Bill Boggs Supreme Member
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    Yeah, I've got abou 4000 minutes and 125 days left before I bhave to spend another hundred bucks foor365 more days, which averages out to about
    $8.50 a month. I talk on a landline at home; wife can't hear on cell phones, well enough to use them. I only carry when I go out in the car so I can call
    in an emergency, which usually means, a flat tire or caar won't start. I'm pretty dependent and I get totally out pof breath if you look at me hard.
     
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  5. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    My daughter got her dad a set of AirPods that easily slip into his ears, and he can actually hear much better on the phone when he uses those than when he just has the phone up to his ear to hear.
    Before that, he had headphones, and those helped a whole lot, as well, but the AirPods come in a little carrying case so he can take them along when he goes somewhere much easier than packing around his headphones.
    It even works as kind of like a hearing aid if he wanted to do that. When the phone is turned on, then it picks up the sounds of people talking, and he can hear it in the AirPods instead of trying to hear what people in the room are saying.
     
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  6. Jim Nash

    Jim Nash Veteran Member
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    Being ancient allows comparison. When married in 1959 a phone was too expensive. Later we had to wait for a shared line and sat in awe waiting for the first call. I got a job away and contacted my wife from a phone box. it was prohibitive, you had to have a mountain of cash to feed the hungry slot.
    Forward to today. For a reasonable sum you can speak all day, call an ambulance if you have an accident, access the internet, watch films and if you are lucky, receive a thousand Likes. They can also make you a nuisance and look stupid conducting inane conversations but all in all smartphones are great.I feel that condemning the smartphone is an inverted snobbery.
     
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  7. Al Amoling

    Al Amoling Veteran Member
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    I have an i-Phone but I don't use it for internet access since I hav e a nice I-Mac and an LG table. I connect my phone to the car so that I've got hands-free driving.
     
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  8. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    I seldom use my iPhone for going online either, since it is a lot smaller than my iPads are. If I need to use it for that, I can do it, so that is helpful at times.
    I also sometimes use the hotspot on my phone to connect my ipad or Kindle if necessary when I am not at home with WiFi .
     
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  9. Al Amoling

    Al Amoling Veteran Member
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    And I can never understand why anyone would watch a movie on a phone. Our family's first TV was a 7 inch black and white.
     
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  10. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    I've mentioned this a few times in the past, but I've had a cellular telephone in my car for maybe 16 years, and I have never used it and don't even know what its ring sounds like or what the telephone number is!

    I keep it on charge, in case I have to call the CHP or Auto Club for some reason.

    Ding-a ling,:D
    Hal
     
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  11. Al Amoling

    Al Amoling Veteran Member
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    I've had a cell phone since the late 90s. My first one was a bag phone you know the phone comes in a bag with battery. I got that because I was working in Boston at the time and one day I was 2 hours late getting home because some construction workers had ruptured a gas line and caused a hugely big(Trumpism) traffic tie up.
     
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  12. Beth Gallagher

    Beth Gallagher Supreme Member
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    "It was YUUUUUUGE." :D
     
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  13. Bess Barber

    Bess Barber Veteran Member
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    Same here! Once at my parent's house I didn't bring my laptop, so I tried to watch a movie on my phone with ear buds so I wouldn't wake anyone.
    I could barely see what was going on....PLUS I had to hold it the whole time. But I know my younger kids and grandkids watch movies, etc. on theirs all the time.
     
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  14. Ed Wilson

    Ed Wilson Veteran Member
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    Just a flip phone here using Trac phone. It is seldom on and is mostly for emergencies. There is nothing so important that it can't wait. Use my land line and leave a message. It always worked in the old days, why not now?
     
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  15. Hal Pollner

    Hal Pollner Veteran Member
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    Rotary dial phones are cool!

    I used to work for General Telephone Company, installing rotary dial equipment in their central office exchanges.

    Most people thought that when you dialed a number, the dial pulses would go out as you spun the dial with your finger in the number hole. They thought you could get your party quicker by dialing faster.

    WRONG!

    The pulses went out only when you REMOVED your finger from the dial! Then a governor inside the dial would then allow it to spin back at a steady pace, which would allow the equipment in the exchange to follow the pulses in proper time spacing, which would allow the connection to be made through a series of :

    Line switches... (Energizes a bank of Line Finders)
    Line finders... (Finds your line and provides the Dial Tone)
    Primary Selectors
    Second Selectors
    Third Selectors
    Connectors... (Rings the selected party)

    The Selectors operate from carefully-timed pulsed from the rotary dial, which is why it's done when the finger is out of the way.

    Being inside a dial exchange was fascinating both to see and hear! Those days are gone since all exchanges are now Tone-Pulse.

    Hal
     
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    Last edited: Jan 18, 2020
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