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Oct232009

Life without a cell phone? Priceless (mostly)

Filed under Telecommunications by david brooks at 8:21 am

My wife and I don’t have cell phones, and the kids didn’t have them until they went to college. We’re not alone although we’re in a shrinking minority, says the NY Times, in a story that includes this quote that explains the phone-less appeal: “It’s a luxury not to be reached when I’m out and about.”

Carrying a cell phone means that a tiny part of your brain knows that anybody can tap you on the shoulder at any moment, disrupting you - no matter what you’re doing. The mere knowledge that this is possible prevents me from reaching a certain level of calm, or detachment, or self-absorption, or something-or-other. I don’t like it.

Of course, it can be a major inconvenience not to have a cell phone; they are awesome devices in many ways. But they’re an all-or-nothing presence - let them into your life, and they’ll take it over .

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    "Carrying a cell phone means that a tiny part of your brain knows that anybody can tap you on the shoulder at any moment, disrupting you - no matter what you’re doing."

    "they’re an all-or-nothing presence"

    When you have to use hyperbolic statements like this to make your point, it is a pretty good indication that your are WRONG.

    Perhaps you are unaware of the fact that cell phones have on/off switches? Oh well you can just gloss over that fact because it completely destroys your argument.

    Some of us carry around our turned-off cell phones for emergencies and they NEVER ring.
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    I have a cell phone and use it often, but have never given anyone the number except family. At home we don't get cell service, but do get text service. I text family often. It is not (for us) a social instrument, but rather a marvelous convenience for leaving each other messages and reminders.

    I see that kid A has received the message that he has to wait to pick kid B up. No arguments. Send kid A a grocery list to keep him busy while waiting.

    Traveling? Hand held answering machine for those people who might need to reach you. Emergencies on the road. Used it twice.

    The pain? Once a month I pay... for my phone, two kids phones, my 85 plus year old parents' phone, my 85 year old in-laws phone.

    Oh, another gain... never having to pay for long distance calls!
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    I finally got a cell phone because traveling the way I do, at times I really need the communications link to the world that can't be satisfied with email. If I could, I would eliminate the land line but, in spite of Verizon's "Can you hear me now" ad campaign, the cell phone is nearly useless here at home in Mont Vernon. We are in a dead zone pocket that affects most people in this town. So, I leave it off most of the time.

    There is a new cell phone tower up beyond the Lamson Farm property, but as far as I know, only ATT is using it. I've requested that Verizon be installed as well, but no word yet.

    When I first started traveling to Florida each winter, the cell phone doubled as an internet modem. The service was a little slow but fairly inexpensive. Soon, they dropped that service and I had to sign up for Verizon broadband. That works quite well on the I95 corridor and in Florida but I had to sign up for a two year contract. Pretty expensive considering I can't use it around here.
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    DW and I have tracfones that we keep in our cars for emergencies (turned off), but that's about it.

    I used to have a corporate job that required constant-contact so I carried a device of some type on my person full-time. I was always "on standby." One of the big perks of leaving the corporate world 5 years ago was being able to walk around "untethered". I still cherish being able to do that.

    Every once in a while I'll use my cell phone, but it's very infrequently. In fact, over the past 12 months I've probably made only 10-15 cell phone calls including calls to voice mail.

    Now the Internet - that's another story. After a few hours away from the Internet and my RSS reader I start to experience withdrawal symptoms. Of course, as Tschmidt said, we get to use the Internet on our own terms, so it's not the same as having a cell phone tether.

    Jim
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    Everyone in my immediate family except one uses cell phones exclusively. I, too, no longer have a land line as I felt the cost of that and the cell phone together was too much, and prefer the cell phone.

    I see absolutely no reason why anyone who wants to be alone and not bothered with calls while they are doing something else, can't just turn off their phone. After all, if they are in their home and they have a land line, how do they find themselves the solitude they claim they treasure when it rings, or do they unplug it?

    I see no virtue in having or not having a cell phone. If one doesn't use it, doesn't like it, then they are that far ahead by not paying for it.
    However, on several occasions, I have loaned my cell phone to others who needed to make a call (car broke down on road, elderly man in a train from DC) and had they had a cell phone they would have been in better shape. The woman on the road had been there for over an hour with a young child. The elderly man was concerned his friend picking him up at Grand Central didn't know the train was going to be almost an hour late.

    My attitude it this: don't want one, don't like them, don't use them. But why try and make it into something it should not be -- an act of virtue.
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    I tried not to have a holier-than-thou tone in my posting - we've all rolled at eyes at self-righteous people who brag that they don't have a TV - but I don't think I entirely succeeded ...

    Having a cell phone and not turning it on doesn't really work, however, because you get lots of pressure from other people who want you to be accessible. It's still a complication in life. The only possibility is to have a cell phone and not let anybody know you have it, so you can use it to make calls but nobody will ever call you!
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    I thought a lot of the comments to the NYT article was a bit holier-than-thou and I guess I figured your comment was another one. Sorry if I sounded off.

    I have children, grandchildren and g=grandchildren who, on one occasion or another, have been in need of help for one reason or another from me, and being able to be reached for that reason is why I keep my cell phone on me most all the time. Plus, I am of the age where my friends are thinning out a bit, and visiting is more important than phone conversations between us.

    Personally, I consider my cell phone a necessity, whereas I usually considered my land line an bloody aggravation too often, because EVERYONE had my number from the phone book. This way, I give my number to those I wish to speak with, and no one else gets it.

    One of the perks of a cell phone is during any voting periods. I NEVER get calls from candidates etc. whereas when I had a landline, I got calls up the wazoo, and I got to dread hearing it ring during those times.
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    "Luddite" is the wrong word, because you (and I) don't oppose the existence of the technology in society; you don't think it should be eliminated. Or, at least, I don' t think you do. You just don't want to participate because you think the loss outweighs the gain.
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    That's true but I love using the term Luddite since it bring up such vivid images.
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    I'm a cell phone Luddite. Both our children have cell phones and our daughter got one for my wife a while ago. I have no desired to be that connected. Which is interesting since I strongly embraced email and the Internet. But that is a fundamentally different type of connectivity. I use it on my own terms when I chose. This post is a good example, I chose to read it and respond. It did not interrupt something else I was doing. Numerous studies have shown that multitasking reduces productivity. The human brain does not make context shifts quickly.

    I fear we are creating a generation that will never know the joy of peaceful isolation and contemplation. They are always on, waiting for the next event to intrude into their lives. At the end of the workday it is interesting to watch two different groups rush out the door. The smokers, getting Nicotine fix, and the cell phone addicts catching up on what happened the previous few hours.

    Popularity of cell phones means pay phones are a dying breed making it very difficult to make a call when traveling.

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