Cell phone usage

[ski_resort_observer]

I read a comment today where someone won a free cellphone head set but it wasn't a big deal as they already had five cellphone headsets. I wondered why on Earth would someone need five cell phone head sets.

Being a hick from Vermont and growing up in the 60's I remember someone said " If you remember the 60's than you weren't there" but I was there and I do remember....some things. I don't own one but my wife, my daughter and son all have them.

If you care to participate please realize that this poll is more Dave Letterman than CBS News. Let's have some fun. Take nothing seriously.

 

[dmc]

I like to be in contact with my fiance'.... Always need to know that she's safe at work in NYC...
Also - I use it for my work... Allows me to be on-call and still be able to ski/mountain bike.. Rather then sit on my ass and wait for a phone call at home..

Also - like it for my aging parents to be able to contact me...

And then there's the whole emergency thing...

 

[riverc0il]

sorry SPO, but i am going to reply on a serious note to this thread i used to have a mobile phone, it was one of the first things i purchased after graduating in 2000. it went everywhere i went and i even used it for my alarm clock in the morning. i would take naps during lunch time and used to for my alarm during those naps. i generally hate talking on the phone with people and hardly ever used the thing, but the convenience of being able to call any one, any where, any time and having all my numbers available at the flip of a screen was impressive.

all that said, i never figured i would ever be without one until i moved to VT. coverage up here is crap and my SO wanted a land line and i wasn't going to pay for both. so i ditched the mobile and pretty much surprisingly, haven't missed it much at all. i call people even less than i used to because the convenience aspect is gone and i can't remember any one's number. and i have to call up to order a pizza before i head out instead of spontaneously ordering one while i am on the road heading home. but barring an accident on the road somewhere, i am very comfortable and satisfied without my mobile.

when i go back to MA like i did yesterday (6-3 bruins, woo!), i always find a few things amazing that i never considered back when i lived down there. the amount of people yapping on the mobile phones out in public instead of living in the current moment is one of those things. i'd like to think i generally tried to get out of the public eye before making or taking a call. but i am sure i was 'mr. annoying cell phone man' at least once or twice :roll: just one more thing seperating us from the people immediately present and isolating us from the society of others. but hey, i had one too so what beef do i have? lol. they have their place but the 'mr. cell phone man' concept can get rather annoying when people abuse their phones in public.

 

[ctenidae]

I just got our cell phone bill. $70 (two phones) and a total of- get this- 25 minutes used. Why are we paying for this? I'm not real sure. It does come in handy on occasion, though. Still, $70 hurts.

I think cell phones/text messaging/blogs/other instant or mass communication is killing us. Used to be, if you had somethign to say, you had to think about it, and you'd realize that some things aren't worth saying. Also, if someone said something, then it was worth listening to and getting an idea of what they meant. Nowadays, no one ever shuts up, and everyone gets offended at the littlest thing that gets said, since the speaker didn't take time to think it out, and the listener doesn't either. I look at things like personal blogs and MySpace adn the like with disdane. I could not care any less about everybody's personal issues.

Sorry for the rant. I think that too much communication may not be a good thing.

 

[dmc]

I think cell phones/text messaging/blogs/other instant or mass communication is killing us. Used to be, if you had somethign to say, you had to think about it, and you'd realize that some things aren't worth saying.

I love text message... It's a great way to quickly communicate..

"Will be 10 minutes late"

"Rehearesal @ 7"

"Meet at quad at 10am"

"Pick up beers"

 

[Geoff]

My favorite use of a cell phone is to call friends from the lift on a midweek powder day.

My cell phone is my principal point of contact. If I want somebody to call me, I give them my cell phone number, not my office number or my home phone number.

Unlike many people, I have pretty strict cellphone usage rules. If I'm talking with somebody and my cell phone rings, I refuse the call and push it to voice mail. I never use my cell phone in restaurants. I use my cell phone in the car all the time but I have voice dial and hands-free so I'm not a road menace.

 

[bill9009]

That was me that won the free headset, and said I didnt realy need it, but that was only becasuse I have this knack for either losing, breaking or dropping my cell phones into water. So each time that happens I get a new phone from insurance, and they come with headsets.

For me having a cell phone is important. I am in the Navy so most of my calls are long distance, and I get transfered every few years, so having one number to stick with makes it easier to stay in contact with people and saves me money. I just moved back to Ny and this is the first time in about 7 years that I have had a house phone and thats only because I had to get DSL since they dont have cable where I live.

I dont even use the house phone, and the only people that ever call it are these police associations wanting money, PBA, FOP etc...

 

[BeanoNYC]

My wife and I total about 2000 minutes per month when it is all said and done. Most of our friends and family have Verizon so those minutes are always free. I have a landline (lingo is good for all our overseas calls), but it hardly rings. In fact, if I don't feel like picking up my cell phone .... THEN .... they'll ring the home phone.

 

[RISkier]

My wife and I total about 2000 minutes per month when it is all said and done. Most of our friends and family have Verizon so those minutes are always free. I have a landline (lingo is good for all our overseas calls), but it hardly rings. In fact, if I don't feel like picking up my cell phone .... THEN .... they'll ring the home phone.

Wow, over an hour a day. I could certainly see that if you were in certain types of business that it would be easy to rack up tons of time. But we're pretty much like ctenidae. Our calls are pretty much "do you need anything at the grocery store?", "got hung up in a meeting and will be late getting home," etc. Generally not over an hour a month between the two of us. They are handy and we certainly find them useful for keeping up with my mother in law (health issues) when we're on the road. But in general I find them pretty annoying.

 

[Brettski]

http://www.tracfone.com/home_page.jsp?b=i&flash=YES&p=W

I have an old bullet proof nokia...with a timer that tells me how long the call is.

If I have a coversation over a minute, that's pretty rare...

Plus I get email coupons for additional minutes free....and minutes rollover....

I don't need no stinkin bells and whistles...

 

[smitty77]

My employer provides me with a cellphone, so I answered other. I got my wife a phone because I feel better knowing she has a way to call for help/assistance if she's stuck on the side of the road. Of course, if she hasn't left in on the counter it's usually dead in her purse. :roll: My in-laws put in an extra $10 per month for the second phone, which makes my wife feel better as both of her parents are getting on in years.

As for "mobile manners", I try like heck not to use it in public places, even Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds. If I'm hiking, it stays in my pack on vibrate or shut off altogether. I have a sweet hands free cradle with a remote speaker and microphone that work installed in the truck, but I try to use it as little as possible when I'm on the road. I find I'm not 100% focused on my driving even with the phone in it's cradle. I've never caused an accident or anything, but it unsettles me when I can't remember what exit I just passed or what happened to ten miles of roadway while I was talking.

My biggest pet peeve has to be the ringtone. I know they help you distinguish your phone ringing from another, but that's the point. I don't want to hear your phone ringing in the first place and if everyone just put their on vibrate we wouldn't need Kelly Clarkson singing inside your phone. If you want to do the Macarena while on the can at home that's one thing, but I don't need to hear "You dropped a bomb on me, baby" when I'm using the stalls at Home Depot!

later.

 

[skibum1321]

I use my phone alot to call my GF, who is still at school in VT. Free mobile to mobile is a savior. I love having all of my friends' numbers at my fingertips and I am that guy talking on the phone in the car a little too often. I only do it late at night while on the highway. I find that it actually helps to keep me more alert most of the time.

As for doing outdoor activities, I don't even usually bring my phone with me and if I do it is most certainly off.

 

[salida]

"Pick up beers"

thats why I have one

 

[skijay]

The cellphone is my primary line.

 

[noski]

I have a teenage driving daughter who has a job and does community sevice work. I feel better knowing she can call us if plans change or if she has car trouble, etc. It made sense to do a family-type plan since my spousal unit already had a cell phone, so that is how I ended up with one.

 

[NYDrew]

I hate cell phones. One 3' powder day i met my father at windham. On the way home, my 500HP RWD camaro (what was I thinking taking that car out in that weather) lost contol, hit a snow covered guard rail and was launched airborne off the the snow. I flipped over twice (without touching the ground) and landed on the wheels.

Car was fine but still needed some road side repairs. While I was repairing, an ambulance showed up to scrape me off of the road. I was sure my father was freaking being I was 2 hours late to be calling him from home. The nice EMT's let me use the ambulance phone (did you know they have built in phones) after telling my father what happened, his first words were.."now will you let me buy you a cell phone" of course I said no, but one arrived in the mail like a week later.

I still hate my cell phone, I feel like no matter how hard I try to get away, that stupid thing keeps me tied to civilization. It is also my only phone now. Sometimes I intentionally break it so I can get some peice and quiet for a few days until my father replaces it.

 

[ski_resort_observer]

I hate cell phones. One 3' powder day i met my father at windham. On the way home, my 500HP RWD camaro (what was I thinking taking that car out in that weather) lost contol, hit a snow covered guard rail and was launched airborne off the the snow. I flipped over twice (without touching the ground) and landed on the wheels.

Car was fine but still needed some road side repairs. While I was repairing, an ambulance showed up to scrape me off of the road. I was sure my father was freaking being I was 2 hours late to be calling him from home. The nice EMT's let me use the ambulance phone (did you know they have built in phones) after telling my father what happened, his first words were.."now will you let me buy you a cell phone" of course I said no, but one arrived in the mail like a week later.

I still hate my cell phone, I feel like no matter how hard I try to get away, that stupid thing keeps me tied to civilization. It is also my only phone now. Sometimes I intentionally break it so I can get some peice and quiet for a few days until my father replaces it.

Being a parent and paying for 2 cellphones for my teenagers, I think YOU should replace it when YOU break it intentionally! :roll:

 

[Mark D]

my parents got me one incase i got in an accent.

 

[bill9009]

funny, i've always had an accent and my parents never bought me a phone!!

 

[thetrailboss]

Why do we have it: convenience and it is our primary phone service. We don't have a landline.

Now why do others have them: to look cool. America is about looking 'cool.' I really don't fit into that...