One American without a cell phone

[question everything]

ROBERT J. SAMUELSON NEWSWEEK

August 18, 2004

Someday soon, I may be the last man in America without a cell phone. To those who see cell phones as progress, I say: they aggravate noise pollution and threaten our solitude. The central idea of cell phones is that you should be connected to almost everyone and everything at all times. The trouble is that cell phones assault your peace of mind no matter what you do. If you turn them off, why have one? You just irritate anyone who might call. If they're on and no one calls, you're irrelevant, unloved or both. If everyone calls, you're a basket case.

(snip)

Of course, cell phones have productive uses. For those constantly on the road (salesmen, real estate agents, repair technicians, some managers and reporters), they're a godsend. The same is true for critical workers (doctors, oil-rig firefighters) needed at a moment's notice. Otherwise, benefits seem murky. They make driving more dangerous, though how much so is unclear... Then, there's sheer nuisance. Private conversations have gone public. We've all been subjected to someone else's sales meeting, dinner reservation, family feud and dating problem.

(snip)

A recent poll, sponsored by the Lemelson-MIT Program, asked which invention people hated most but couldn't live without. Cell phones won, chosen by 30 percent of respondents... Cell phones for teens were sold as a way for parents to keep tabs on children. That works – up to a point. The point is when your kids switch off the phones... Similar advantages are claimed for older people. They have cell phones to allow their children to monitor their health.

(snip)

Cell phones, an irresistible force, may soon pull ahead of land lines. But I vow to resist just as I've resisted ATM cards, laptops and digital cameras. I agree increasingly with the late poet Ogden Nash, who wrote: "Progress might have been all right once, but it's gone on too long. "



Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040818/news_1e18samuel.html

[XanaDUer]

1. I don't have a cell phone...

anymore, and probably won't get one, although they are good if you are stranded by the side of the road because your car broke down, esp. if you are female.

I have arranged to work from home, however, so I won't be getting one anytime soon.

[Bluzmann57]

2. Hallelujah!

I thought I was one of the last of the holdouts. No cell phone for me. I sometimes tell folks that there is most likely an operation that will cut the phone away from their ear as modern medicine is wonderful. If people want me, leave a message on my machine and sooner or later I'll get back to you. And if a person is out to a nice restaurant with a friend or loved one, why be interrupted? Or at a movie? or at church? I actually saw a friend at our Blues Fest call another person on the other side of the park. It is about a four block walk from one side of the park to the other. Just make the hike, it won't kill you and in fact, it'll probably be good for a person.

[graywarrior]

4. Got rid of mine.

Missed it for a few days, now I love not having it.

[Newsjock]

3. Only a prepaid "emergency" one for me

I carry it in the car when driving, and in the bike bag while bicycling. No sleazy contracts, and a rate that's only slightly exorbitant. (Sure, I could have one that calls only 911 for free, but I do like having the ability, should I need it, to call a friend for help -- as I did when I was stranded after equipment failure on a bike ride.)

I refuse to enter into any of those long-term contracts that the sleazy cellphone companies insist on. Only in telecom do companies have so little faith in their level of service that they require their customers to commit to long-term patronage.

"Thank you for eating at Subway. Unfortunately, if you do not agree to eat a foot-long BMT at least once per week for the next year, we must charge you five times the posted price."

[question everything]

6. Same here. Especially since there are fewer and fewer pay phones.

When I see people constantly gabbing I feel sorry for them. It is as if they are afraid to be alone with their thoughts, they need the affirmation of others for their existence.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

5. Mine never works so you could say that I'm an American without....

a cellphone.

:shrug:

[SoCalDem]

7. I will be the last.. I refuse to pay more than $30 a month for all phone

stuff.. I usually hit it around $28 a month.,. I hate to talk on the phone, so why should I pay more to be annoyed??