I don't have a cellphone either. I've coined a new term for that "condition". I call it wirelessless.:happy0035:

 

I have pegged the percentage of cell phone calls that, in reality, need some sort of immediate attention at 1.00047.

And, those situations could almost always be dealt with by a home phone, mail, or a personal visit.

But unfortunately, that would require a small amount of planning, respect for other peoples' privacy and time, and a diminished sense of self-importance on the part of the callers.

So, I fear that rampant cell phone use is here to stay.

 

I got a cell phone when my Dad was sick and I had to drive (alone) 200+ miles to tend to him. It provided everyone a little peace of mind as there were long stretches of deserted road I had to travel. We keep it now mainly for emergency purposes while away from home......or when DH forgets what he's supposed to pick up at the grocery store. And the grandkids and I text regularly.

I do admit that we've come to depend on it. It's reassuring knowing we wouldn't have to go searching for a phone in an emergency.....finding a payphone that actually works is a rarity these days.

 

Ha, I'm 32 and only just bought another cell phone. I lost the old one fishing about...2 years ago and wasn't in a hurry to get a new one. I'll admit, my quality of life was somewhat nicer without the dang thing; and I've only given this number to about a dozen people so far.

 

All I have is a cell phone, even for my computer. I leave the ringer off. I call back if I want to talk to someone. I think 20 people might have my #....James

 

Everyone has become used to an answering machine or voicemail if it's a wireless line. It's pretty convenient from the caller's point of view to be able to leave a message and only have to call once, especially if you don't know someone's schedule.

 

I also dont have a home phone or a computer. I want peace and quiet. I have a pay as you go cell for same situation you descrbe, if I were to breakdown on my way to work. The signal is not good and it does not work when I am at home.Almost every one I know is baffled by this decision.

 

I only have a cell phone, but leave it off when I'm not working. I check my voicemail once a week or so, usually deleting each message three seconds in because I can tell how unimportant they are from the tone of the person's voice. The people I need to talk to, I call them; the people I want to talk to, I see in person on a regular basis.

 

I have to admit, I do understand how the people calling kirk feel. I was recently surprised when calling someone from work and I got a busy signal. lol, remember those? Honestly, I had a second of confusion. I knew what it was, I just couldn't understand why the call didn't go to voicemail.

On my calling plan voicemail is free, so why not use it?

I admit that I never bothered to set up voicemail on my cell. I see the missed call! That's all I need in order to decide whether a return call is necessary.

There are still some other old fashioned folk out there besides you Kirk.

 

All I have is a cell phone, even for my computer. I leave the ringer off. I call back if I want to talk to someone. I think 20 people might have my #....James

We've only given our cell # to the kids/grandkids. Everybody else has to call the house phone.....and leave a message if we're not here.

 

Don't know how I would survive without a smart phone.... Email, text messages, camera, video camera, games, movies, internet, books, gps navigation, bubble level, ruler, dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia.......

All in one handy package in a pouch on your hip!

I can handle living without running water...... I can handle living without electricity........ Just don't take my phone!

 

Kirkmcquest - I'm another old fogey here............I have a landline and an answering machine, but I wouldn't care if the phone didn't have one. Cell phones don't work out here where I live (or rather, they do, but you barely get one bar of service on a good day). I have a cell phone, but it's never turned on. It's in my purse if I need it while traveling, especially in the winter (we go to Fargo a lot for my hubby's chemo). I even have a cell plan that doesn't really exist anymore, but they let me have this plan - at least until someone in the company decides I shouldn't have this deal. I truly hate cell phones!! They are too small to see with my poor eyesight. I have seen those supposed "senior phones" they try to sell, but they aren't really that much bigger than the one I have (one of those old style non-flip ones).

My life is NOT ruled by phone calls! If folks want to get a hold of me, they know where and when they can!

 

I don't NEED a cell phone but I can tell you having one makes my life MUCH easier.

 

I don't have a cell phone, and I don't have a traditional phone either. I've got cable Internet service and Skype. I'm only paying $5/month for Skype; $2.50/month for calling out and another $2.50/month for a local phone number. I send & receive all calls through Skype, I get unlimited minutes, and long distance for all of the USA & Canada is included.

How far do you get with a cell phone for $5/month?

 

Don't know how I would survive without a smart phone.... Email, text messages, camera, video camera, games, movies, internet, books, gps navigation, bubble level, ruler, dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia.......

All in one handy package in a pouch on your hip!

I can handle living without running water...... I can handle living without electricity........ Just don't take my phone!

Have to agree here.

I use my Iphone constantly, but very little for making calls or texting. It would be tough to live without.

 

Have to agree here.

. ....It would be tough to live without.

REALLY?? Would it really be tough to live without? I guess my life is tough but I just don't realize it!

 

Its hard to believe that people survived in a world where everybody couldn't reach each other at the push of a button. i remember my grandparents used 'community phones' and they would have to go down to a center to make a phone call which was a rare occurrence anyway....yet they all survived.

Surivival is one thing, but actually being productive, using your communications model, in 2010, would not cut it for one second, in my world.

People are away from their homes, more than they are in them any more. I drive a truck, DW works in several locations and our kids are all over the place.

We have to shop used, so if you want a bargain off of Craigslist, you'd better be prepared to move - fast. If that means watching CL from a smartphone, calling and getting there right away, then that's what we have to do.

If we need to contact kids, or they need to contact us, to change plans or pick up something in town, there is no other option other than a cell phone.

Parking places for semi trucks is very rare anymore. I use my phone and Google earth, to visually locate nearby parking spaces. I can enter an address, 250 miles away, into Google maps for the smartphone, get an accurate route and an ETA, accurate within a few minutes.

I could go on for an hour - but i won't

We have a land line, only because our DSL provider charges us for one. Never use it and don't even reference it, on contact information, applications, etc.

 

Originally Posted by plowjockey
Have to agree here.

. ....It would be tough to live without.

REALLY?? Would it really be tough to live without? I guess my life is tough but I just don't realize it!

Why would you want to compare your life, with anyone else's?

None are the same.

 

We only have cell phones. My husband can be on the go and receive and make business calls. Pay phones are getting pretty scarce. Before cell phones, when we were away from home working, we had to get a land line - we must have had phones in 3 dozen cities across Texas.

Our children are in other states, I like to know they can reach me at all times.

With a cell phone, I only get calls from people to whom I give my number.

If cell phones had been available when my kids were small, I would have had one tied around each of their necks and maybe one of those tracking thingies as implants. Why in the world did it take so long to get here???

All technology is not for everyone - but use what works for you. If it doesn't, it doesn't.

 

Ha Ha Ha...

I have an old Windows smartphone, the one out before the first Iphone...

Got it to use as a internet connection with my laptop...

Got Roadrunner so I canceled the data plan...

Work requires a cell but I'm going to trade it in for a Dumbphone...

 

Why would you want to compare your life, with anyone else's?

None are the same.

Not comparing my life to anyone elses. I'm wondering why people seem 'taken aback' by my simple use of a land line phone. I think the I-phones and etc are great tools and can certainly be useful, but there seems to be a growing expectation that people should be able to reach you whenever they want...and they seem to get annoyed when they can't.

They want to know 'how' you can function without it, as if it is so essential. IDK, I guess I'm just commenting on this change in society...something can be invented and seen as a convenience and within 15 years people actually believe they 'need it'.

My whole life I got where I needed to go with a map, i was a salesman with a large territory and was on the road most of the year...I never had a problem finding my way around looking at signs and reading maps. When I was a kid I came home from school, often nobody was home and I went out to play with my friends and didn't come home until dinner at 6. This was the common way all the kids functioned...nobody panicked, nobody needed to reach me all day. I'm wondering what is really necessary and what is convenience that we have come to believe that we cannot function without.

 

I guess I'm one of the few who had a smart phone and decided I could live without it, and in fact prefer to do so. I actually got tired of constantly having everything at my fingertips. It sure was handy at times, but I just feel more relaxed without it.

 

Not comparing my life to anyone elses. I'm wondering why people seem 'taken aback' by my simple use of a land line phone. I think the I-phones and etc are great tools and can certainly be useful, but there seems to be a growing expectation that people should be able to reach you whenever they want...and they seem to get annoyed when they can't.

They want to know 'how' you can function without it, as if it is so essential. IDK, I guess I'm just commenting on this change in society...something can be invented and seen as a convenience and within 15 years people actually believe they 'need it'.

My whole life I got where I needed to go with a map, i was a salesman with a large territory and was on the road most of the year...I never had a problem finding my way around looking at signs and reading maps. When I was a kid I came home from school, often nobody was home and I went out to play with my friends and didn't come home until dinner at 6. This was the common way all the kids functioned...nobody panicked, nobody needed to reach me all day. I'm wondering what is really necessary and what is convenience that we have come to believe that we cannot function without.

I do understand what you are saying. We functioned fine without cell phones, but we function much better with them. It was a headache having to wait for them to come install your phone everytime you moved to another town - or sit at a pay phone. My husband still has a hard time spending quarters - he always saved them for the pay phones. Pay phones are going away around here.

There are a lot of people around here who only have land lines - it's not that unusual. It's unusual if it is a household with children or young adults.

We used maps as well, in fact, we probably had/still do have one of the largest collection of city maps of Texas cities of anyone. Maps cost between $ 4 and $5 each now, and the Tom Tom was a gift - we are way ahead of the game.

We lived in a small town, 3 phone calls and my son got the message to drop by the house. I have even been known to track my daughter down in Dallas at a home she didn't even know she was going to visit.

But I do panic, always have, always will. I'm 69 and I'm just pretty sure I can safely say it isn't going to change.

Probably the only 'technology' we do use is a cell phone and our Tom-Tom and it just makes live so much simpler.

Being able to reach my children keeps my blood pressure much lower. Back when I had a land line - they were home, or lived nearby. Now they are thousands of miles away.

 

And as far as pay are concerned They are coming Out and never will be back. This has been happening all over the country. The Pay Phone is Done With.
With possibly the exception at airports, and the like.
But the corner or middle of the block Pay Phone is History. Or Soon To be all over the country.

 

I love, love, love, love, love love LOVE my smart phone! I could live without it - but I would mourn it each day.

I don't even care if the government can trace my every step and spy on me. Every once again I just give them the finger - because I know they're watching me. I never have to get lost again! I can know what all of my favorite friends and family members are doing all the time, even though most of them are 1000 miles away. I can listen to my own personalized radio station while working in the garden. I can go for loooooooooong bicycle rides and be gone for hours & hours even if I'm waiting for an important phone call. Lately, I've been getting an alert from Craigslist every time somebody in our area puts a tractor up for sale. I can take a picture of my chicken and post it on here, take videos of important events . . . . the list is infinite!

We just got rid of the land line - why bother with it?

It's funny, though - I never realized until I read this thread that I haven't heard a busy signal in years!