Could You Live Without Your Cell Phone?

[Zippo]

I grew up in the days of the phone party line. Now I can line up a party with my phone online. I'll keep my phone, thanks.

[Vinsk]

Like Erik, said it completely matters if it’s just me or everyone. I could not function with my career without a cell phone. However, I lived in Africa with no electricity, running water and a dirt floor for three years. 
But most of all, how the hell am I supposed to stay up with TST with no cell phone!? 😃

[nevets88]

Yeah. Pretty much impossible to do any kind of work corporate or not, freelance, whatever, without a phone. 

Like most people I’m guessing, I use the phone to get on the train. Deposit checks. Turn on lights and switches, view security cameras, order food, navigate the roads, check on the dog/cat during vacation, real time translation, the list just keeps going on. 

[Bucki1968]

1 hour ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Before I vote I need to ask one question:

Am I the only one going without a cell phone and everyone else gets to have one?
Or, are we going to ban cell phones from everyone, or somehow uninvent them or something like that? 

Nope....it's just you making the choice. Everyone else gets to keep theirs or not.

[ChetlovesMer]

20 minutes ago, Bucki1968 said:

Nope....it's just you making the choice. Everyone else gets to keep theirs or not.

Then I can't give up mine. It would put me at a huge disadvantage for the job I do. 

If everyone was giving up their phones then easy squeezy. I lived in that world when I first started. I remember calling companies to ask if they had a fax machine. If they did, we'd fax them invoices or quotes or what ever. If they didn't we mailed it. Literally put it in a company envelope and ran it through a postage machine. 

[boogielicious]

How in the world would I have instant access to The Sand Trap if I didn’t have my cell phone?? No thanks!

[nevets88]

Another thing is I have a gazillion things AirTagged now and whenever I misplace something, it's not a mad rush to find it. Misplaced keys, no problem. Ping it and find it.

I dropped my wallet in the store the other day did not panic because AirTagged and immediately knew where it was - I go back and ask for it. They ask for my credentials and I make the AirTag go off. Yep, it's yours.

Someone in my family had a case of amnesia and was who the hell knows where. Find my phone to the rescue. Located quickly, wandering around, who knows what would have happened were it not for gps on a smartphone.

[Denny Bang Bang]

I do like the convenience of a smartphone, but as it is I don’t use it to its full abilities.  Text, call, music, pictures/videos… that’s all I do with it.  I could do without it tomorrow, no problem.

[iacas]

5 hours ago, Bucki1968 said:

Nope....it's just you making the choice. Everyone else gets to keep theirs or not.

Ha. Then no way in hell. I'd be cut off from virtually everyone I know, professionally and personally.

[Missouri Swede]

12 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

Paying for a cell phone offends me

I pay more for my landline than I do for my cell phone.

12 hours ago, mcanadiens said:

and I don't want to be bothered when I'm on my time. 

I think I understand this part of it.  I've come to realize that I don't really have any "my time" any more, and probably won't until I retire/resign.  (Yeah, there are times in the day or week I don't expected to be needed, but I've had plenty of times when I'm supposed to be off and then something comes up.)

I'm old enough to remember when I had to leave a "number to be reached at" by landline.  Cell phones changed that for the better: I can be reached almost everywhere through one phone number. And cell phones changed that for the worse: I can be reached almost everywhere, so instantaneous availability becomes assumed.

The question in the poll is really a two-part question, although not phrased as such.  A lot of the answers assume it's a smartphone, not just a flip-phone I had 15 years ago.  So could I  live without a cell phone--just for the ability to be contacted around town and around the country? And could I live without a smartphone?

For both, yeah. I did it before, I could do it again. (Have a tornado blow through town and wipe out the cellular towers; you make do for at least a few days.)

But would I want to? Nah.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Missouri Swede

[dennyjones]

I use my cell phone as an extension of my PC.  I hate to talk on the phone so that part of the decision would be easy.   If everyone gave up their phones, it would be an easy choice for me to follow if I still had access to a computer.    If I was the only one that had to give up my phone, well, that's just stupid.  

[boogielicious]

2 minutes ago, dennyjones said:

I use my cell phone as an extension of my PC.  I hate to talk on the phone so that part of the decision would be easy.   If everyone gave up their phones, it would be an easy choice for me to follow if I still had access to a computer.    If I was the only one that had to give up my phone, well, that's just stupid.  

 

What I do love about cell phones is being able to contact anyone with a simple text. I can chat with my son or friends that are far away. I can tell my wife I’m heading somewhere. I have group text threads with different sets of friends that are lots of fun.

They call be lifesavers too because of GPS. We have instant access to information with a simple search. They are truly remarkable technology.

[GolfLug]

I echo lot of posts here in favor. The benefits far outweigh the downsides. It's not much of a contest. 

I do think the instant access to the ones you do not want to be so easily accessible to is a pain with the cell phone. It is like living in an open-house... at all times. People walk in and expect instant responses. The ones you do not care about at all are easy to ignore but the quasi access folks are a tough one lot of times. I miss a texts in a pile and that can/has lead to strained feelings that I have to somehow mend. I am admittedly thin skinned and usually feel pressured to respond even if I want to wait. I guess we are all learning to live and adapt to it in our own ways. I wake up at 5 am each day so I can have my no access time. 

Long live the smart-phone!

 

Edited February 10, 2022 by GolfLug

[mcanadiens]

9 hours ago, Missouri Swede said:

I think I understand this part of it.  I've come to realize that I don't really have any "my time" any more, and probably won't until I retire/resign.  (Yeah, there are times in the day or week I don't expected to be needed, but I've had plenty of times when I'm supposed to be off and then something comes up.)

Of course, there are some positions where being on call is absolutely necessary, but those ought to be a lot fewer than some people think.  

Half the reason I keep trying to play golf is to get away from these people for a little bit. About the last thing I want is to let them ring me on the course.

If you let them expect you to drop everything, stuff will always come up.  

 

 

[Bucki1968]

23 minutes ago, mcanadiens said:

Of course, there are some positions where being on call is absolutely necessary, but those ought to be a lot fewer than some people think.  

Half the reason I keep trying to play golf is to get away from these people for a little bit. About the last thing I want is to let them ring me on the course.

If you let them expect you to drop everything, stuff will always come up.  

 

 

I agree completely. I like the idea of going fishing or golfing and not having the phone so I am unreachable. It's sort of refreshing. I'll find out anything a couple hours later. 

[ChetlovesMer]

I've said this a lot of times. So, if you've heard me say it already, I apologize.  Let me start by saying I like having a cell phone. I certainly don't use its full capabilities, but I like having it. It's very handy for my job. Three things.

1 - It has helped make people impatient. Back when I owned my first house and my parents/friends/sibling whatever would call me and leave me a message, if I got back to them within the next day or two they were perfectly happy. Now-a-days if somebody sends me a text and I don't respond within the hour they start losing their minds. I can recall a text from my sister-in-law in September. She was asking about Christmas plans. I didn't respond until the next day and she was PISSED... I mean REALLY REALLY ANGRY with me. I'm like what's the big deal? Christmas is still more than 3 months away. In my opinion, if something is that urgent, call me. 

2 - As I've gotten older I do a lot less on my phone. I prefer to sit in front of my computer for a lot of things I can do on my phone. Why? Because I don't carry my reading glasses around with me everywhere I go, and I can't freaking see the damned screen as well anymore. ... Now GET OFF MY LAWN! 

3 - If you would have told me back in lets say 1990 that one day every American will carry a device that will not only allow the government to monitor your conversations, know where you are at any given moment, but also make everyone responsible for keeping that device charged, I would have said you were crazy. But here we are. 

I like my phone. I like having it. It certainly makes me more effective with my job. I'd also be perfectly happy to go back to pre-cell-phone-days. As long as everyone else did so too. I really wouldn't want to be the only one without one. 

[iacas]

10 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Now-a-days if somebody sends me a text and I don't respond within the hour they start losing their minds.

Or a few days… 😉

[Double Mocha Man]

46 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

... every American will carry a device that will not only allow the government to monitor your conversations, know where you are at any given moment...

Not to mention the phone relaying the chip info from your Covid shots directly to the CDC and others (in your case, your sister-in-law).