Am I The Only Dinosaur Without A Smart Phone?

[mojo84]

Same here when the a/c is out. Or its cloudy and my sundial doesn't cast a shadow.

[tarkus]

Just last week at work we took a poll on how many people there no longer have a "home phone". It was about 75% only have cell phones and don't have a home phone. I was stunned by this. After thinking about it for a while, it kind of made sense because nobody actually calls our home phone other than unwanted calls.

I got rid of my home phone a while ago. In addition to the unwanted calls, the price of a plain landline kept going up. When I finally canceled my home phone, the monthly bill was more than I pay now for my smart phone plan. I get caller ID, voice mail, texts and internet access that were not included in the larger home phone bill.

[JSThane]

Haven't read through the whole thread (posting quickly, 'cause the Lady is poking me to go to the grocery), but in reply to the thread's topic line, yes, I have a whole drawer full of non-smart phones. A couple of them even still work, if I charge (and re-activate) them!

But there's a touch-screen LG with Android 4.2 sitting on my belt. Dinosaurs gotta keep up, ya know! :P

[tbrown]

I only have a smart phone because of work but I think a cell phone is an important tool. What if you need to call for help and there are no phone booths nearby?

Who knows? Dunn might have been acquitted if he called 911 immediately after the shooting.

[tomtexan]

This was my first cell phone.....back in 1989. The big box to the right of the handset was the battery that would attach to the transceiver. The battery would detach via a large screw and then you mounted the transceiver in the trunk mounting bracket that used a key to lock/unlock it. Handset would mount on a pedestal on the floorboard inside the car and was connected via a long data cable that you would run under the carpet and under the seats to the trunk, and of course you had to screw on the coax for the antenna that was attached to the back glass. Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems was the provider back then for service in the D/FW area. I remember it being eighty cents a minute with nights and weekends free. Needless to say, you didn't want to use it much during the day! I paid $1200.00 for that thing which was as heavy as a boat anchor. My oh my, how things have changed over the years.

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[gringo pistolero]

I suppose you dinosaurs refuse to use those new fangled microwave ovens also.

I'm really exposing myself now.
I bought my first microwave in the 70s. It weighed about 40 lbs, cost about $400 and came with "free" cooking classes.
My latest model cost about $80 and I use it mostly to heat up leftovers, soup and make popcorn.

"Don't put metal in the science oven."

And if you get your smart phone wet, don't dry it in the science oven.

[Syntyr]

I love my new Samsung Galaxy Note 3.. I would hate to go back to the 80's when I had to carry a pager and a roll of quarters and know where the pay phones were..

My brother from another mother!!

Long live the Galaxy Note 3! Some say it's too much phone... Or it's too much computer... It's too big... The battery life is too long!

I say give me my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 or give me... Okay now where was I... Maybe not that crazy but I LOVE my Note 3. I use it for everything. Only use it for music repository when I am driving, and I only use it for movies when I am flying or have some serious downtime. Currently have Pitch Black, Chronicles or Riddick and Riddick, and Jungle Book on it. I text only 1 person my wife.

Other than that I have
Ultimate guitar tab and a ton of tab
Guitar tuner
Metronome
Grocery IQ shopping list manager
Geico insurance card thingy
All of my bank and credit card accounts
Google sky maps
Manage my home security system
Manage my home thermostats
Manage all of my door locks, lights and garage door
Pay my bills
Manage my TiVo dvr
Remote control for my home theater
I have just two games and a photo puzzle app.

Other than that I can see all of our 1400 network servers and touch every desktop in the entire company. I also manage my 6 personal and 3 work email accounts. Yeah I know email is old school but it works for me...

So I pretty much live on my phone. That said when I get home the phone goes on the charger until I leave the next morning or if it's a date night or away time the phone goes into silent mode. The only electronics allowed when I am with my wife out at dinner is her ipad air. We play scrabble with each other at dinner. It's either that or talk time. Works well for us.

My sister inlaw and her husband come over for dinner and their noses are in their phones 80% of the time they are there. Drives me nuts! We can be sitting there eating dinner and they have their phones out. I look over at my wife and grimace and she silently mouths "sorry" to me. Zombies...

[mojo84]

"1400 network servers"? That is a huge company.

[03Lightningrocks]

"1400 network servers"? That is a huge company.

No kidding and what would the numbers be on how many computers are connected to that? Jesus cripes! You are able to access tens of thousands of computers, all from your galaxy phone? I am amazed they are not more concerned with security than to allow cell phone access to such a huge system. You must have one heck of serious security clearance for that type access. Especially from a cell phone. Who the heck you work for anyway?

[Syntyr]

"1400 network servers"? That is a huge company.

Bank... Lots of VMware servers out there.

[Abraham]

Syntyr

"So I pretty much live on my phone."

Mostly for chatting or business? Would you potentially break out in hives or feel anxious if you were denied access to your device?

"My sister inlaw and her husband come over for dinner and their noses are in their phones 80% of the time they are there. Drives me nuts! We can be sitting there eating dinner and they have their phones out. I look over at my wife and grimace and she silently mouths "sorry" to me. Zombies..."

I witness the above all too commonly. Such practice is quickly becoming a blight everywhere. Smart phones are surrogate people for many. Those afflicted can't seem to break the chains that bind them. The attention these devices are paid exceeds human interaction by leaps and bounds for this group. Smart phones are for many as addictive as crack cocaine. And no, it's not the phone's fault, it's the misuse.

Yes cell/smart phones provide benefits, but their use by many is pathological and ever increasing as the world seems to be taken over by these things.

[03Lightningrocks]

Syntyr

"So I pretty much live on my phone."

Mostly for chatting or business? Would you potentially break out in hives or feel anxious if you were denied access to your device?

"My sister inlaw and her husband come over for dinner and their noses are in their phones 80% of the time they are there. Drives me nuts! We can be sitting there eating dinner and they have their phones out. I look over at my wife and grimace and she silently mouths "sorry" to me. Zombies..."

I witness the above all too commonly. Such practice is quickly becoming a blight everywhere. Smart phones are surrogate people for many. Those afflicted can't seem to break the chains that bind them. The attention these devices are paid exceeds human interaction by leaps and bounds for this group. Smart phones are for many as addictive as crack cocaine. And no, it's not the phone's fault, it's the misuse.

Yes cell/smart phones provide benefits, but their use by many is pathological and ever increasing as the world seems to be taken over by these things.

[The Annoyed Man]

Yes cell/smart phones provide benefits, but their use by many is pathological and ever increasing as the world seems to be taken over by these things.

OK, I'll agree with this. Example....... I do occasionally send and receive text messages from my phone, but I refuse to use texting as my primary means of communication. I mentor young men at my church, and sponsor others in CR, and the younger ones seem to think that texting is a perfectly normal means of communication......but I maintain that you CANNOT have a satisfactory conversation with someone by texting. If someone wants to have a conversation with me, CALL me. Texting is a lousy way to communicate. It takes longer too to type a lot of words out, then simply phoning and speaking. But a lot young whippersnappers would rather text.

I don't get it.

[hillfighter]

Yes cell/smart phones provide benefits, but their use by many is pathological and ever increasing as the world seems to be taken over by these things.

OK, I'll agree with this. Example....... I do occasionally send and receive text messages from my phone, but I refuse to use texting as my primary means of communication. I mentor young men at my church, and sponsor others in CR, and the younger ones seem to think that texting is a perfectly normal means of communication......but I maintain that you CANNOT have a satisfactory conversation with someone by texting. If someone wants to have a conversation with me, CALL me. Texting is a lousy way to communicate. It takes longer too to type a lot of words out, then simply phoning and speaking. But a lot young whippersnappers would rather text.

I don't get it.

I think the simplex nature is one of the appeals. If someone is busy, they can read and respond later. Sure, SMS is impersonal, but so is the telephone compared to a real live face to face conversation.

[cb1000rider]

I tried avoiding it... And I did avoid it, somewhat successfully for several years. I feared that avoiding this technology was perhaps the first real sign that I was getting old.
I eventually started using text messages for two reasons:
1) It made job functions easier. Now there was a urgency bar more than email, but under phone call. Lets call a spade a spade though - it's a leash that never quite allows you out of work.
2) I had friends that just hounded me into communicating via that means.

Is it slow? I'm not a fast texter, but using speech-to-text works pretty well on my phone... As long as I have a screen based keyboard, it's fast enough.

Down side: That lower level of urgency results in more frequent communications.. :-(