Am I The Only Dinosaur Without A Smart Phone?

[VMI77]

Don't have one and never will, unless someone else is paying for it.

[Abraham]

Not all that long ago, while cycling past a T-intersection, I was almost killed by a women blabbing on a cell phone as I cycled into the intersection (I had the right of way) just as she ran the stop sign.

She chose to yap on her cell phone rather than yield to the stop sign and was so engrossed in her phone conversation the stop sign was invisible to her.

As she plowed through the stop sign, I exited the road into a ditch.

Had I not been paying attention, I wouldn't be here now.

A couple of years before the above, I witnessed an accident caused by yet another woman on a cell phone who didn't get off the phone even then...fortunately it was a rather minor fender bender, but it could've be prevented if she'd been paying attention to her driving instead of yap yap yapping on her cell phone.

Remember the texting young guy/old retired cop movie theatre killing most recently in the news and discussed at length on this forum? The lack of common courtesy with the use of these devices, especially in public, is causing at the very least indigestion up to the point of mayhem.

Multiply these micro moments by all the number of people not paying attention to their driving while cell phone blabbing and/or texting (even while driving) plus while you're at it, add up the general public aggravation when these devices are discourteously used and you have a recipe for violence. It's real.

Cell phones / smart phones have their place, but their inappropriate/inconsiderate use causes a world of problems for others.

[mojo84]

Still can't blame the phone any more than we can blame the guns used in crimes. Missuse of an item does not make the item bad. Why not blame the vehicles in those situations you cited? How about blaming the theater, movie gun or theater seats for the shooting in the theater? Blame the rude inconsiderate people and criminals.

If you don't want a cell phone or smartphone don't get one. No need to try and paint them or people that use them as inherently dangerous or bad.

[paperchunker]

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..

[Abraham]

mojo84,

Of course you're correct about it not being the inherent fault of the cell/smart phone in and of itself - it's the vehicle, if you will, that a huge proportion of the population employ in a dangerous or inconsiderate manner in public especially, that makes me shudder with disgust.

Ever had someone speak so loudly on a cell phone while in a restaurant you can hear every single word spouted, but you can't have a considerate toned conversation with your table mate?

I'm sure you have your own anecdotes regarding negative cell/smart phone users.

I'll be willing to bet that most people have stories about inconsiderate dolts on cell phones. It's a societal plague.

No, it's not fault of the cell/smart phone, (how could it be?) but for some reason people seem to put blinders on when out in public with this communication item.

I'm reminded of people who couldn't be more considerate and kind when sober, (no cell phone) but when tippling, (cell phone in hand) are mean drunks...

One last blast.

To be sure, not everyone with a cell phone is a knucklehead when using one in public, just a colossal percentage are...

[03Lightningrocks]

I can still remember having a "mobile" phone that was about the size of a large cowboy boot sole. It weighed enough that it would wear you out holding it to your ear. It would only hold a charge for about an hour. But it had a really cool orange light under the keyboard.

[BigGuy]

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..

I had a voice pager. Boy, those things could get some conversations going. One of the ladies who worked for me could have made a sailor blush. I learned to hit the volume knob real quick when I heard her voice. Sitting in choir practice on Wednesday nights, I always feared getting a call from her in typical form. Being on call, I couldn't turn the pager off.
Another time, my wife and I were driving home when I got a message from somebody with a very sexy voice saying she been missing me and wanted to get together. Fortunately my wife knew it was a wrong number.
I'm on call 7 days per week until midnight. Cell phones are better than pagers. My phones goes on silent as soon as I step into a theater. That means before the commercials start. Some people like watching them. If I do get a call, I check to number to see if I have to answer it. (from work yes, Just about anybody else, no.) If I do have to take the call, I step out of the theater.

[WildBill]

I can still remember having a "mobile" phone that was about the size of a large cowboy boot sole. It weighed enough that it would wear you out holding it to your ear. It would only hold a charge for about an hour. But it had a really cool orange light under the keyboard.

Here's an old picture I have of you with that phone.

[Keith B]

No, I know other dinosaurs that don't have a smart phone either.

[WildBill]

No, I know other dinosaurs that don't have a smart phone either.

Sorry Keith, but .................

[03Lightningrocks]

I can still remember having a "mobile" phone that was about the size of a large cowboy boot sole. It weighed enough that it would wear you out holding it to your ear. It would only hold a charge for about an hour. But it had a really cool orange light under the keyboard.

Here's an old picture I have of you with that phone.


[ Image ]

That cracks me up. The exact phone I was talking about.

[jmra]

I can still remember having a "mobile" phone that was about the size of a large cowboy boot sole. It weighed enough that it would wear you out holding it to your ear. It would only hold a charge for about an hour. But it had a really cool orange light under the keyboard.

I had one of these before I had the one you are talking about.

[Keith B]

No, I know other dinosaurs that don't have a smart phone either.

Sorry Keith, but .................[ Image ]

Sorry Bill.

[03Lightningrocks]

I can still remember having a "mobile" phone that was about the size of a large cowboy boot sole. It weighed enough that it would wear you out holding it to your ear. It would only hold a charge for about an hour. But it had a really cool orange light under the keyboard.

I had one of these before I had the one you are talking about.
[ Image ]

I had a neighbor back in the days before "mobile" phones went mainstream who worked for one of the major phone companies. That looks just like a phone he showed me one night after work. He was telling me how his company believed this was the phone we would all be using in the future. Even he laughed at the idea. They were "making" he and the other techs use them. It was a trial period for determining the efficiency of using mobile phones. The way I reacted to that phone, one would believe I was an Indian seeing white men for the first time. The cost per minute to use the thing was some crazy high dollar amount. I will never forget telling him how ridiculous I thought the whole idea was. Good night nurse! Why on earth would anyone want to talk on the phone while driving around town?

[jmra]

I can still remember having a "mobile" phone that was about the size of a large cowboy boot sole. It weighed enough that it would wear you out holding it to your ear. It would only hold a charge for about an hour. But it had a really cool orange light under the keyboard.

I had one of these before I had the one you are talking about.
[ Image ]

I had a neighbor back in the days before "mobile" phones went mainstream who worked for one of the major phone companies. That looks just like a phone he showed me one night after work. He was telling me how his company believed this was the phone we would all be using in the future. Even he laughed at the idea. They were "making" he and the other techs use them. It was a trial period for determining the efficiency of using mobile phones. The way I reacted to that phone, one would believe I was an Indian seeing white men for the first time. The cost per minute to use the thing was some crazy high dollar amount. I will never forget telling him how ridiculous I thought the whole idea was. Good night nurse! Why on earth would anyone want to talk on the phone while driving around town?

Yep. Bag phone. The battery for the thing was as big as the phone. They weren't cheap either.