Giving up your phone

I was thinking last night how much better life would be if I had no phone, no cell, no land line, no nothing. Sure there may be some issues at first, but you guys think it'd be possible to live life without a phone?

No one calls or texts me anyway, so I don't really see the point.

 

I figure I made it to age 30 without one, I could probably get by. It would be weird, though. Deciding beforehand where and when to meet someone and then sticking to that plan? Finding out directions before you get in the car? Crazy stuff.

 

Nah, that ship has sailed. I've gotten rid of a lot of apps, though, including Facebook and Twitter.

I couldn't psychologically handle not being a text message away from my wife now that we have kids. I'd be an emotional wreck.

My mom tells the story of the night her dad died. He died in the early evening, while my dad and mom were out Christmas shopping. This was 1977. No cell phones. No voice mails. No answering machines. My grandmother called her and called her, but couldn't reach her, since they got home late that night - perhaps they went out afterward. Not sure.

Anyway, my mom didn't find out until the following morning that her own father had died.

Crazy.

 

That's what I was thinking.

One of my friends was saying, "how could you call work?" Uh, in the three years I've had my current job I've called work maybe a half dozen times.

And, Ragu, maybe it'd be nice to not be tethered to your phone 24-7. If you are one of the types that are.

 

I could easily go without the phone aspect of the device. I don't get a lot of calls. However, my phone has basically become a computer in my pocket.

I guess that means I'd say yes to the original question about getting rid of my actual phone. But there'd have to be a replacement device (perhaps a miniature tablet?) which can still do all the other functions, including producing its own hotspot.

 

I held out on getting a cellphone until I started dating my future wife in 2005. I even remember when we first started dating, I'd given her a friend's number to call one time when we were all getting together for a group dinner.
Now?
I feel naked when I leave home without it.
For work purposes, it's a mini office in my pocket. There's times of the year where I'm out of the office more than in, so it's easier for sources to get me there than have me return a phone message two days later.
For life purposes, if you have a family I don't really see how you can go without one nowadays. If something happens with them it's silly for people not to be able to reach you.
For practical purposes, they're amazing. Besides the emergency factor -- which the decline of pay phones has made even more vital -- they're remarkably handy. As others have said, it's like having a computer in your pocket. Need to look up an address? Boom, it's there. Need to check the name of something? Boom, it's there.
I recently had to buy a new computer because of a late-night meltdown. It was a rush purchase. I was standing in Wal-Mart at midnight looking over their stock and reading reviews online while trying to settle on a decision.
Another time, the old computer caught an adware virus. I pulled out the smartphone and looked up how to fix it -- and did. Saved me several hundred dollars.
It took me a long time to go for the cellphone, but there ain't no turning back now. Might as well go live in a shack in Montana.

 

I didn't get my first cell phone until I was 25, never saw the need for one before that.

I guess the better question would be what PaperDol addressed, the phone aspect of the device.

I have maybe three people I call, my mom, my gramma and my best friend. My dad and I don't speak, and everyone else is texting.

 

You will pry my iPhone out of my cold, dead hands.

Though I have learned to be a lot better about checking Twitter and such when in social settings.

The smartphone is the great bar bet settler, too.

Nothing better than getting wasted and waking up the next day to see I had been googling Austin Croshere and not knowing why.

 

Galaxy in my hand for life. Love that toy.

 

Yeah. There's no way I'd ever willingly go without my phone. Ever. Not because of how much I talk or text, but for the internet and e-mail capabilities. Makes life so much easier on the go.

Living without my phone would be pretty stupid.