How dependent are you on technology?

[OTD]

I'm very techno-dependent, except for GPS, which I hate. I don't have a Facebook account, but I'm thinking of getting it. The crackberry is with me pretty much everywhere but the shower. Damn non-waterproof crackberries!

 

[Dyno]

I'm pretty dependent. I was the first person I know to get a cellphone. I'm addicted to my Blackberry. I do a ton of research online every day.

That said, I still memorize phone numbers. For the longest time I didn't use the address book in my phone. I finally caved, but I still know all the numbers. I have a written address book in addition to one on the computer, too.

I really hate machines thinking for me, though, so I don't really like GPS (or autodimming rearview mirrors or anything else my car does to try to help me - except shifting.).

I don't have Tivo yet (that's coming). I especially don't like that it can tape things it thinks I might like without my explicit programming.

 

[imjustagirl]

You can turn that option off.

 

[bagelchick]

I only use my cellphone to make calls, receive calls and take messages. Occaisionally I text, but not much. The thought of getting email on my phone makes me physically sick.

I have satellite radio, but only because it was a gift, and love it. I have direct TV with TiVo, which I would die without. I have an ipod shuffle that I got as a gift that still sits in the box it came in. Last xmas I got a digital picture frame that's still sitting in its box because I don't know what to do with it. I'm on Facebook, but don't really understand how I'm supposed to use it.

I do get a lot of info off the internet, but still rely on the written word (book, mags, newspapers) as well. I don't have GPS, so I rely on maps and mapquest, which works fine for me.

Oh, and I'm 42. I would be interested in knowing how old people are and how that relates to their technology use.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Gonna be a big, big question over the next few years, as cable TV, internet access, and cell phones go away for a lot of people.

Everybody loves their electronic toys, but they love to eat more, and for a lot of people, that's the choice they will have to make.

My bet is that pay phones make somewhat of a comeback in the next 5 years.

Disagree . The majority of cell phones are inexpensive prepaid phones (including mine, and I bet I'm not the only SportsJournalists.commer to forgo a contract).

 

[imjustagirl]

Gonna be a big, big question over the next few years, as cable TV, internet access, and cell phones go away for a lot of people.

Everybody loves their electronic toys, but they love to eat more, and for a lot of people, that's the choice they will have to make.

My bet is that pay phones make somewhat of a comeback in the next 5 years.

Disagree . The majority of cell phones are inexpensive prepaid phones (including mine, and I bet I'm not the only SportsJournalists.commer to forgo a contract).

Numbers? I mean, I know you generally know what you're talking about. But I don't know a single person (except you, apparently) who has a prepaid phone.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Gonna be a big, big question over the next few years, as cable TV, internet access, and cell phones go away for a lot of people.

Everybody loves their electronic toys, but they love to eat more, and for a lot of people, that's the choice they will have to make.

My bet is that pay phones make somewhat of a comeback in the next 5 years.

Disagree . The majority of cell phones are inexpensive prepaid phones (including mine, and I bet I'm not the only SportsJournalists.commer to forgo a contract).

Numbers? I mean, I know you generally know what you're talking about. But I don't know a single person (except you, apparently) who has a prepaid phone.

I looked the study up again and it was for the UK. Something like 15 percent here.

Cheaper, though.

THE PENNY PINCHER'S GUIDE TO SLASHING CELL PHONE BILLS
Here are five tips from Telecommunications Research & Action Center (listed in order of the largest to smallest possible savings):
1. Get rid of expensive cell phone fees by switching all or some of your cell phones to prepaid cell service. The average "postpaid" (contract-based) cell phone user pays about $50 a month to be locked into a long-term contract and also faces the risk of steep overage charges of up to 45 cents a minute and painful early-cancellation fees that can cost $150-$200. If possible without incurring a penalty, switch to a prepaid service where you buy a phone for as little as $15 and pay only for the minutes you use, without any contract or cancellation fee. While prepaid cell phones are not for the most intensive wireless users, they are well suited for the millions of typical cell phones users talking 200 minutes or less a month. If you have more than once cell phone in the family, you can experiment by substituting a pre-paid cell phone for at least one post-paid cell phone.

How many consumers might save in this way? According to 2008 data from the Cellular Telephone Industry Association (CTIA), there are 262 million cell phone subscribers in the United States. Of that group, only 16.9 percent are prepaid cell phone users. The fewer than one in five Americans using this lower-cost option is considerably under the 37-89 percent of the cell-phone market that prepaid services account for in other countries, including most developed nations, according to the CTIA.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Consumer-Group-Millions-Americans-Could/story.aspx?guid={C5D31E7D-1C8A-4F62-BBD1-7AEB7300178C}

 

[imjustagirl]

Then again, I also know next to no one who would ever use their cell phone less than 200 minutes a month. :D

 

[JR]

I'm on a three year plan and I should be on a prepaid.

I mean, other than HC & my kids, no one calls me on my cell.

Well, except for IJAG when she doesn't know how to pronounce "decal" :)

 

[imjustagirl]

Yeah, I'M the one who doesn't know how to pronounce it.

The point of the call was that you people are all screwed in the head.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Then again, I also know next to no one who would ever use their cell phone less than 200 minutes a month. :D

Just because you use your phone for 200 minutes a day ... :D

 

[imjustagirl]

Nah, I'm not that bad. Now that I have a home phone with my bundled services, I'm on the 450 minutes plan and I don't go over. I'm not TOO far under either, but I don't go over. :D

 

[RossLT]

Then again, I also know next to no one who would ever use their cell phone less than 200 minutes a month. :D

I do, I have a 450 plan on my phone and since I switched to the 450 I use somewhere between 140-190. My best friend has Verizon, so that doesn't count and my other friends and I text for all our communication.

The 140-190 is calls to my mom and grandma.

 

[mike311gd]

Zero's a percent, right? I'm going with zero.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

Newspaper Tour Guide: And each paper contains a certain percentage of recycled paper.
Lisa: What percentage is that?
Newspaper Tour Guide: Zero. Zero is a percent.

 

[mike311gd]

Shouldn't you be killing someone?

 

[friend of a friend]

I just discovered these things called books.

Wait until we tell you about e-books.

That's funny.

Next.

 

[mike311gd]

I just discovered these things called books.

Wait until we tell you about e-books.

That's funny.

Next.

Chicken necks?