Am I the last person to not have a Cell/Smart Phone?

I grew up without the tech. Then never wanted it, didn't want to be found/connected when not at home or work. A little frustrating to constantly look up new (or new to me) text acronyms.

Oh well, old dog, new tricks. I just finally learned to sit up and beg, guess getting a phone and learning acronyms won't kill me.

Double edged sword. It is certainly an electronic leash, especially if tethered to work; however, I've grown accustomed to instant access to information. Some applications are great: my Hp 15c app, ability to take pictures of receipts and immediate upload into an expense report, flashlight, and before I learned the NYC train system the metro app bailed me out on more than a few occasions. I vote yes. You still have the power not to answer.

Sorry I'm that person whose life is on their phone.

In the mid 90's my union negotiated a telecommuting agreement with the government and one of the things in it was that they were supposed to provide pagers so the managers could get in touch with the workers if need be.

A few weeks later the management side sheepishly called back and told us that they could not get the funding for the pagers and did we want to re-open negotiations?  After a hurried conference we called back and told them to "forget it, we'll just drop the provision."   They were suspicious because generally the labor-management relationship resembled a cross between a minefield and a toxic waste dump but they couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth.

What they did not know was that many of the impacted employees had told us that the last thing they wanted was for their idiot managers to be able to bother them after they had left the office.  "They can stick their fucking beepers up their ass" was one of the general comments.

(July 20, 2015 at 4:25 pm)Cato Wrote: Double edged sword. It is certainly an electronic leash, especially if tethered to work; however, I've grown accustomed to instant access to information. Some applications are great: my Hp 15c app, ability to take pictures of receipts and immediate upload into an expense report, flashlight, and before I learned the NYC train system the metro app bailed me out on more than a few occasions. I vote yes. You still have the power not to answer.

Sigh, all I heard after "applications are great" was blah, blah, blah. Give me time. I'll get there.

A cell phone is not necessarily a smart phone.  I have a cell phone, but not a smart phone.  Smart phones cost more, and can do more than just make calls.

As for not being bothered by others, I have an easy method for that.  I leave my cell phone off most of the time.  And I rarely give out the number.  If I do give out the number, it is to someone I think I might want to actually call me, and I also tell them that, normally, I have my phone off, but will have it on during the time I think they might want to call me.  So that way, after whatever purpose was served by being able to get a call from that person, I shut it off and leave it off until either I want to make a call, or some other such occasion comes up.

Having the phone with me, but off, nearly all of the time, enables me to make calls whenever I want (except when I am out of range of cell towers, which I am frequently, as I enjoy hiking), but without being bothered by others.

Since I don't use my cell phone much, I use a prepaid phone with T-Mobile, and pay no monthly fees at all.  I just buy minutes, which cost about 10 cents each when purchased in a group of 1000 (so $100 plus tax).  The minutes are good for a year from the last time I bought any minutes (that is, they are good for a year, but if I buy more minutes at any time, then all of my leftover minutes are good for a year from that time, not just the ones I buy at that time).  Typically, I spend no more than $100 plus tax per year on my cell phone.  (The cost per minute is within the continental U.S.; when I went to Canada, it was 50 cents per minute, or, in other words, it used up 5 ordinary minutes for one minute of phone use.  I would get a different plan if I were going to be making a bunch of calls in Canada, but as I rarely go to Canada and then very rarely use my phone, it is fine for me as is.)


If you were going to be on your phone constantly, then it would be cheaper to have an unlimited plan with monthly fees, but if you use less than 1000 minutes per year, my phone is much cheaper than anything else I have heard of.


Also, if my phone is lost or stolen, I cannot be out any more money than I have already paid, as it is a prepaid phone; I get no monthly bill.  Also, I require a password when the phone is turned on to use it, so that if someone got my phone while it is off, they would have to figure out how to get past that to use it.  And I have my phone registered with T-Mobile, and I can contact them to say it is stolen, and have the remaining minutes transferred to a new phone.


I bought my phone, several years ago, at Target.  I would go and look at their options today if I were in the market for a new phone.


Now, if you want more than just a phone, then you might want to consider a smart phone.  But what you should get depends on what you really want to do with it.

I may or may not panic if I don't have a cellphone on me at all times.

I have a basic cell phone with Tracphone. I haven't the slightest interest in using a device with a tiny screen as a computer. I sure as hell am not interested in paying a ridiculous monthly fee for one.

(July 20, 2015 at 4:56 pm)Neimenovic Wrote: I may or may not panic if I don't have a cellphone on me at all times.

Me too. I am worse than a teenager when it comes to my iPhone. My family says I make love to it. They named my phone "her" after the movie.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Her_(film)

I held out until last January. I am attached like a heroin addict after a year and a half.

I worry about data usage, power consumption, where I can get WiFi, should I bring my charger?

Life is demonstrably more complicated in some aspects, but having access to information, entertainment, and utility makes it all worth it.