Mobile Phones

[Anorak 0]

I've never owned a mobile phone. I don't really know how to use one either to be honest although I managed to use one of those older models (this was when they were originally biggish and before they went small and back to bigger again I think) about two or three times when I borrowed one off my mum & dad. One time my sister's rang while she was driving and i had to give to my mum in the backseat to answer because I wasn't sure which button to press to answer it.

 

Anybody else never really touched the things?

 

I probably will get one soon (my mum keeps having a go at me about it) but I won't use it much. Might need one in an emergency I suppose.

[Guest Quality Poster]

It's kinda ridiculous when they shove them to 10-year-olds around here...

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Cell phones make me feel my age.

 

For the longest time I never had one. About 5 years ago I was driving somewhere and used the better half's phone -- It took me 5 minutes to dial the number and I wondered how people could handle driving and using a cell phone at the same time.

 

I got a pre-paid phone a year ago and it's good for what it is -- $20 to "top-off" every three months is much better than some hippie calling plan. I don't use it that often, and there are all these features on it I don't know how to access, nor do I really care...

[The Czech Republic 0]

People who talk loudly and prominently talk about their "minutes" need a swift kick to the balls.

[nl5xsk1 0]

When I moved to the city, I realized that I either needed to get a home phone or a cell phone. Since I was just going to be living with one other person, we decided to each get our own cell phone and not bother with a home one. And I've kept it that way ever since, I've moved 3 times now and haven't bothered getting a home phone once. Why bother, when I can just give out the one number and know that people can reach me regardless of where I am?

[Ripper 0]

Why bother, when I can just give out the one number and know that people can reach me regardless of where I am?

That is more of a bad thing if you ask me. I just tell people that my cell number is my home number so that I don't have to answer if I don't want to. If you have a cell, people KNOW that you KNOW they called. I don't like people having that much knowledge about me.

[yankovic fan 0]

When I was in college I wrote an editorial for the school paper called "I Hate Cellphones" and I took an extreme approach to it.

 

 

General feedback, "great read, but you're a strange person."

 

If anyone is interested, I can post it for giggles.

[Jingus 0]

Count me in as having a cell phone instead of a home phone, too. To solve Ripper's dilemma, anytime I give my number out I also give a disclaimer, saying something like "the reception ALWAYS sucks, so just leave a message if I don't pick up".

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

I got a pre-paid phone a year ago and it's good for what it is -- $20 to "top-off" every three months is much better than some hippie calling plan. I don't use it that often, and there are all these features on it I don't know how to access, nor do I really care...

Same here. I'm using Trac-Fone, which is perfect because I don't use it nearly enough to justify paying a monthly bill. Just buy minutes as needed.

[sfaJack 0]

Indeed. TracFone is the way to go if you're an "emergencies only" phone user. I think I've used mine 4 times since I got it last July.

[Mole 0]

My friend told me that telemarketers are going to be calling cell phones soon.

 

That will get annoying.

[GreatWhiteNope 0]

Indeed. TracFone is the way to go if you're an "emergencies only" phone user. I think I've used mine 4 times since I got it last July.

I got mine a few months back, and it's good for 14 months and 400 minutes.

 

Cost me like $105.

[Ripper 0]

what pisses me off is people buying these extremely expensive phones because of features that no sane person needs.

 

I mean, in 1999, I can't think of one time I was walking around with my phone and said" this is great...but it would be better if I could take a crappy picture of something right now with my phone....or even better, if I could make a crappy quality 10 second video clip of something...that would be COOL." people are paying more and more for phones because it has all this crap that you don't even need. I suggest we go back to theses:

 

 

 

Thats me and my first cell phone.

[sfaJack 0]

My friend told me that telemarketers are going to be calling cell phones soon.

 

That will get annoying.

I think one of our local tv newscasts did a story saying that that was just a nasty internet/chain mail rumor that is untrue. Something about a federal law that prevents them from doing so maybe, but I wasn't really paying that much attention to it.

 

I got mine a few months back, and it's good for 14 months and 400 minutes.

 

Cost me like $105.

Yeah, I actually considered getting one of the bare bones monthly plans from one of the wireless companies, but the cheapest I could find was $20 a month with only 60 mins or so. Made no sense at all to do that, especially since I've used exactly 12 of the 400 minutes I bought 6 months ago.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I can understand having a cell phone instead of a home phone -- my one friend does that and it's cheaper for him than getting a land-line.

 

My friend told me that telemarketers are going to be calling cell phones soon.

 

I heard that it's still up in the air, and I recently read that Verizon said they won't give their customer's numbers out. Good God will that get annoying if you're driving somewhere and almost wreck because some douche wants to sell you magazines...

[sfaJack 0]

One other thing that pisses me off about these phones: I'm doing my grocery shopping Saturday afternoon and there's this fat bitch blocking the milk case with her basket because she's standing there reading off the differences on the nutrition labels between 2% and skim milk to whomever she was talking to on her cell phone. That shit's just uncalled for.

 

I was even more annoyed by this than I have been by people reading the backs of the movie boxes at the video store to people over the phone and agonizing over the life-altering decision to rent either Revenge of the Nerds II or III.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Oh I hate that. A few days ago I had to deal with someone reading labels to a person over the phone. Although, I must admit, a short while ago I was in this store and had to call the better half in regards to what time I was going to pick her up. I pulled out the phone and thought "OMG, I'm one of those people." I then went outside and made my call...

[Giuseppe Zangara 0]

I like my phone, though, yeah, I was one of those "I'm never gonna get one of those things ever" type of guys beforehand.

 

It's also serving as my home phone, since my roommates and I all have cells, there's just no need for a land line.

[IllustriousOne 0]

I like mine too. It's my primary phone, and it's mainly used to talk to family and whatnot. I don't generally take calls from people that aren't in my phonebook.

 

When I had cingular, I got random telemarketing calls. That shit was lame.

[Guest netslob]

i hate phones in general, but i have one only for emergencies. i especially hate people who drive with them. there's not "anti-car-phone" laws here in Florida (not like it would stop them if there were), so every other goober you pass (and you HAVE to try and pass them, or you'll fucking sit there all day while they go 20 mph in a 45 zone) has their hand plasted to their fucking ear.

 

i remember when i worked at Wendy's, people who'd be on them at the counter or in the drive-thru, taking orders for whoever they were talking too. or just talking to them and ordering in between gaps in the conversation, not all minding the 16 other people behind them.

[Zack Malibu 0]

I was even more annoyed by this than I have been by people reading the backs of the movie boxes at the video store to people over the phone and agonizing over the life-altering decision to rent either Revenge of the Nerds II or III.

Part 2, definitely. 3 was just the mildly amusing made for TV movie with Morton Downey Jr. as the villain being the highlight.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Why bother, when I can just give out the one number and know that people can reach me regardless of where I am?

That is more of a bad thing if you ask me. I just tell people that my cell number is my home number so that I don't have to answer if I don't want to. If you have a cell, people KNOW that you KNOW they called. I don't like people having that much knowledge about me.

Most of the time I keep my phone on just straight-up ringing, rather than vibrate AND ring ... so if I'm anywhere that's too noisy, I can't hear it.

 

Or, at least that's what I tell the people who's call I just screened a few hours ago.

 

"When did you call? I don't know how I missed your call, I must have been in the bar, and just didn't hear it ring. Sorry."

[Guest Failed Mascot]

Sprint turned me off of cell phones indefinately. I like landline phones...just need to get myself a cordless one. If I ever get a mobile phone it will be a regular car phone that plugs into the lighter, and even then it will be an emergency only thing. People who talk on cell phones while driving should have to pay a higher auto insurance fee.

[Jingus 0]

I actually did myself a favor when, in a moment of rage, I hurled my phone into a wall and broke it. (Note: I have no idea how this happened.) Somehow, my phone simply will not ring now. It's like the speaker is broken. But when I make or receive a call, I can hear the other person just fine. Ergo, I'm forced to leave it on vibrate mode, and it provides a great ready-made excuse for any call I wanna duck. "No, I didn't know you called, sorry, musta left my phone on the charger in the other room."

[BUTT 0]

When I was in college I wrote an editorial for the school paper called "I Hate Cellphones" and I took an extreme approach to it.

 

 

General feedback, "great read, but you're a strange person."

 

If anyone is interested, I can post it for giggles.

Post it.

 

I like when people share my anti-cellphone views.

[Twisted Intestine 0]

When I was in college I wrote an editorial for the school paper called "I Hate Cellphones" and I took an extreme approach to it.

 

 

General feedback, "great read, but you're a strange person."

 

If anyone is interested, I can post it for giggles.

Post away.

[Guest The Shadow Behind You]

I just flat out brought a Motorola v180 and use prepaid minutes on it instead of the bullshit calling plans.

 

It does what it's designed for. Good for emergencies and for only people i want to talk to having the ability to directly get to me.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Best advice I can give you is stay the fuck away from Sprint.

[DerangedHermit 0]

Me and my brother both have prepaid -- I have a Motorola v120 with Tracfone, and my brother has a Kyocera K9 with Virgin Mobile pay as you go; I got the CTU ring as the ringtone and my brother has The Final Countdown (it's on a low enough volume so I can hear it and not really disturb someone else; but I shut it off anyways because if they want to call me, I'll call them later). It's good for what it is; we both pay about $20-30 every three months.

[yankovic fan 0]

When I was in college I wrote an editorial for the school paper called "I Hate Cellphones" and I took an extreme approach to it.

 

 

General feedback, "great read, but you're a strange person."

 

If anyone is interested, I can post it for giggles.

Post it.

 

I like when people share my anti-cellphone views.

Here you go:

 

Columnist says down with cell phones

 

By Greg Hood

 

So the other day after a grueling music appreciation test, a test I spent the better part of a week studying for, I settled into the Student Union for a little rest and relaxation. As I sat with my head in my hands, mentally evaluating my performance, I heard it. As if God himself were looking down from heaven mocking me, Mozart's "Symphony 40" infiltrated my ears! Certain I was having a mental meltdown from repeated listening to the piece the previous evening, I plugged my ears and started rocking back and forth screaming the chorus to "Jingle Bells."

 

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably like two minutes, I removed my fingers from my ear canals and checked to see if the Lord had ceased his heavy-handed musical torture. He didn't. Instead, he decided to have Ludwig Von Beethoven torture me this time. Now "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony" was all I could hear, and I attributed it to my choice of study habits. Before I could plug my ears again though, I heard "Hey man, check this one out," and suddenly the theme of the "Pink Panther" was playing. At this point I realized that it was not a supreme being torturing me. No, the source of my anguish was coming from the table 20 feet away in a big huddle. Apparently the centerpiece of the huddle had just gotten a cellular phone and had to show it off to all his friends.

 

I'm not going to lie. With the exception of use during roadside emergencies, I hate cell phones. They are annoying little devices of communication that present hazards in more ways than one. Every time I'm on the road and someone nearly runs me off the road because they are in the midst of gossip on what's happening in the soaps, it takes everything in me to stop from chasing them down, taking the phone, and throwing it in front of a speeding truck.

 

People lose track of everything with cell phones. More than once, I've been walking with friends having a great conversation when suddenly we're graced with a low budget version of a recent pop song, and they grab the phone and forget about me. Apparently finding out who's sleeping with whom on "Guiding Light" is more intriguing than my theories on modern politics. And it's not just the lack of courtesy that occurs in general social situations either. Recently I was out for a night on the town with a friend and in a ten-minute span she got no less than eight phone calls! Now she didn't answer the phone, but common sense would say to turn the freaking phone off.

 

Another thing that gets me about cell phones is people who feel they are so self-righteous that when the phone rings, they must take their time to answer it. It's the same thing every time. Some man or woman wandering alone in their best attempt at the latest fashion hears their cell phone go off. They stop what they are doing. By this point the phone is on the second verse of whatever song they have chosen as the ring tone. They look around to ensure they are the center of attention. Then in one quick motion, they reach down and answer the phone, "Hello? Oh, Hi mom...."

 

I had a professor a semester ago whose syllabus had a clause in regard to cell phones. It was a penalty to the entire class. If someone's phone went off in class, the entire class would be docked on point on the class average. His classes do not have that clause anymore, but I really liked that idea. Since I have been enrolled longer than my TOPS eligibility, my parents are paying good money for my education. I do not want my professor's lecture on why America is the supreme leader in world affairs interrupted by Joe Bob's cell phone rendition of "The Beverly Hillbillies" theme song.

 

Back to the circumstances that I opened this article with, if I'm sitting in the Union eating, studying, skipping class, or whatever, I do not need some wise guy that thinks he is a DJ just because his new phone can hold ten different ring tones. Nobody wants to hear your play list! If you must show off all your ring tones to your friends, kindly go sit inside your vehicle, have your private jam session and let me have my peace!

 

And what is with this obsession of constantly needing to talk to someone? NOBODY is so important that they need to get in touch with me immediately. We're at war? Well I'll find out when I get home and turn on the TV. Aunt Helen died? Well, I'm not Jesus Christ; I can't resurrect her. Besides that, I'm having a good day at school -- don't call me with bad news and wreck it. Wait until I get home. You want to know what I'm doing tonight? Find me at school or call my house and leave a message on my answering machine like we used to do before these annoying little phones were invented.

 

And now these little things are getting so high tech you don't even have to hold them to talk to people. You just fit this little thing in your ear, clip another piece to your shirt, and start talking. I swear on a good day you can find at least six or seven people wandering around just talking about what's for dinner, and you'd swear at first glance they were talking to themselves.

 

And then these little things keep getting smaller and smaller. People are spending all kinds of money on a phone that is so small just to keep with the latest trend. I heard a comment about cell phones the other day that went "Cell phones are the only thing in existence where you brag about having the smallest one." I'm sorry, but if I would break down and buy one of these infernal gadgets, I would not shell out the better part of my income for something the size of my palm. It's going to have to be at least the size of my forearm and come with security features including, but not limited to, electric theft guard, a homing beacon, and video surveillance. I want my money's worth.

 

DOWN WITH CELL PHONES! Why, you still ask? Because they're annoying little gadgets that cause bad driving, rude conversation etiquette, steal my tuition, and cause total havoc on my psyche after music appreciation tests.