Why Are We Still Calling the Things in Our Pockets 'Cell Phones'?

[Bestwifeever]

I usually call it a cel. But it has a phone number so I don't know why it's not considered a phone.

 

[ERD50]

I usually call it a cel. But it has a phone number so I don't know why it's not considered a phone.

Good point. I just asked DW, if she met someone, and wanted to text them later, what information would she ask them for?

"Their phone number".

I suppose a 'hipster' might say "Let's exchange contact info", but face it - the number you use to text someone is a phone number. No two ways about it. Even if the term itself is somewhat archaic (but not really, not yet). And until that changes, and probably for sometime after, the usage will persist. Like the term "dial tone", though dial telephones became rare decades ago.

I really don't get OP's point.

-ERD50

 

[Meadbh]

I usually call it a cel. But it has a phone number so I don't know why it's not considered a phone.

Your tablet has a number too.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Your tablet has a number too.

A phone number? I don't do calls on my tablet, anyway.

 

[braumeister]

When I call a doctor's office, the machine usually says "If this is a medical emergency, hang up and dial 911."

What is this "dial" thing?

 

[Ready]

I refer to mine as an iPhone, because well, that's what it is.

If Apple changes the name, I'll go with that eventually.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Good point. I just asked DW, if she met someone, and wanted to text them later, what information would she ask them for?

"Their phone number".

I suppose a 'hipster' might say "Let's exchange contact info", but face it - the number you use to text someone is a phone number. No two ways about it. Even if the term itself is somewhat archaic (but not really, not yet). And until that changes, and probably for sometime after, the usage will persist. Like the term "dial tone", though dial telephones became rare decades ago.

I really don't get OP's point.

-ERD50

Hipsters get each othets' digits.

 

[Meadbh]

A phone number? I don't do calls on my tablet, anyway.

Yes. To find it on my iPad, I go to Settings, General, About, Cellular Data Number. It is shown with a 1 before it. This number is used to transmit texts. It is also used for FaceTime.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204380

 

[bw5972]

For many people, surely you realize the phone is one of the least used functions after text, email, internet browsing, map directions (more current than any GPS), apps, calculator, time, stopwatch, reading books, watching video, gaming, listening to music, camera, (audio) recording device, social media, payment device, even a flashlight, and on and on...

My view of the this is skewed by the fact I last had a landline in 2003. Every call since has been on a cell phone. Though I make/receive less calls these days, the telephony function is still very relevant to me.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Yes. To find it on my iPad, I go to Settings, General, About, Cellular Data Number. It is shown with a 1 before it. This number is used to transmit texts. It is also used for FaceTime.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204380

That is interesting for tablets that have cellular data. For my wifi only tablet (I did not pay for the cellular option), there is no cellular data number.

 

[pb4uski]

Perhaps because it is a phone and uses the celular network to make and receive calls (amongst other handy functions).

 

[Bamaman]

I spent most of my 36 1/2 working years on the telephone. Now that I'm retired, I do good to make 5 calls a month. That worked out to $10 per phone call.

I cut off my cell phone and I feel like a bird out of a cage. My wife carries one, and she drives me crazy when I'm driving and she's talking to her smartphone like it's a person.

My millennial daughter is like a one armed person, and she's got carpel tunnel. Next, I expect her eyesight to go south due to micro fonts. I question why someone that's so fiscally challenged (broke) puts such importance to having a cell phone to talk and text to her socially challenged (trashy) "friends."

No thanks to that little expensive luxury.

 

[kcowan]

That is interesting for tablets that have cellular data. For my wifi only tablet (I did not pay for the cellular option), there is no cellular data number.

If you have a iPad and it shares the WiFi connection with your iPhone, the iPad will make and receive calls without cellular data.

 

[Bestwifeever]

If you have a iPad and it shares the WiFi connection with your iPhone, the iPad will make and receive calls without cellular data.

I know (even though I never use my tablet for that) but it still doesn't have a phone number or a cellular data number. It can also be used to make and receive facetime audio calls and video communication through wifi on its own using email addresses, unlike my cel phone, which uses a phone number, but I would never consider it a phone.

 

[redshift]

DW and I just call them our phones. Ditched our landlines years ago, so no confusion there. Used to sometimes call them 'blinky', but that name is now reserved for our robot vacuum.

 

[ls99]

Because my flip phone is just that, a cell phone.

 

[joeea]

When I call a doctor's office, the machine usually says "If this is a medical emergency, hang up and dial 911."

What is this "dial" thing?

Hmm, not sure.
I'm still trying to figure out what they mean by "hang"?