Barely Use Cell Phone

[disneysteve]

Yes, and while you are waiting in the cell phone lot you can play with your cell phone. Win-win!

(Not that I'm addicted or anything...)

Yep. I can catch up on the news, watch Netflix, play games, check my email, manage my eBay sales, etc.

 

[Major Tom]

I don't get those who brag that they never use a cell phone.

It has 100 times more uses and in many cases is less expensive per month.

I think that using the word brag is a bit of a mischaracterization. Perhaps "gleefully regaling us with tales of their happy lives without cellphone use" might be closer to the mark?

I use my two cellphones a lot. I have a friend in the neighborhood who is 75, doesn't have a cellphone (she still calls them smartphones or, in her endearingly eccentric fashion, "smart devices") and doesn't have internet access at home. She does struggle a bit with services and organizations that require her to connect with them online, admittedly. However, she is well known in the neighborhood, is very outgoing and gregarious - more so than many a third of her age, and would be the life of any party.

I'm not trying to make the case that these modern devices are completely unnecessary, but merely that we don't need to be tied to them constantly in order to lead happy, productive lives. I, however, am very tied to my two cellphones when not on my desktop computer

 

[disneysteve]

She does struggle a bit with services and organizations that require her to connect with them online, admittedly.

This is increasingly common as more and more services move online. I’m finding more things that I take care of for my mom because her old school solution is calling someone and that’s just not an efficient way to do things anymore.

 

[jollystomper]

I'm also on Android, but my most recent upgrade was from a Pixel 5 to my current Pixel 7 Pro, both in the Google ecosystem.
The automatic installation process copied over all my apps and contacts and even setup the home screen and two additional screens on the 7 similar to what I had on the 5.
Seems like the automatic process took over an hour, but I have quite a few apps.
Then just a bit of customizing and I was good to go.

Sounds like changing to a new phone between other Android vendors doesn't go quite so smoothly?

Thanks for the info. I suspect having a Google phone makes the difference. Since they control both the hardware and software, upgrades are easy - it can give them a competitive advantage, and/or help maintain customer loyalty.

 

[badatmath]

I just ordered a tracfone bundle for a relative from HSN, hope it works out. Would be very low use.

Big fail. Do not believe the zip code when you put it in to confirm service. -113 dbm.

Can't put relative on wifi as he doesn't have it and is not close by for me to do it.

Just another problem lately. Probably I should have looked more carefully.

 

[badatmath]

I prefer sending telegrams.

Ha. Maybe smoke signals?

 

[badatmath]

This has been true at PHL for over 20 years, since 9/11. You can't just wait at the curb and you certainly can't leave your car unattended. Cops walk back and forth all day to move people along. I'm surprised there are airports that still allowed that.

I parked and walked in last time I needed to pick someone up. Sitting in my car is not all that appealing. I'd rather be moving.

 

[disneysteve]

I parked and walked in last time I needed to pick someone up. Sitting in my car is not all that appealing. I'd rather be moving.

You just left your car at the curb or you parked in a parking lot?

 

[pb4uski]

I think they meant that they parked in short term parking and walked in to meet whoever they were meeting.

 

[Sue J]

I got my first smartphone (iPhone 13 mini) 18 months ago. Before that I had an old flip phone.

While I love the technical wizardry of the cell phone I'm not attached to it. I'm home most of the time and everything on my cell phone is much easier on the bigger screen of my iPad mini. All the 2Fa texts and texting with the family shows up on both devices. My phone is in a bowl with my car keys and wallet. I don't keep it with me at home but my iPad is my constant companion.

But when I'm out, what a convenience the cell phone is! I'm parked in my car a lot (school crossing guard 1hr, twice a day) and I listen to podcasts and sports and get all the family texting. I've used the maps and directions a few times. I don't shop, browse or play games when on the job. It's just too distracting.

I felt more attachment to my phone when I learned to use Apple Pay. Between Apple Pay and Scan and Go shopping at some stores, I feel like a tech genius. And having a phone on me is reassuring for safety reasons.

Over the 18 months that I've had my phone the thing I do least is actual phone calls. It's mostly texting with DH or the son and DIL that have the grandkids.

DH says he loves his phone, can't be without it, etc. But what I mostly hear him doing is swearing at the thing!

 

[badatmath]

You just left your car at the curb or you parked in a parking lot?

Oh no the parking lot. It was a small airport and it kills time to walk around while waiting. Also free to park there 30 minutes I think.

 

[EastWest Gal]

In 2010 we sent our only child off to college with a flip phone. He has a learning disability, and, as an only child, we wanted him to strike out on his own, but the learning disability got in way. We kept in touch as much as we could, but the communications were hit and miss for the first semester.

His dorm roommate slept in until 2PM, every day. A business major, apparently, with late classes. We came to visit him on family weekend and found ourselves outside his dormitory, throwing rocks at the window since he didn’t respond to phone calls. At 2PM on a Saturday.

We all got iPhones for Christmas that year. What a difference! That was 13 years ago. Smart phones are ubiquitous tools.

 

[Sunset]

Oh no the parking lot. It was a small airport and it kills time to walk around while waiting. Also free to park there 30 minutes I think.

Don't know if they do it now, but years ago when picking folks up at O'Hare Airport , I could park for ~30 minutes and go in to get the person at baggage.
The cost was ~$1 , much better than circling the airport in that driving racetrack

 

[JBTX]

I use phone for pretty much everything. About the only think I use desktop for is quicken and occasionally accessing brokerage accounts.

 

[Turbo29]

Tough to keep in touch with folks unless you got together regularly. Long distance calls really expensive. Letters.

I don't think some people realize how expensive it was. I remember calling a friend of mine in the mid 1970's. He had gone away to school and was in Grand Forks, ND; I was in Southern California. First I waited until 11pm, which was the cheapest rate period. (Long distance had three rate periods, 8am-5pm, 5pm-11pm, and 11pm-8am.) At 11:01pm Pacific time (1:01am Central) I phoned. We talked for 1hr. The charge for that call -- $20. That is about $130 today ( per CPI Inflation Calculator).

It is possible to get a whole years cellphone service with unlimited local and long-distance for less than that today.

 

[athena53]

I don't think some people realize how expensive it [long distance] was.

Ah, I remember- and I lived in NJ in the 1980s and 1990s, when EVERY call seemed to be a "toll call", even to the next town, and the minimum charge per toll call was $1.00. Then there were the rapacious third-party phone booths- I'd read nightmare stories of people calling using credit cards and getting billed crazy-high amounts for short calls within the state.

Last summer I was in 5 countries in E. Europe with overnights in London in both directions. No single SIM card worked, unfortunately, so I ended up buying new ones in a few countries, but I spent a total of $50 on SIM cards and of of course that included plenty of data, not just calls.

Definitely a change for the better.

 

[Sunset]

I don't think some people realize how expensive it was. I remember calling a friend of mine in the mid 1970's. He had gone away to school and was in Grand Forks, ND; I was in Southern California. First I waited until 11pm, which was the cheapest rate period. (Long distance had three rate periods, 8am-5pm, 5pm-11pm, and 11pm-8am.) At 11:01pm Pacific time (1:01am Central) I phoned. We talked for 1hr. The charge for that call -- $20. That is about $130 today ( per CPI Inflation Calculator).

It is possible to get a whole years cellphone service with unlimited local and long-distance for less than that today.

We used to use a pay phone at the nearest town where our cabin is located back in the 70's.
Due to the expense, we had a code system. Would have the operator ask for John, or Tom, etc.. which let folks at home know the info.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

In the early 1980's calls to the UK were $1.50 a minute.
Nowadays I call through my Facebook app on the cell for free and call quality is usually great.

 

[athena53]

Due to the expense, we had a code system. Would have the operator ask for John, or Tom, etc.. which let folks at home know the info.

My college roommate would place a person-to-person call about once a week to her home, asking for an agreed-upon fictitious name. The response would be that she wasn't there, of course. Then her parents would call back at the cheaper station-to-station rate.

 

[RunningBum]

Reminds me of this Geico commercial about the collect call from Bob Wehadababyitsaboy.

 

[youbet]

Another "what do people without a cell phone do" moment.

My home airport, MCI, just opened a big, fancy new terminal (old ones will be razed- this one serves everyone) and pickup is based on a "cell phone lot". Right now people are still pulling up to the exit and waiting for arriving passengers who may not even have their bags yet. Some are leaving their cars and walking into the terminal. They've announced they'll start towing today.

Apparently EVERYONE picking up passengers is supposed to wait in the cell phone lot till the person they're picking up arrives, retrieves their checked bags and calls them. Heavily dependent on cell phones and people being considerate.

Picking up someone at OHare is essentially the same. The folks who make sure you don't stop your car at a terminal unless your passenger is standing at the curb ready to jump in are absolutely ruthless.

I pick up folks at OHare frequently. Once they're outside and ready to be picked up, they call me via cell phone and give me the door number they're at. I can get there within ten minutes from where I park. Enforcement is very strict.

Without a cell phone, you'd have to park in a remote lot, take a shuttle to the terminal and wait for the passenger outside the security gate. Then take the shuttle back to the remote lot. I can't imagine doing it that way.

The cell phone also allows you to use an app to be informed of the progress of the flight, when it lands, etc.

 

[youbet]

My college roommate would place a person-to-person call about once a week to her home, asking for an agreed-upon fictitious name. The response would be that she wasn't there, of course. Then her parents would call back at the cheaper station-to-station rate.

Yeah,...... that brings back memories. My dorm (1960's) had one local (no outgoing LD) phone and one pay phone per corridor. You'd make that person-to-person call on the pay phone and they'd call you back station-to-station on the local line. It was a big deal to talk to the folks briefly a couple of times per month.

Now, I text our college junior GD anytime I just want to say hi or ask something. And we Facetime most weekends. Facetime is great! And kinda amazing to geezers like us. She moved into an apartment and we were curious what it was like. So, on Facetime, she just walked around the apartment and gave us a tour.

 

[scrabbler1]

I had a phone in my dorm room while in college in the 1980s. To save money, my parents and I devised a system where I would call them and hang up the phone during its second rung, as they knew not to answer it on the first ring. They would then call me back. Phone calls between Manhattan and eastern Nassau County were costly back then, as there were single-letter "Zones" surrounding where you were calling from. I would usually do this after 9 PM on weekdays when the rates went down to a discounted evening rate. Nighttime and most weekend times were more deeply discounted.

Even within Nassau County, unless you lived in the center section of the 9-sectioned grid (like a tic-tac-toe board, calling someone more than one zone away cost extra. It wasn't until the 1990s, I think, that this zone system was abolished so all calls within the county had the same flat rate per call with unlimited time.

 

[RunningBum]

Without a cell phone, you'd have to park in a remote lot, take a shuttle to the terminal and wait for the passenger outside the security gate. Then take the shuttle back to the remote lot. I can't imagine doing it that way.

The cell phone also allows you to use an app to be informed of the progress of the flight, when it lands, etc.

Why a remote lot? O'Hare has an hourly garage adjacent to the terminals, doesn't it?

 

[audreyh1]

Gosh, even just a few years ago I had to deal with calls to the next county just 15 miles away were long distance calls on DF’s landline. Got away from that quick!