Time to Outlaw Cell Phones

I hate cell phones.

First, I think most people buy and use them simply to look important. Second, they are annoying as hell, especially now with all of those custom ring tones. Third there are studies out showing they are health risks. Fourth and most important they are dangerous...

Driving while using 'hands-free' cell phone still dangerous: study

Driving while chatting on a "hands-free" cellular phone is just as dangerous as driving while holding a mobile phone, according to a study conducted by the University of Utah.

I have held off on buying one until a couple weeks ago when my wife felt I needed one. I HATE IT! I've used it maybe twice but I don't want people calling all the time! Leave me alone for a while... you know. Why do we all have to be 'connected' where ever we go when ever we go somewhere? Can't I have even a little peace and quite on my drive to work? And I know about the off button. I still get the messages though... can't you wait till I get home?

It's time to make these things illegal. Who’s with me on this? Can I get a ‘hell yeah’ here? Anyone?

BTW – I’m 39 years old in case your wondering.

Well, good luck with that. I personally think the cellphone is the greatest invention since the wheel.

Look at the features an average cellphone has:

Scheduler/Calendar
Contacts list
Multiple Alarms
Voice recorder
Notepad
Calculators
Internet Access
Camera
World Clock
Clock that is about as accurate as any available
Phone that can make calls from almost anywhere

Bear in mind that I'm not much of a phone talker. I have never gone over my minutes, or even come close. I just find the device to be so useful that it's worth paying the monthly bill to have one handy.

Added benefit:

Many people can ditch their obsolescent landline.

By the way. You never have to answer your phone whether it rings or not. Caller ID and voice mail allow you to return calls at your leisure and you never have to even turn the thing on until you are ready to use it.


[edit on 2006/8/15 by GradyPhilpott]

Grady, Grady, Grady. I had such respect for you prior to this. Cell phones are quite simply tools of the Devil. Phoooey. If I haven't made my point clear enough, EEEEEUUUUUUUWWWWW.

People are so rude while they are on their damned phones, usually at the worst possible time.

Neglegent. Drivers running red lights, and its not just a few of them either, I've lost count of the number of times I've stood my car on its hood ornament because some moron is yackety-yacking on his/her phone instead of paying attention to the world outside.

Originally posted by seagull
Cell phones are quite simply tools of the Devil.

I feel your pain, seagull, but you falling victim to the same flawed logic as the anti-gun element.

If you had cut your sentence short by three words, you would have been right on the money.

Cell phones are quite simply tools.

And as with any tool, they are at the mercy of their users.

All hail the cell phone.

I'm a teenager... I use mine to txt friends when I can't actually talk to them (numerous reasons) and I use it as basically my home line because I get free minute for most of my friends and I get 400 mintues a month on top of that which is pretty much fine for me. I get 200 txt's and unlimited in txting which I haven't even gotten close to going over. I use my cell as an alarm clock to... and it's a great way to keep in touch with parents/friends.

I hate cell phones also. I don't know if people use them these days to look important or rich or whatever - maybe back when cell phones were expensive, but now everybody has one... I mean, if I walk into a mall tomorrow and didn't see a single person talking on a phone I'd probably think I entered the twilight zone.

I mainly got one at first because I travel almost weekly between Orlando and Fort Lauderdale and I saw Deliverance and I know the kind of people that live in central Florida Okay, j/k... I use mine just in case I get car trouble, or that was my intention - these days you're required to take it everywhere and always be available to chat, which I hate and feel like its sort of a leash.

Gotta love the guys who invented that material that the nice restaurants and theatres use to block cell signals!

I totally hate cell phones too! I have one yes, and so do my kids.... but oh how I long to go back in time to the day when if you didn't want anyone to find you for the day.... they couldn't. I can't do anything with out my kids tracking me down, or somebody calling me when I get on the Internet :shk:

There is hardly any private time for a person anymore because of those dreadful cell phones! I may just toss mine in the river

**EDIT*** Hell Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!



[edit on 8/26/2006 by jensouth31]

I'm on both sides of the fence on this one. I like having mine, because I feel better knowing I can call someone up when my car breaks down (which I know it will sooner or later, surprised it hasn't yet.) I use mine quite frequently when my fiance and I go to the store--I like to wander around in different parts than her, and it lets us call each other up and say "Hey, I'm over here, meet you there blah blah blah." Nicer than having to check your watch every couple of minutes and worry if your 15 minutes is the same as her's.

As far as it being a leash, I reiterate what an earlier poster posted: turn it off. There's no law stating that you are required to have it on, and if someone wants to piss and moan at you for never answering your cell phone, tell them to get over it. Unless your job requires you to be on call 24 hours a day, don't worry about it, just have it on when you need or want it on. Also, you don't need to let people know what your number is.

That said, it seems each day people get more and more rude with their cell phone. I was standing in line at the gas station once, and this lady in front of me is talking quite loudly about (I'm guessing) work related issues--apparently a coworker is doing a poor job at the grocery store I frequent. Seriously, is that anyone in Chevron's business?

I use mine in public too, but I still keep in mind that I'm in a public place--other people can hear me, even talking quietly, and they may not want to hear me whine about my job or my car.

I could keep going, just saying basically the same thing over and over again, so I'll stop here

Basically, you control the cell phone, it's only as good to you as you make it, and be courteous when you're using the damned thing (like NOT talking on it while driving--the road does have shoulders, and you can find a parking lot.)

Ummm...okay....I'm done now I think.

My job is partially selling cell phones. So, in that respect, I don't think they're all that bad. I've had one for two years, rarely use it, rarely answer it, or anything. I try not to be attached to it, like almost everyone else is.

People send me text messages every so often and then get annoyed for me calling them back, mainly to say not to send me text messages.

The best part about my cell phone is that I travel. A lot. So if something happens I can call for help, say I'll be late or won't be making it, or anything else. It's come in handy a few times where it otherwise would have meant either waiting for someone to happen by or walking 20+ miles to the nearest town.

I am amazed at how few people seem not to know how to either turn off the cell phone or just not answer it. I can silence mine without having to turn it off, too. For those who hate their cell phone, I say get rid of it. To those who hate rude cell phone users, I say, join the club. People in general are far less considerate of others than they were in generations past, but that's a whole nother topic.

[edit on 2006/8/27 by GradyPhilpott]

Yeah, I know it's not really a leash and I'd love to turn it off. But, if you've noticed cell phones go to voice-mail immediately (at least for me with Verizon) when they're turned off and ring 5 or 8 times when they're turned on. So people know when you're ignoring them

I too rarely answer my phone, but then we've probably all been through the "Where were you? I called your home and cell!" and respond, "uhh, I was in the bathroom" it doesn't work every time I guess my point is that we're expected to "contactable" these days

I don't hate cell phones.

I have one, but the only times I use it is if I get bored and
want to play the built in game, or be reminded the tune of a
song that I like via the custom ringtones.

I never textmessage on it, and I never get calls, simply because
I've never actually given anyone my cell number.


I like to know that regardless of where I am, I can always be in
contact with the world, and especially emergency services.

I absolutely love my cellphone. It isnt really just a phone for me. Its basically my daily planner, mp3 player, alarm clock, digital camera, digital camcorder, and for all intensive purposes my lifeline to the outside (barring internet), radio(sirius), and news outlet. I love that fact that theyre so compact. I can barely use my home phone because it feels bulky. If I dont want to talk to someone then I just say i didnt have my phone with me. Its probably my favorite possession. I cant imagine life without it. My only problem is when I see people driving using them, or just being inconsiderate while using them. Other than that, mines god.

Whenever someone asks why I didn't answer when they called I just outright say, "I didn't feel like answering my phone, but since it was important, I called you back."

Now, if people hated them from a conspiracy point of view, I could understand that here... After all, pretty much all cell phones now (since the majority of cell phones were made in the past five years)have GPS tracking capability.

Further, I hate that other people hold us so much more accountable these days. It’s a complete loss of freedom, and privacy. Yet, if you don’t answer…. You get the - “Where were you? I’ve been calling for hours!”. I remember the good old days, when you could take a walk, and be gone for a couple of hours… disturbed by no one, just you alone with your thoughts, or enjoying the beauty of things.

Now when my daughter calls me and I don’t answer she will leave a message that tells me it’s an emergency. Of all the times I have quickly called her back thinking she’d been in an accident to find out all’s she really wanted to do was talk to her mommy…but yet I call back every time…because I just never know when that real emergency is gonna come up. Now my son will call me every 20 minutes if he knows I’m at the grocery store.
He wants to know where I am? Am I almost home? Yes I do hate cell phones, sorry if I stole your rant!

I do think that cell phone have a place, for emergency purposes. The kid’s today- their whole life revolves around the cell phone. Take it away and they are lost. Also the way they take their phones out and inspect each other’s phone capabilities? That’s how kids evaluate each other today…. By who has the coolest phone

I want a Dethphone, just like the ones Dethlok had custom made.

Originally posted by jensouth31
Now when my daughter calls me and I don’t answer she will leave a message that tells me it’s an emergency. Of all the times I have quickly called her back thinking she’d been in an accident to find out all’s she really wanted to do was talk to her mommy…but yet I call back every time…because I just never know when that real emergency is gonna come up.

Now my son will call me every 20 minutes if he knows I’m at the grocery store.
He wants to know where I am? Am I almost home? Yes I do hate cell phones, sorry if I stole your rant!

I wish this thread was in Social Issues, because the cell phone is changing peoples lives and the way we interact with one another, clearly, in ways that some find abhorrent.

In virtually every case of someone here who feels that the cell phone is the spawn of Satan, the issue is lost privacy. However, from my perspective, that seems to be an issue of not setting appropriate boundaries.

Some may lament that the boss now has access to us even when we're out of the office, but when we're on the bosses time and if the company provides us with a cell phone, you know, it's the company's dime, so to speak. If the boss doesn't provide the cell phone, it's not the company dime and if we don't answer when the call comes in, well, tough. It can wait.

In the quote above, I'm not sure if jensouth31 is so old that her children think she might expire at any moment or her children are so young that they feel lost without a parent near.

I have to ask, jensouth31. Does your daughter know about "The Boy who Cried Wolf?" Does she not know that she is being dishonest when she calls and misrepresents the character of the situation?

To me the cell phone is a tool for having more control over my life. The added features of the cell phone, as have been enumerated above a couple of times are just more tools that are incorporated into this extremely compact and mobile device.

Virtually every complaint here about the cell phone is really about self-discipline, personal boundaries, and etiquette--three eminently human constructs that are well within the purview of everyone.


[edit on 2006/8/27 by GradyPhilpott]

if you dont like listening to acell phone conversation just dont listen.or walk away simple as that.some people get mad at the lamest things.i mean people get killed everday.theres more important things to think about than someone elses cellphone convo.

Grady.... my kids are 19 & 16....and I'm not ready to expire....lol But I think I should be able to be away from my baby (16 yrs old) for an hour without him trying to figure out where I am. I think I've been set free by this thread. I didn't answer my cell phone once today when it rang

Also, I paid my daughter back... this morning I called her early and woke her up. She didn't like that one bit. I think I'll make that my new policy

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

Originally posted by seagull
Cell phones are quite simply tools of the Devil.

I feel your pain, seagull, but you falling victim to the same flawed logic as the anti-gun element.

If you had cut your sentence short by three words, you would have been right on the money.

Cell phones are quite simply tools.

And as with any tool, they are at the mercy of their users.

All hail the cell phone.

All hail the words of Grady. I have read your posts and you are correct. Tools are not the problem, but human nature is the problem that leads to anything bad associated with cell phones. Cell phones can be used for both good and bad, so they are neutral. If we outlaw them, then no one should have them.

But, this is not unlike nuclear technology. It too can be used for good and bad, so lets not be hypocrites here; either everyone has it and accept that everyone can have mutual destruction or no one has it and everyone can still hate you!

Cell phones are not good or bad, but just like steel can be a sword or a plow. It is people who show their disregard of using tools.