The Cell Phone Takeover

[Maybe the topic should be about: people with no manners or self control, rather than "cell phones and what they force people with no manners or self control to do"

Actually, I take that back. Having thought about it, I agree entirely with the OP. When I've got half a dozen folks sitting around me on the bus blathering mindlessly into their mobiles whilst bathing not just themselves, but me also, in sea of radiation, it's not just people's behaviour - the things themselves are affecting my health. Maybe in a decade or so, when half the population have developed cancer of the inner ear then we'll all have a bit of peace.

[edit on 29-11-2009 by skjalddis]

Originally posted by JacobTeDreamerIV.
reply to post by skjalddis

 

My Generation has been raised to Multitask. I can walk down the street while reading a book without bumping into a single person, running into anything, or getting hit by a car. Just because you Old Codgers can't pull it off doesn't make me a Bad Person. Just a different type of Person.

The trouble is it ain't like that, these mobile texters often do walk into things - including other folks

Originally posted by skjalddis
Seriously, I've watched people at work walk all the way down three flights of stairs while texting / surfing the net on their phone and without once taking their eyes off it

This is my Point. The people you've watched have walked down the stairs. Not tripped on the first step tumbling head first into the crowd ascending the stairs causing horrible bodily damage and general panic.

Thanks for all your responses. I want to address the point GreenEyedLeo has, that her career and lifestyle make it neccessary to own one, to stay in contact with work, with friends, with family, her children. All good reasons I suppose to have a phone, but not neccsarily a cell phone. If it is a work call, that is important, then I guess you could get it faster if you have a cell phone. But you could also recieve that on a land line. Your child is I assume with someone whom you trust, surely an emergency could warrant an interuption on a land line, the cell phone itself won't change anything about the situation. If it is to simply stay in touch with your child, then it is substituting your personal time, replacing it with a voice on the line. In that case I would make arrangements to spend more time in person, damn the job. Pictures can be mailed, and then your recipient can treasure the picture, hang it on a wall to share with others.

Point is that the cell phone is replacing one on one time with each other, making it easier and easier to not spend quality time together, under the guise of making it easier to stay in touch. Staying in touch is not a relationship. Not even in business.

reply to post by JacobTeDreamerIV.


Jacob no matter what age you are or anyone here, we are all simply human, and just because you are younger does not give you the ability to master cell phones while doing other things better than a person older than yourself. It is all about what a human has the capacity to do, not a young human or an older human.

Having said that, let me say that multi tasking is also not a new thing that only young people do. The idea was conceived and performed way before you were a glint in your father's eye.

I owned a cell phone from the age of 18-22 and could not imagine NOT having it. I texted constantly. Played the games, the music, the ringtones and took the pictures/video. One day, my job got taken away and I could no longer afford the cell phone. Withdrawals for a week. But when I got over it, I could not imagine ever having one again and still don't to this day. Just the amount of peace and quiet is enough to never pay for cell service again.

Advice. Put the cell phone down. Look at little johnny in the face every once in a while. Oh and take Johnny's cell away. For gods sake, an 8 year old child does NOT need a friggin cell phone NOR do they need a facebook page, myspace page, twitter page, etc.

reply to post by Mr. Toodles


Here here Mr Toodles! You get it! They take away from your real social life and replace it with some false sense of security, you are in touch with your kid, your job, your friends, you can play games, you can listen to music, share pictures, all this while you let real social activity go down the drain, and all the while, you are paying phenomenal prices to do it!

We need to remember that nothing can replace time spent with loved ones, with friends, without a hand held device in the way! Kids don't need them, kids need more time as a family! Then you don't have to worry all the time where little Johnny is, cause you can see him! Personally if my job has me so tied up that I need a cell phone to talk to my kids or loved ones, the job would have to go. I would rather be poor and have more time with them than make really good money and only very little time for the family. That defeats the family structure.

interesting conversation. in brief, a phone is a communiction tool and not a toy. although there are countless gimmicks invented, to make people 'run' for the latest gadget, even if the old 'celly' still perfectly does it's job. its a big marketing business around a 'singing and dancing' little wonder. and it seems to me by now almost more of an 'entertainment' machine with music and games...

my cell phone's ring means 'work'... so i am clearly not too fond of my mobile phone, never was. and it's most of the 'private' time abandonned, neglected and ignored.
i don't feel like i 'need' it, my social life is not dependent on it...

i do agree, that the mobile phone is very useful in terms of being accessable and also being able to contact people, ep in case of emergency. when the camera phones came up, i saw them as a brilliant option, to capture shots and footage of events, such as accidents or occurences, that could be 'proof'; eg on protests. so the footage is evidence. one example is the death of ian tomlinson on april fools day. it proofed the police was lying to cover up their involvement in his demise.

best,
bertrand

I was in a local lounge a couple of weeks ago, and as a non cell phone user, it was amazing to watch the flurry of phone activty versus actual conversation between people. It was karaoke, and no one was paying any attention to the perfomers, they were all ticking away on their phones, whole tables of girls and guys, instead of conversating they were buried in their phones, yet they paid to get in, to socialize.Even in the eatery there, folks are tapping away as they eat. Even the bartender was grabbing up his phone between customers and you would hear a few beeps and he set it down. Checking to see if a really really important call had been missed I guess, que the sarcasm sign!

I am just at a point that I want people around me to put them down. If you come to my house you are welcome to give my number out in case of emergency, but NO CELL PHONES ALLOWED, I do not give up my time at home to sit and watch you use your phone. If you are invited it is for your company. I don't usually even answer the home phone when I have company. And I am a very social person. I have many many friends, I go out a lot. Cell phones make it very easy for a person to think they are on top of relationships, because they text or talk on the cell to people in their lives,but that is, again, not a healthy relationship with anyone.

I hate these stupid things! Yes I have one, but that's because I'm never home, I certainly do NOT text message, take pictures, play games, receive texts, acknowledge texts, read texts, accept text, assign a ringtone for texts...

Ok I'm ranting, but I HATE CELL PHONES!

I used to have a girlfriend who would be texting her friends while we were on a date, engaged in conversation or eating, or some sort of human interaction. 'Twas ridiculous.

reply to post by RUFFREADY


I too have a cell phone but I only use it for emergencies or for quick necessary calls. I don't like talking on the phone in public and I think most of the people today have forgotten or have never been taught telephone etiquette.

Where I live those quarter would be useless because there are no public phones any more. If you can fine one I guarantee you it will not be in working order, but to be honest I have not even seen on in about two or three years.

Cell phone are a convenience that has become an addiction for some and the more functions and applications that they stick on them the more obsessed people will be with them. Also not to be a hypocrite my only saving grace is that I absolutely refuse to pay those ridiculous prices for the phone, the apps and the data plan. I could buy another house for what some people are paying each month on their cell phone bills.

reply to post by space cadet


I have to laugh because you really are hitting the nail on the head. I have watched my teenage nieces and nephews sitting together on the same couch texting each other. It is as if they can't talk to each other anymore unless it is by phone. At first I thought it was because they were talking about about stuff they did not want the grown-ups to hear but when I questioned them about it they showed me their texting and it was all just mundane chit chat. They say they do it because it is just fun.

Go figure.

They and a multitude of other gadgets are nothing but a distraction, to keep you from learning any truths, whether spiritual , uncovering a government lie or even from learning things about yourself. I myself have 2 mobiles , 1 for everyday use, the other with 2 spare batteries for emergencies ONLY, even then I only use my everyday one for emergencies or rarely at best. Like friday , bike broke down and had to call the mechanics to my location and to let our friends know we were going to be late..

Other than that my above reason still stands, they are a toy to keep your eyes off the main stories., like the economies going down the pan, wars in other lands, subtle takeovers of your homeland etc. Oh look and new mobile phone has come out, you must replace your 2 month old phone with this one. ( give us your money) before I gps your location and come and arrest you for learning to expand your mind..

Man I'm paranoid.

Mind you saying that you CAN cook an egg with 2 mobiles. checkout youtube, I can't post a linkie through work sorry.

reply to post by SpiritoftheNightSky


yep, I hear ya!

i do have alot of places around my usually travel locations where there are pay phones that I could use ( I can walk to if my car breaks down etc..) and thats the only reason I'd need one or I'd just walk probably (or take a taxi I live not far from work.

I just like to keep it simple. I can go out right now and take my collie to the park and nobady will bug me.

I just keep putting off getting a CP because I feel like I would have a connection that would be hard to shake once I "hook up" right now I feel much more free (in my mind) if I just get up and go!

Know what I mean?

Like that Corona beer ad on TV where the guys on the beach and his cell phone rings (he was skipping rocks on the water) and he throws his cell phone ...and it skipps across the water..FREE!! I'm free at last!!

Cell phones have become part of our culture and extension of our body. It is also an extension of our social selves. The cell phone is also evolving to replace personal computers and will ultimately become the primary interface into the global internet. It will only become more and more integrated with society and with our own selves as our biological makeup is altered to accommodate wireless communication devices that will seamlessly meld us into the global cloud of information and networking.

Cell Phones are here to stay, they will only become more featured and safer as time goes on. I personally have a cell phone but do not use the camera or audio player or anything on it. I also do not own a data plan or texting or anything of that sort. I use it purely for the phone and I only use it when I need it. I probably talk about 5 minutes per day on my phone at the most.

My husband and I refuse to buy cell phones. There was a German study a few years ago where they exposed human cell tissue in a Petri dish to normal cell phone radiation -- i.e., what you would get from a regular phone -- and found that the radiation changed the DNA of the tissue!

Other studies have found out that cell phone radiation scrambles the brain waves, and that youngsters after only one five-minute phone call couldn't properly focus in the classroom for at least half an hour.

Then there are the brain tumors that I guess we all know about, and another recent study showed that cell phones, when carried at the belt or in the pants pocket, can make men sterile. So, what are they gonna do to our kids then? The PTB must be jubilating -- it's never been easier to achieve their so coveted population control.

Not to speak of what constantly talking and texting and being available around the clock does to humans. As one poster says, what happened to silence? What happened to taking a walk and just THINKING? Or not even that -- what about that kind of meditative state that comes from being by yourself and not doing anything? And of course person-to-person interactions suffer tremendously as well.

I don't really think this is a conspiracy conceived from "the top," but if it were, it would be ingenious. Alienate people from each other; make them sick via the things they use most in their daily lives and even ENJOY; kill off the population by rendering them infertile even at a young age, so they won't procreate.

What a concept. My hubbie and I always (half-)joke that in 10 years, we're gonna be the only ones who aren't braindead. And my son (now 6) will get a cell phone over my dead body. It may sound terrible, but I truly hope that there will be a massive solar storm in 2012 that wipes out all the cell phone towers along with the rest of the power. Maybe we can go back to a simpler way of life then, reading actual paper books without Kindles and talking to others without needing a handheld device.

The problem is not the cell phones, it's the people.

I don't have a landline anymore, it just doesn't make sense when i have a cell phone.

I don't talk on my phone when I'm in line at the store, if I'm at a restaurant I turn my phone to vibrate when I walk in & if I have an important call that I need to take I excuse myself and go outside and make it quick, not only because I don't want to be rude, but also because I don't want others to hear my conversation. As far as people glancing at an incoming call and deciding not to answer it, that's no different than someone screening calls on their landline with an answering machine, or caller ID. I don't believe children need cell phones either, my grandson (8) is always asking how old he has to be to get a cell phone & I always tell him when you're a full grown man with a job and can pay your own phone bill you'll be old enough.

Having a cell phone is helpful for me, if I'm out and there's any emergency I have a phone right on me (there aren't many places around me where you can find a pay phone anymore) and it's invaluable when it comes to my grandkids school being able to contact me if one of my grandkids is sick and needs to be picked up. There have been a couple of times where I was out and if I didn't have a cell phone they would not have been able to contact me.

The camera on my phone is an added extra, it has allowed me to capture many shots of the grandkids, dogs, and nature that I would have otherwise missed. And it's great when I catch the grandkids having an enormous amount of fun, or being goofy and I can snap a shot and send it to my son (who works six days a week) and misses a lot of it, or my mom who lives out in the burbs.

I don't talk on my phone while driving unless I have my earpiece in (matter of fact I don't talk on it at all without my earpiece) and even then it's as brief as possible. If i need to answer a text, or I have a call that's distracting I pull over and park until i'm done.

At our family gatherings cell phones are not the center of attention, not even with the younger ones in the family. The birthday party for my Mom and Aunt (twins) I didn't see one person texting, talking, playing games, or surfing the web on their phones, we were all too busy talking to each other, playing volleyball, etc. Same at my youngest son's graduation a few weeks ago, everyone turned their phones off during the ceremony and after when we all went out to eat not one cell phone was pulled out.

There's a good side and a bad side to everything, and I also am bothered by some of the rude behavior that some people exhibit when using a cell phone (like forcing me to hear their conversations) but it's not the phones, it's the people that use them.

reply to post by chise61


Wow, what an Eloquent way to make your point known. If more people would try a writing style more similar to this, then maybe we could actually gain some sort of purpose with these Threads.

Now, on to the subject of "TXT T@Lk":

I can certainly understand the Argument against it; i.e. the systematic destruction of the English Language and all that, but one has to realize that 'English' is just a big mish-mosh of other Languages. When us Youths use expressions like "ttyl" (Talk To You Later), 'I

For some strange reason, i find Blueberry users

to be the MOST obnoxious!!!!

reply to post by JacobTeDreamerIV.


Well Thank you.

As far as text talk, some people can deal with it and others can't stand it. Most people were raised to speak and write properly and it's just a pet peeve when they come across someone that doesn't. Just like everything else there's a time and place for everything, the key is knowing when it's appropriate and when it's not.

For example my youngest son hates text talk, so when I text him I don't use it, nor do I use it when texting my Aunt or my Ma, but i use it freely when texting my friends who are comfortable with it. I use it when I
IM also, but not with one of my cousins who doesn't like it.

It's all just a matter of respect for others.