I hate modern cell phones!

[Jedi_Master]

You know what I love about my smart phone? Crystal clear sound when I am making or receiving a call, ease of use when I want to search for a saved number, easy to use texting service, fantastic functionality and integration with my calendar app and my phone book. It's a fantastic PHONE with astonishing levels of useful functionality.
The rest is just gravy.

 

[Maestro]

I fly a lot, and I find it very useful to have my boarding passes delivered straight to my iPhone. Ditto for baseball game tickets.

I even have my car insurance cards on my Wallet just so I don't have to remember where I put them before moving them to my car.

 

[Timewalker]

I can't imagine surviving a day in the modern world without a smart phone. To me, it's not a phone, I use it for virtually everything, whether it is the virtual reality experience or scheduling my alarm, or having an in-person conversation in a language I don't know, as well as so many other countless functionalities.

Let me know when they can take out the garbage, do the dishes, laundry, and clean the cat's litter box.

This is actually one of the most frequent uses of smart phones and you need to know what to look for. If we're talking about Yelp or any number of similar apps, you can see pictures, menus, prices, number of reviews, date when the review was written, what the place looks like outside, inside. I cannot overstate how useful this is. It also works for any number of businesses. But you need to know how to use it, obviously don't rely on one review left there 5 years ago. Sometimes you want something specific, for a specific amount of money, a specific cuisine, with a specific ambiance, maybe you want to sit outside or inside, prefer loud music or quiet music, like to be around young people or old people. All this research takes one minute and saves you nerves, money, time... I can't believe not everyone takes advantage of this.

I've read that a lot of the reviews aren't genuine - that reviews can be purchased, just like "likes" on social media. And what happens if Yelp tells me the restaurant is frequented by young people, and I happen to see a 70-year-old sitting there? I guess my immediate reaction should be to post a scathing review of the previous review, since it was obviously wrong...

Whatever happened to people making up their own minds about something?

With the old rotary phones you could always dial a wrong number, but at least they couldn't be butt-dialed.

Anyway, where can you even find a rotary-dial phone these days? Do you live in Outer Mongolia?

I had one as recently as 8 years ago. It was an older one, with a heavy receiver of the sort that people used to use for murder weapons in old '60s/'70s detective shows on TV (no, I never used mine for that purpose).

One of the telecom companies here had a rotary dial phone in their reception area (it was functional). I saw some 20-something people staring at it in utter bafflement. They literally did not know how to make it work.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

One of the telecom companies here had a rotary dial phone in their reception area (it was functional). I saw some 20-something people staring at it in utter bafflement. They literally did not know how to make it work.

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[Timewalker]

The first video makes me despair for civilization. It's like the conversations I've had with teens and 20-something people on forums who have no concept of life before computers, and don't understand why they should learn cursive writing. They can't imagine that they might not have batteries to make their electronic devices work, to write stuff.

When I was a child in the '60s, we lived on an acreage in the country. We not only had rotary phones, but we were also on a party line with two other families. If the phone rang, you had to listen carefully to the ring so you didn't answer a call that was really for the people up the road.


The second video doesn't mean as much, since I've never used a flip phone. My phone is a landline that's attached to the wall. It has no answering machine, it doesn't store numbers, it doesn't take pictures, and it doesn't have caller ID. It does have last number redial, though.

I've considered going modern, but the fees are just insane here. I can't honestly think what I'd do with a smart phone, anyway. About the only reason to have one is because there are so few pay phones around now.

 

[DimesDan]

The very best thing my phone does is that I can scan my Libre sensor and it shows me how my glucose have been throughout the day:

 

[Jedi_Master]

The first video makes me despair for civilization. It's like the conversations I've had with teens and 20-something people on forums who have no concept of life before computers, and don't understand why they should learn cursive writing. They can't imagine that they might not have batteries to make their electronic devices work, to write stuff.

When I was a child in the '60s, we lived on an acreage in the country. We not only had rotary phones, but we were also on a party line with two other families. If the phone rang, you had to listen carefully to the ring so you didn't answer a call that was really for the people up the road.


The second video doesn't mean as much, since I've never used a flip phone. My phone is a landline that's attached to the wall. It has no answering machine, it doesn't store numbers, it doesn't take pictures, and it doesn't have caller ID. It does have last number redial, though.

I've considered going modern, but the fees are just insane here. I can't honestly think what I'd do with a smart phone, anyway. About the only reason to have one is because there are so few pay phones around now.

I think that if "my generation" were suddenly confronted with the fact they had no cell phones/smart phones, etc they would adapt, and quickly.
I think you will adapt to smart phone usage, if and when you get one. In essence it becomes a mobile computer, allowing you to do the things you use your computer for without having to sit in a single location.

 

[Timewalker]

I think that if "my generation" were suddenly confronted with the fact they had no cell phones/smart phones, etc they would adapt, and quickly.
I think you will adapt to smart phone usage, if and when you get one. In essence it becomes a mobile computer, allowing you to do the things you use your computer for without having to sit in a single location.

The expense would make it prohibitive.

Right now, the signing incentives I got for renewing my lease include a year's free basic cable TV and a year's free internet (any extra channels or extra data I add or use over what I'm allowed already becomes my responsibility to pay). I added one extra channel (Bravo, so I can watch The Handmaid's Tale). I've never gone near my monthly data limit, even when binging on Netflix series.

Doing all this with a phone would mean I'd be paying $$$ for services I'm currently only paying $$ for (the property management company isn't paying my phone bill; that's on me, and all the telecoms in Canada gouge people for any damn excuse they can think of).

 

[Jedi_Master]

The expense would make it prohibitive.

Right now, the signing incentives I got for renewing my lease include a year's free basic cable TV and a year's free internet (any extra channels or extra data I add or use over what I'm allowed already becomes my responsibility to pay). I added one extra channel (Bravo, so I can watch The Handmaid's Tale). I've never gone near my monthly data limit, even when binging on Netflix series.

Doing all this with a phone would mean I'd be paying $$$ for services I'm currently only paying $$ for (the property management company isn't paying my phone bill; that's on me, and all the telecoms in Canada gouge people for any damn excuse they can think of).

That's a great lease deal. I don't blame you for not having a "smart" phone.
Perhaps I need to move in to your building. lol

 

[Sophie74656]

Smart phones are the greatest thing ever. Instant access to ALL of human knowlege that fits in your pocket, and you can play games on it. Having everything in one device is beyond convenient, planner, calendar, phone, recorder, camera, notepad, radio....tickets to events, boarding passes, insurance cards. Best invention ever.

 

[Astra]

...tickets to events, boarding passes, insurance cards. Best invention ever.

Sounds all great in theory except when it's not working The infrastructure needs to be there as well.

When flying back from London in May, I was through the gate to the security in Heathrow in no time with my printed pass. My friend stood at the other side for half an hour, typing on her phone. Turned out, the internet at the airport was down and she could not access her boarding pass. I hadn't known that you only can access it with internet. I assumed that it would be downloaded on the phone and work offline as well. Apparently not.

Her flight later also was delayed for two hours as they could not figure out how many people exactly were on board. It was quite a nightmare.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Turned out, the internet at the airport was down and she could not access her boarding pass. I hadn't known that you only can access it with internet. I assumed that it would be downloaded on the phone and work offline as well. Apparently not.

You don't need internet to access the boarding pass (at least not on iPhones), just to update it (like with gate changes).

 

[Timewalker]

Smart phones are the greatest thing ever. Instant access to ALL of human knowlege that fits in your pocket, and you can play games on it. Having everything in one device is beyond convenient, planner, calendar, phone, recorder, camera, notepad, radio....tickets to events, boarding passes, insurance cards. Best invention ever.

All of human knowledge?

Really, ALL of it?

I'm pretty sure there's a hell of a lot that isn't online, and some never will be.

Sounds all great in theory except when it's not working The infrastructure needs to be there as well.

When flying back from London in May, I was through the gate to the security in Heathrow in no time with my printed pass. My friend stood at the other side for half an hour, typing on her phone. Turned out, the internet at the airport was down and she could not access her boarding pass. I hadn't known that you only can access it with internet. I assumed that it would be downloaded on the phone and work offline as well. Apparently not.

Her flight later also was delayed for two hours as they could not figure out how many people exactly were on board. It was quite a nightmare.

Do you mean they weren't sure how many people were scheduled to be on board, or they literally were too dependent on computers to physically count the ones already there?

 

[Sophie74656]

Sounds all great in theory except when it's not working The infrastructure needs to be there as well.

Well yeah of course, but that applies to everything. Everything is great except for when it doesn't work. My stove is great, except when it's not working

 

[Astra]

You don't need internet to access the boarding pass (at least not on iPhones), just to update it (like with gate changes).

Pretty sure she doesn't have an i-phone (she's even poorer than me) so it may be different with other phones? She couldn't get it to display to pass the security gate.

Do you mean they weren't sure how many people were scheduled to be on board, or they literally were too dependent on computers to physically count the ones already there?

Maybe they weren't sure if all the people on board were in the right plane but couldn't get it sorted?
I didn't quite understand it either. I have no idea how they even boarded if the internet / boarding pass system really malfunctioned. All I know is that she went for boarding one hour before me, and while I was sitting at the gate I saw at the screen that her plane still was boarding, and apparently it stood around for another hour after I already was on my way.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Pretty sure she doesn't have an i-phone (she's even poorer than me) so it may be different with other phones? She couldn't get it to display to pass the security gate.

If she doesn't have an iPhone, she probably has an Android phone. I don't know how those work, I've never used one.

 

[Jayson1]

Other things people miss out on is being able to get actual letters from people. Wouldn't be nice to have something nice to look forward to in the mail? Not to mention the ultimate test to see how much someone cares for you by seeing if they will accept your, collect call.

Jason

 

[Sophie74656]

Other things people miss out on is being able to get actual letters from people. Wouldn't be nice to have something nice to look forward to in the mail? Not to mention the ultimate test to see how much someone cares for you by seeing if they will accept your, collect call.

Jason

I often have things come in the mail and look forward to them. Any time I order something online...usualy from my phone.

And in this day an age, what situation would lead to someone placing a collect call?

 

[KennyB]

Other things people miss out on is being able to get actual letters from people. Wouldn't be nice to have something nice to look forward to in the mail? Not to mention the ultimate test to see how much someone cares for you by seeing if they will accept your, collect call.

Jason

Nope

 

[KennyB]

And in this day an age, what situation would lead to someone placing a collect call?

Prison