The cell phone craze

[abide]

With the advent of the cell phone technology over the past few years, I have been observing how many people seem hooked on this piece of modern technology.

I own a cell phone ( at times I wonder how did we manage without one). What I have noticed is that people including school children are so captivated by it that many times you see them with heads bowed oblivious to the traffic that is coming. Their fingers are always clicking away texting. I observe also that at church many seem not to be able to keep their hands off of it. You go to a restaurant and there it is.

The phone is a good piece of technology, but I believe we should control the phone instead of the other way around. Perhaps it would be good if we can put it down for a while and engage in some good old time conversation.

 

[evenifigoalone]

My neighbor asked me what I'd do with myself if I didn't have my phone and my anime and my video game systems. If that was the case, I'd probably have my nose buried in a novel 70% of the time

 

[abide]

My neighbor asked me what I'd do with myself if I didn't have my phone and my anime and my video game systems. If that was the case, I'd probably have my nose buried in a novel 70% of the time

I do a lot of reading and craft so without a cell phone I would still have lots to do.

 

[Edward]

My cell phone is mixed part blessing part curse, lol. I get work over it and so it's a blessing. But the curse isn't that I can't keep my nose out of it but rather...I hate that that thing and if I didn't get work over it, to live, I wouldn't own one.

I remember when we could go outside and be free of the screen, and have fun in the world. But, you're right, everyone walking around is mesmerized by them. I was playing one game on it, Clash of Clans with my Brother...and it's old now and I don't care to play it anymore, so he's mad because it's all built up and I'm not really playing anymore, lol. I don't even carry it sometimes. Basically during off business hours.
The youth sure need a lot of guidance through these times. It is very bad for you to be stuck inside a screen being fed all sorts of weirdness. Somehow I even managed to aquire two of them. I'm not sure how that happened, lol

 

[abide]

My cell phone is mixed part blessing part curse, lol. I get work over it and so it's a blessing. But the curse isn't that I can't keep my nose out of it but rather...I hate that that thing and if I didn't get work over it, to live, I wouldn't own one.

I remember when we could go outside and be free of the screen, and have fun in the world. But, you're right, everyone walking around is mesmerized by them. I was playing one game on it, Clash of Clans with my Brother...and it's old now and I don't care to play it anymore, so he's mad because it's all built up and I'm not really playing anymore, lol. I don't even carry it sometimes. Basically during off business hours.
The youth sure need a lot of guidance through these times. It is very bad for you to be stuck inside a screen being fed all sorts of weirdness. Somehow I even managed to aquire two of them. I'm not sure how that happened, lol

The technology is good but there are those whose lives are controlled by it.
I have seen people at work all upset and frazzled because they forgot their cell phone at home.

 

[Edward]

It was so cool when I carried a pager. That's all guy needs. I can talk to them after I pull over, or get home and check messages. I do use the GPS (google maps) feature quite a bit. I'm in a strange city to me. I have to gps myself everywhere almost. So I guess they're here to stay. Just...don't be afraid to turn the thing off! Or leave it behind. That thing is poison.

 

[evenifigoalone]

Aside from having internet access on my phone, most of my other time consuming interests aren't very different from novels anyway. I like video games and anime mostly because I like stories and characters and becoming attached to them. They're simply a different medium of story telling.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Cell phones (aka smart phones) are really pocket computers so the younger generation loves to play games and communicate on them. Probably the desktop computer had similar short-lived fame. I'll say this much about computers of any kind -- at least you choose your interaction, not sitting in front of a TV or movie entertainment where one soaks in what they feed the viewer.

I am amazed, tho, how dependent we got to them. My main dependency is while traveling or doing errands. One needs navigation, communication and/or information and having these little things in one's pocket at their finger tips is handy I must admit. For example, if I am out running errands, I may want to query some information on the internet such as gas prices and the info is right there. Better than driving all over the place as in the olden days.

My oldest had to take an engineering exam in NYC and figured on calling an Uber driver after it was done. Problem is, they did not allow smart phones and there's no pay phones any longer as everyone has one of these things. He had to arrange someone to call one for him. You don't realize how something that simple all gets handled by smart phones.

I have a simple test to determine if your using your smart phone too much. If your battery power is not at least 75% (or in the case of situations such as comstant communication due to an issue, about 60%) after a full charge in a 12 hour day, you are on it too much. Although these types of batteries work best between 40-80% charge so you don't have to charge it to 100% (but it won't hurt if you do). The exception is if you travel long and use it as a GPS that takes power, but usually you have to plug it in for that like conventional GPS's. But a short trip should not drain it. My battery power this evening is at 61% and did not charge it for almost 48 hours, and I even did some facetime to check on my brother who had surgery today. I rarely see 50%.

 

[for_his_glory]

Technology is good, but when it consumes your life then that can become a problem. My cell phone is only used for outgoing and incoming calls as I have no need for any other use. I have a laptop for the internet and an old laptop for my hidden object games I enjoy playing. I'm good to go as I really do not go anywhere very often.

 

[brujaq]

I have one but I don't carry it, I hate it and if I was able to do anything I wouldn't sit at this computer near as much .. But they are handy and you can get by taking a chance breaking down in an old car without too much worry anymore .. That's pretty good ..

 

[evenifigoalone]

I can't afford internet, so my phone is the only access I have to forums like this one anymore, in addition to my other online habits such as watching YouTube and chatting with friends.

 

[brujaq]

Technology is good, but when it consumes your life then that can become a problem. My cell phone is only used for outgoing and incoming calls as I have no need for any other use. I have a laptop for the internet and an old laptop for my hidden object games I enjoy playing. I'm good to go as I really do not go anywhere very often.

My wife and I if we went anywhere I used to have to tell her to please put that thing down, we couldn't even talk for it .. She plays games on her laptop too, she's pretty game herself .. When we first got married we would play cards ''rummy'' one game for days and keep score, we played monopoly a lot and she plays any game for blood .. Only time she's not an angel ..