You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? Now with 3x more gears...

[Dion]

There's a reason why the phones we use today are cellphones and that's because people are imprisoned to them. Countless numbers couldn't live without one. In fact everywhere you go you see people with their heads down buried in their phones. When on these things they seem oblivious to what's going on around them.

I was in Calgary yesterday and pulled up to a crosswalk and witnessed a young men walk up and cross the street while not even checking to see if drivers were going to stop. Had his head buried in his stupid phone. Darwin is going to get him someday I'm afraid.

I'm 65 years old and part of the old school that lived a good portion of my life without these damned things. I hate when friends think it's better to converse though texting as opposed to having a real conversation. It's makes me wonder if people really talk to anyone anymore.

Like everything else in society I have one because I feel it's important to have them when there are times of emergencies like getting stranded on the side of road or getting in contact when someone when you're not at home. I use mine for texting and phoning and nothing else. It's bad enough that I'm addicted to home computer but there's no way i'll ever get addicted to my cellphone.

[Wormius]

If web forms simply asked for the postal code first, it could save having to enter a bunch of other info in. You’re connected to the net, this should be pretty simple to look up and auto-fill.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Dion

There's a reason why the phones we use today are cellphones and that's because people are imprisoned to them. Countless numbers couldn't live without one. In fact everywhere you go you see people with their heads down buried in their phones. When on these things they seem oblivious to what's going on around them.

I was in Calgary yesterday and pulled up to a crosswalk and witnessed a young men walk up and cross the street while not even checking to see if drivers were going to stop. Had his head buried in his stupid phone. Darwin is going to get him someday I'm afraid.

I'm 65 years old and part of the old school that lived a good portion of my life without these damned things. I hate when friends think it's better to converse though texting as opposed to having a real conversation. It's makes me wonder if people really talk to anyone anymore.

Like everything else in society I have one because I feel it's important to have them when there are times of emergencies like getting stranded on the side of road or getting in contact when someone when you're not at home. I use mine for texting and phoning and nothing else. It's bad enough that I'm addicted to home computer but there's no way i'll ever get addicted to my cellphone.

Well that makes sense. But the double-edged sword is that while you only have it to text/phone, people keep it in them for basically the same reason. Next thing you know, you’re bored in a waiting room and browsing CP, or Twitter or whatever and the slippery slope begins.

I also think that people expect you to have your phone. Like 20 years ago, you could phone someone and not reach them. You were OK with that. Today, we all know the guy actually has email (even when the out of office says you don’t, but you just can’t bring yourself to say “I’m taking a break”). We all want to be able to text people and when they don’t respond we wonder why not. To me, that’s the real poison of the cell phone.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well that makes sense. But the double-edged sword is that while you only have it to text/phone, people keep it in them for basically the same reason. Next thing you know, you’re bored in a waiting room and browsing CP, or Twitter or whatever and the slippery slope begins.

I also think that people expect you to have your phone. Like 20 years ago, you could phone someone and not reach them. You were OK with that. Today, we all know the guy actually has email (even when the out of office says you don’t, but you just can’t bring yourself to say “I’m taking a break”). We all want to be able to text people and when they don’t respond we wonder why not. To me, that’s the real poison of the cell phone.

I would say the biggest detractor to having a 'dumb phone' or a smartphone without data is access to services when out and about.

Going for a walk and noticed something City-owned is broken in your area? Using the Calgary 311 app, you can report it with a precise location and include a picture so the City can open a service request.

Taking Transit? We (finally) have an app that works so you don't have to waste time at the ticket machines.

Walking in the +15 and thinking "where the f... am I going?" There's a +15 app and it is friggin' fantastic. It shows the entire +15 network and colour codes them to show their daily hours of availability, and will even let you know if it's an enclosed +15 or open to the sky (good to know when the weather is sh-te).

But by far, the biggest one for me is parking. While there are many (CPA's MyParking, Indigo Neo, AHS Parking, Diamond's PayByPhone, Impark's hangTag), once you have them set up, paying for parking is something you can do as you walk to where you're actually going instead of a whole separate side task as you find the machine, wait if it's busy, etc.


As for people committing too much time to their phones when around others and the expectation that you text people back IMMEDIATELY, this is about being disciplined, respecting who you're with, and setting expectations. If I have someone over, unless I need my phone for something (ordering food, expecting a call for another friend coming over), my phone goes on the night-side table in my room and it stays there until I need it or if we're going out somewhere. If someone calls or texts during that time, I've set the expectation that I will get back to them when I can and that texting is not an instant message conversation. That may mean you're texting me and I don't get back to you for three, four, five hours. If we're actively texting back and forth then it's different, but otherwise it's not an IM, don't expect instant responses. My adopting this approach has broken me free of that "why aren't they texting back" anxiety because I've adopted my own expectation for others too, and it's really allowed me to be more present and in the moment with people.

[PepsiFree]

It’s probably not a coincidence that the only people who have ever made a comment about how long it takes me to text them back are over 50.

Obviously there are plenty of legitimate issues with cell phone usage, but I find technology anxiety in older generations leads to a lot of projecting those anxieties into problems “everyone else” is suffering from.

[DoubleF]

There's a certain satisfaction missing from cell phones to analog and dumb phones though like slamming down a receiver after a frustrating phone call or throwing a Nokia across the room and worrying whatever it impacted might have gotten damaged.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

There's a certain satisfaction missing from cell phones to analog and dumb phones though like slamming down a receiver after a frustrating phone call or throwing a Nokia across the room and worrying whatever it impacted might have gotten damaged.

If you throw an old Nokia, you're not worried something has gotten damaged, you're calling the insurance company to file a claim on whatever it hit, period.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

It’s probably not a coincidence that the only people who have ever made a comment about how long it takes me to text them back are over 50.

If I text someone I don't expect an immediate response. I just know they will get back to me in their own time. Often they are busy with life or other things. At the same time I get friends saying did you get my text? Why didn't you respond? I tell them I was busy and to understand I will get back to the when I have time.

Obviously there are plenty of legitimate issues with cell phone usage, but I find technology anxiety in older generations leads to a lot of projecting those anxieties into problems “everyone else” is suffering from.

I know that my generation sometimes has issues with the ever increasing technology, weather it be in phones, vehicles and or computers. Texting has become a popular form of communication between people, to a point where people use it as opposed to talking to someone in real life or over the phone. It might be an over exaggeration on my part but I still see it as a problem.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Slava

Well that makes sense. But the double-edged sword is that while you only have it to text/phone, people keep it in them for basically the same reason. Next thing you know, you’re bored in a waiting room and browsing CP, or Twitter or whatever and the slippery slope begins.

That slippery slope is something I want to avoid. My computer usage at home has taught me how easily it can become an addiction where you spend too much time on it. Something I addressed months ago.

I sometimes see couples out for dinner and when you look over they're busy with their phones as opposed to talking to one another. Like why bother going out for dinner in the first place?

Here's an example that I struggle with. A good friend and myself have a long standing dispute that needed to be settled. He wanted to do it via text and I said no. I went onto say that a in person conversation needed to happen. That way you can see a persons body language and facial expressions that come with that discussion. He said no.

I also think that people expect you to have your phone. Like 20 years ago, you could phone someone and not reach them. You were OK with that. Today, we all know the guy actually has email (even when the out of office says you don’t, but you just can’t bring yourself to say “I’m taking a break”). We all want to be able to text people and when they don’t respond we wonder why not. To me, that’s the real poison of the cell phone.

I agree that people expect you to have a phone, which I why I have one. It becomes a problem for me when friends get upset when I don't respond immediately to their text. They don't seem to understand that maybe I was busy at the time or maybe for example I was taking a nap due to a migraine I'm dealing with. I always tell them I will respond when I have the time.

[DoubleF]

Metaphorically, people who try and argue AA batteries are the same as a 9V or AAA batteries in a legal scenario.

No it will not. Send me the correct #### for the correct person, please!

[Wormius]

This happens in a legal scenario?

[topfiverecords]

Metaphorically?

Into the Rum Egg Nog?

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Flip phones are already resurfacing.

Problem is they have two separate screens and then another on the front so doing an angry hang up wouldn't be wise since the thing is worth 2 grand.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Wormius

This happens in a legal scenario?

Without further info, we can only assume he's talking about powering vibrators.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Wormius

This happens in a legal scenario?

No it's a bad metaphor. But if the info provided uses a name doesn't even match file of the person being worked on, that's just being stupid.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

No it's a bad metaphor. But if the info provided uses a name doesn't even match file of the person being worked on, that's just being stupid.

The plot thickens…

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Wormius

The plot thickens…

As does his speech I am sure.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Wormius

The plot thickens…

Nah. I just poorly tried to hide the details. It's basically as simple as someone wanting me to make #### up to see what sticks and being incredulous when I say, "no, get the real and proper document and do it right.".

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Nah. I just poorly tried to hide the details. It's basically as simple as someone wanting me to make #### up to see what sticks and being incredulous when I say, "no, get the real and proper document and do it right.".

There are no batteries involved then?

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

It’s probably not a coincidence that the only people who have ever made a comment about how long it takes me to text them back are over 50.

Obviously there are plenty of legitimate issues with cell phone usage, but I find technology anxiety in older generations leads to a lot of projecting those anxieties into problems “everyone else” is suffering from.

The age observation aside, the funny thing is these days it does seem like there are few situations where a person wouldn't get a text or the notification of a text within a short period of time.

Other people working office day jobs seem to get and respond to my texts without much delay at all, which is often surprising to me.

Either something happening to your phone (/dead), or getting on a long flight these days are the only reasons not be "able" to respond within an hour or two.

And few people seem focused enough to put their phone on the back burner for an extended period without being tempted to check. Most times I've found, if someone wants to get back to you, they will.

However, it's wise not to rule out other possibilities. Because if it's turns out you're wrong and they were actually occupied with something or traveling, then you'll look like a jerk. Best to be as unpresumptive as much as possible.