Somebody answer the phone...

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Do you have a mobile, or would you never buy one? Are you addicted to text messaging or is it for emergencies only. Discuss the damn things here.

-- Tim (tim@almighty.co.uk), October 03, 2000

Answers

I do not have a mobile phone -- can't imagine the circumstances that would induce me to buy one. Where I live (yuppie-scum town in Arizona) every jerkoff with a dialing finger has one & they have no compunction about being hideously rude with them.

Ok, and some idiot on a mobile hit my adored one as he was walking to work, but that was just the icing on the cake for me :P

-- suriel (suriel@darktapestry.com), October 03, 2000.


I've had one for years... for emergencies only. I'm one of the few people that actually only uses it for emergencies. I never turn it on, I have the basic, least-costly plan. I do have an ear-piece/mic attachment for it, so that while driving if someone should call me, both my hands stay on the wheel.

I hate the thing and never carry it with me, it lives in my car in case of an emergency.

~Greg @ Commixion

-- Greg Barber (gbarber@gbdesigns.com), October 03, 2000.


Erm, yes. I have one. Well, I used to have one. It had a pretty red cover. It was on for an hour of the day before I was picked up from school, in case of emergencies. I had it for a whole year. Then, one day, I volunteered at the Graduation ceremonies. And some bastard stole it! In a church! My pretty red phone was stolen. (i did have fun leaving menacing messages on the voicemail!) We called up the company, and they sent us this gross heavy phone. It was more weapon than phone. It weighed 10 pounds! You couldn't even play Snake on it! About two weeks ago, the phone company sent us another new one because the heavy one died on us. Yesterday, I finally connected it. But it'll never be as pretty my pretty red phone.

-- Krys (krysten@geek.com), October 03, 2000.

I want a cell phone...sort of. I want one to be able to call anc check in with my parents if I'm out, for emergencies when there's an emergency, and also to call people while I'm in the mall so I can look just as cool as everyone else with all their high-tech cell phones walking through Norstrom's looking at all the expensive crap for sale while talking to their best friend, who is probably also on a cell phone on the other side of the same store. It's crazy I tell you.

But then again, I don't want one because what if I get one (I'd be paying for it, of course...my parents don't pay for anything now thati have a job...) and i hardly ever use it, or people never call me, and I'd be wasting my money? Paying $40 a month (or whatever it is) for something that you don't use is not my idea of a good deal.

I think you're lucky, Tim, that your parents are paying for it, and are willing to get you a new one (or two) when they break or whatever. Wait, are your parents paying for it? or are you?

By the way, what kind of phone can you do text messages on? that'd be really cool....i've never heard of that before. well I'm sure I've heard of it, but never seen it or anything.

-- Jessica (essicaj@pacbell.net), October 03, 2000.


In Britian there's a neat alternative to the x dollers a month deal. You can buy a 'Pay as you go' phone from almost anywhere. You basically hand over your #50 or whatever, and they give you a phone. You then pay for your calls in advance by buying vouchers from newsagents/stationers/train stations and the like. That way there's no bill, no contract, just pay for what you need.

I sound like a commercial! (oh, and I do have to pay for the damn thing myself )

-- Tim (same Tim, different email address, keeps messageboard from mucking up) (timp@newmail.net), October 03, 2000.



I think I always had a bit of a fascination with the things because I come from one one the few places in the world (at least it seems, anyway) where you can't use a mobile phone.

However, that love affair soon died after I was in a restaurant in the city one night. One person's phone rang to the tune of 'War of 1812 Overture', and as if one cue, 10 other cells all around the room began bleeping and ringing in various tunes and volumes.

One of the few reasons I'm glad to live in hick-ville, where cb radio is still considered a new invention. :)

-- Sarah (unexpected_poppy@hotmail.com), October 03, 2000.


I too hold aloft the landline phone as a pillar of strength and dependablility in a world corrupted by mobile phones, although the temptation to conform does occasionally tickle my fancy. Unfortunately, a surprisingly overreaction to any threat to cancer and a distinct lack of funds prevents me from indulging, despite the heckling of flip top, coin pocket size mobile wielding friends. Text messaging? Tedious, yet fun. Emergencies? A mobile phone is not a formidible weapon in most situations, nor a useful tool if the emergency only requires a spanner.

-- Fiona McLeod (gloooomy@yahoo.com), October 04, 2000.

I have a mobile - my Dad gave it to me - but until recently it was for emergencies only. Mostly because I didn't have any friends. (Well, I only had a few friends with mobiles who liked using them.) There's no feeling more pathetic than spending your life walking round with your phone turned on and charging it up every night, only to never get any calls or messages.

I can't stand the behaviour associated with them. I hate it when you're with someone and they get a phonecall and spend the next half an hour ignoring you. I hate it when you're waiting for someone in a pub, and feeling like a total loser, and all the other sad bastards are showing that they're not totally sad by talking on the phone. I hate the way 50% of conversations concern who's getting the best deal with their mobile. I hate the way half the shops in any given town sell mobiles, when they could do much more useful things. (Like be chemists. I had to walk a mile down High Street in Canterbury before I found one.)

Yet, I am being forced to become part of this culture. Denied of a normal phone, I am compelled to spend thousands of pounds getting in touch with people, and being shown what their phones can do and mine can't. Now I discover I have a "boring old" Ericson, that can make and receive calls and just about send text messages, while I watch others play Snake and table tennis and manage their inboxes. Help!

-- Zed (zed@swansongs.net), October 04, 2000.


For a long time I stood out against buying a mobile phone. When all my friends had them I was the one saying 'No.'

Then they brought out those gorgeous new (well, they were then) Nokias with the changeable covers. And Snake.

And I begged, and begged, and begged. And got one for my 18th birthday.

I love it, and now I'm at university it really is a godsend. My mother phones me every morning to wake me up. I can always call someone when I'm dying of homesickness. (The phones in our hall are frankly appalling). I can even talk to Zed! And I am addicted to both text messages and Snake.

-- Helen (breathe@oceanic.nu), October 04, 2000.


i have had a mobile for about a 2 years now, first i got the pay as u go jobby's but found i was spending a lot of time chattin to mates on it, so i changed to conract, now i get a certain amount of free minutes a month to either local numbers or people on the same network as me, so in theory i should save money - in theory - doh. unfortunately being at university and receiving a bill for £110 was not appreciated, at least with pay as u go, u r able to meter the amount u spend. I always try to follow these simple guidelines as well:

You should always turn off your phone when in or at any of the following: Restaurants Art Galleries Theatres Museums Concert halls Churches Planes ? by law Petrol stations ? by law Hospitals ? by law

You should use your phone with discretion (reduced ringer or vibrating alert, no shouty ?I?m on the train!? conversations) in the following situations: Trains ? try SMS Buses ? try SMS Quite outdoor places ? tranquil parks etc The office ? unless a work call

It is polite to turn your phone off when: You have a visitor who specifically wants to talk to you You are having sex You are having dinner with someone You really don?t feel like taking a call for whatever reason

:-) PS. I wouldnt advise dropping ur phone in a club toilet when pissin either - still works though....

-- David Chaplin (davidchaplin@hotmail.com), February 15, 2001.



Hi there how are you on this sunny day! not Fuck answering the phone there is no point they suck! So I say Fuck You All! OK? Good Bye and Good luck with your day PS Don't shag to many sheep. Thanks once again for ringing me.

-- Billy Smith (billy_smith@go.com), August 01, 2001.

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