
Their Numbers Are Dropping - the Cellphone Refuseniks - newacc
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/technology/23cell.html?_r=1&ref=technology
======
pmichaud
I resisted until my business partner insisted and the company bought me one,
which I still have.

I just recently got in trouble with a good friend over it though -- she is
very much into the cell phone thing, and culturally, she considers it rude
that I don't get back to her quickly -- she says the longest reasonable time
is a return call that same day.

I, on the other hand, feel like someone calling doesn't obligate me to call
back ever, never mind quickly. In this case, it's not a matter of ignoring
her, it's a matter of simply not looking at my phone. I just can't wrap my
mind around how having a piece of technology obligates me to use it.

I have a feeling I'm in a shrinking minority.

~~~
decode
_I just can't wrap my mind around how having a piece of technology obligates
me to use it._

It's the same as if you had a landline, bought an answering machine, set it
up, and never listened to the messages. Then you blamed your friends when they
got upset about that. That would be rude. Not because of the technology per
se, but because you're telling your friends that you can be reached via cell
phone, but then you disregard the time and effort they put into reaching you.
If their time and effort really isn't worth the courtesy of you meeting them
half way by looking at your cell phone once a day, then either they're not
your friends, or you're a jerk to your friends.

A solution is simply to tell your friends that your cell phone is for business
use only, and offer them other ways to reach you. But to give out your phone
number and ignore your friends when they follow your own directions is not
polite.

~~~
pmichaud
I agree that if I set up an expectation that I didn't follow through on, I
would be rude. The fact is that I'm very, very clear about my position on the
phone, so she has no reasonable expectation that I'll check it regularly.

------
RiderOfGiraffes
For several years my wife and I refused to have a cell/mobile phone, until
there was a rather unpleasant encounter. My wife was on her way to an
appointment when the train stopped. Net result: 2 hour delay, and late for the
appointment. No phones on the train, no way to make contact.

The person with whom she was meeting was incandescent, and entirely
uncomprehending of her not having a phone. It was as if he refused to believe
that she didn't have one, and thought she was being actively malicious.

So we relented.

~~~
DannoHung
This is when you lie: "I am really, really sorry, my cell phone had no signal
where we were stopped on the train." OR "I am really, really sorry, my charger
stopped working last week and I just haven't had the time to get a new one."
OR "I am really, really sorry, I called but I just kept getting a 'Number not
in service' message."

~~~
jlees
That's the problem though, mobile communication seems to end up with so many
lies, excuses, or reasons to fiddle the truth.. far more than any other
medium. Sure, letters can get 'lost' in the post, an email can 'bounce' or
'sorry, it was marked as spam', but the level of active dishonesty around
mobiles is crazy.

~~~
hegemonicon
It's inherent in a synchronus communication medium like a phone call. With
letters and email, you can respond at your leisure, but with a phone call you
have to make an instant decision whether to answer it or not. Seeing as people
both A) don't want to be rude to their friends and co-workers and B) don't
want to have their lives dictated by a ringing phone, white lies ("sorry, no
service", "sorry, didn't see your call") are more or less the most reasonable
solution. They keep the benefits of instantaneous access and mitigate most of
the drawbacks.

------
trebor
I hate cellphones, but I'm not a senior citizen, and am not any less educated
than the "adopters".

I despise cellphones because I grew up with a father that had one. I was
fortunate enough that, at that time, Dad could come home for lunch ... but it
was inevitable that he would get interrupted. Later, when his office was at
home (and he still had a cell phone) his boss would call and interrupt when
Dad manage to find a lull to visit with the family.

Currently, my father works in the cellphone industry, and has some eight or
more models down in his office. It's all we can do to get him away from them,
and even then he'll have one or two phones with him. And it's still inevitable
that he'll get interrupted by it! Only now, it could be a call, an e-mail, or
an instant message.

The only time I have been thankful to have a cellphone with me was when I
borrowed one, and was t-boned at an intersection.

Do I have friends? Sure! I chat with them every few days, email a little less
frequently, and manage to talk on the phone with them once a month or less (we
do meet frequently).

If I bought a cellphone it would be prepaid, _for business use only._ But then
again, just like getting a driver's license ... there's a cultural sense of
obligation that comes with the phone. If I get one, my friends will expect,
and pressure, me to use it--just like they expect me to use my driver's
license, even when I don't _want_ to go out.

So, I keep adequate change to afford pay-phones (remember, when the power goes
out you cannot get a signal on the cellphone as long as you can the pay-
phones) just in case I have to make an emergency call.

Why _should_ I care about cellphones? I'm "connected" enough as it is!

~~~
mquander
Smartphones kind of kick ass above and beyond the phonitude. I get a lot of
non-communication utility from having a symbolic mathematics environment,
alarm clock, MP3 player, camera, Google Maps, Wikipedia, and business Internet
(i.e. I can find store hours & addresses online while away from home, I can
look up authors and reviews of books while I'm at the bookstore) in my pocket.

------
silverlake
I have no friends, so a cell phone is unnecessary.

------
RyanMcGreal
> For a hardy few that choose to ignore cellphones, life is a pocketful of
> quarters, missed connections and a smug satisfaction of marching to a
> different ring tone.

I'm reminded of the classic Onion article:
<http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694>

Full disclosure: I don't own a cellphone and my TV doesn't receive any
channels. :)

------
GavinB
People don't get cell phones to keep things simple, but I love the simplicity
of not having to plan my day ahead of time.

~~~
RyanMcGreal
There seems to be a sharp generational inflection point between older people
who make prior plans, and younger people who arrange things on the fly with
their call phones. I must confess to be a member of the former set.

~~~
mquander
I suspect that this largely depends on who you talk to, at least as much as it
depends on age.

I'm pretty young and I have a cell phone and I plan everything a total of
about an hour in advance; if it involves me driving a few hours or involves me
herding other people, I might or might not plan it a day in advance.

However, I know other people in my peer group who plan all kinds of things
weeks or months in advance, and ask me every time about those things, leaving
me to shrug haplessly.

------
saturdayplace
I am 29. I have never had a cell phone, and never felt the need to have one.
I've never been in a position where I've needed to call someone, or needed to
be available to someone, where I wasn't already sitting next to a landline.
Plus, I'm a miser.

~~~
MikeCapone
I'm the same, except I'm 27.

------
omgsean
I don't think it's fair for people who don't have cell phones to call my cell
phone and expect me to pick up. It's a two way street.

------
10ren
I don't have a mobile phone (that's what we call them in Australia). I've had
three when they were newish, including a contract coding for one.

I'd rather be more producer than consumer.

------
MikeCapone
I've never had a cell phone. I like it that way just fine.

