

Life without a cell phone - nbrogi
http://blog.nbrogi.com/2013/08/life-without-a-cell-phone/

======
runjake
Family and close friends get my cell number. Everyone else gets my Google
Voice number.

If I don't want to be bothered by unimportant calls, I launch the Google Voice
app and enable do not disturb.

If I permanently want certain numbers, or unknown numbers to go straight to
voicemail permanently, I set it up. I don't hear a ring. I get a push
notification if they leave a voicemail.

If Google Voice isn't your cup of tea and you have an iPhone, use iOS's Do Not
Disturb feature. You can enable it either manually via a switch, or on a time
period basis. You can set exceptions for no one, or for your favorites, or for
specific contact groups.

The funny thing is, I willfully refrain from using my smartphone in public or
when in groups of whenever possible. I'm commonly the only parent at a park
that is playing with their kids and doesn't have their face buried in their
smartphones doing god knows what. This is causing me to question whether a
smartphone plan is worth it as I use so little data when out and about. So I'm
pondering going with some cheapo prepaid options.

 _Edit: Check out the below reply from ericdykstra for a similar solution for
Android._

~~~
ericdykstra
To add to your post about other options for call management, if you have a
rooted Android phone, I recommend Call Master (
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fahrbot.apps.b...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fahrbot.apps.blacklist&hl=en)
)

You can whitelist everyone in your contacts, blacklist all restricted numbers,
or go down to individual numbers and just never see calls from spam callers.
You can even set up schedules (only accept calls from my close family between
10pm and 6am, for example).

~~~
nbrogi
Thanks, will check it out!

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pinaceae
?

His troubles could be solved by not sharing his private number to people he
does not want him calling. Like his professional contacts. Just switch numbers
and don't share the new one.

He mentions he can focus on a conversation rather than play on his cell - but
owns an iPad. Not sure what his issue really is.

Life without a cell phone is awesom until _you_ need it. Like when _you_ have
an emergency and need to call for help. Mobile phones have saved countless of
lives. Be it to call for help for yourself or for someone else in need -
without leaving them alone to find a goddam phone.

Next up: Life without arms.

~~~
nbrogi
You're probably right.

I looked into having a private number, but from other people's experience your
number always gets shared. You might give it to 1 person for some reason and
you end up with everyone knowing your number.

Also, if someone asks for your number how can you say you don't want to give
it to him?

~~~
bkurtz13
You could try whitelisting only numbers that are in your contact list.

~~~
nbrogi
Yep tried that, too :-)

I've long had this prob. with getting interrupted by calls.

Again, people would get mad that I ignored them, or that I wasn't available.

Somehow, since you don't have a cell phone they don't get offended or complain
(I'm talking about clients in particular).

~~~
avenger123
"Again, people would get mad that I ignored them, or that I wasn't available."

I find this interesting.. I don't have an expectation that someone is always
going to answer their phone... that's what voicemail is for. I also don't give
the expectation that I will answer my phone on every ring the first time.

~~~
nbrogi
My clients were much worse I guess...

Do you need a web app? :-)

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grecy
I'm a 31 y/o Software Engineer, and I have not had a cell phone since ~2004.

It's improved my work/life balance immensely, as my work can't call/email me
whenever they like.

The only time it's annoying is (as the article says) when you're trying to
meet up with friends and are not immediately and conveniently contactable.

Being that most people spend ~$60/mo on a plan, I've saved right on $6000 -
which certainly helped finance my 2 year drive from Alaska to Argentina, and
other periods of not working full time to do as I please.

It's crazy when I'm out with friends and they all turn into zombies looking
through their smartphones, for up to 10 minutes at a time.

I don't ever want to have a cell phone again.

~~~
ohwp
I own a cell phone but never use it for the same reasons as you. Never missed
it, never will.

This month a video went viral about the subject:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OINa46HeWg8)
(I Forgot My Phone). So true.

------
jacquesm
I don't think this is as easy as it was in the age before cell phones became
common.

The infrastructure that dealt with people on the move trying to communicate
(phone booths, equipped with directories) has diminished substantially. People
are not going to borrow you their phone to make calls when you need to and
when you break a leg in the basement at night you'll wish you had one no
matter where the nearest functioning phone booth is located.

No phone, or wired phone is a world that has largely gone by.

I've stayed away from smartphones so far because of 2 things:

\- battery life

\- security

I like to be able to use my phone when I really need it (as a phone) and
feature phones still beat smartphones handily in this department.

Second big issue, security is maybe a bit paranoid but I can't imagine that
carrying what amounts to a full fledged linux machine in my pocket without
even so much as a basic insight in what is going on under the hood or a
sysadmin to go with it is responsible use of the data on the phone.

It helps that I know my way around and that in the car I have a tom-tom for
navigation. Going without a cell phone is foregoing convenience without any
upside. You could get all of the upside by simply buying a phone and keeping
it charged and in your pocket, and in many countries even a 'dead' phone will
allow you to call the emergency number. (I assume you can get one without a
sim card from a friend for free).

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tene
My standing policy for phones is that I expect people to manage their own
availability, and respect that I do the same.

If I don't want to answer a call, I don't answer it the first time they call;
if it's really an emergency, they'll leave a message or keep calling back. I
only give out my Google Voice number, so I get transcriptions of voicemail,
and I can silence groups of people, or only permit certain groups of people to
call me at a given time.

If I want to talk to someone, I call them, and trust that they won't answer if
they don't want to talk. It's absurd for me to be expected to work out whether
it's a good time for a call or not, as I don't know their schedule, just like
it would be absurd for me to expect anyone else to know my schedule and try to
make decisions for me on whether I want to be called or not.

I've had several friends who have quite a bit of anxiety about making and
receiving phone calls, religiously answering every call and stressing about
whether or not it's acceptable to call others. I might be a bit idealistic,
but this seems like the simplest solution to me, with the people who have the
most information making local decisions for themselves.

------
IanDrake
Life without a hammer...

I used to have a hammer and beat myself on the head with it. Now I don't have
a hammer and everything is better.

Amazing.

~~~
Lagged2Death
When all you have is a cell phone, every problem looks like a phone call.

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dankoss
Couldn't you solve this problem by simply turning off your cellphone? Or using
Do Not Disturb or Airplane mode?

~~~
nbrogi
I tried :-)

But then people started saying that I was either not reachable or I ignored
them.

I didn't get rid of my cell phone on purpose, just used the fact that it broke
to not get another one, and it just works great for me.

~~~
oftenwrong
Without a cell phone you are still unreachable, so how exactly is this solving
that issue?

The real problem here is that the people contacting you do not respect your
desire to not be on-call 24/7\. In my opinion, this lack of respect is good
enough reason to not feel bad about ignoring them. Put your phone on mute and
stop letting inconsiderate people push you around. Or just continue not having
a phone because that works too.

~~~
grammaton
I can't upvote this hard enough. If someone is calling me, their name pops up
on the screen. What if I don't want to talk to them? I don't answer! If they
leave a voicemail? I'll check it when I feel like it, and if it's not
important, I won't bother with it. This article does hit one nail right on the
head though, and it's the _real_ source of the problems - when did people
forget that cellphones serve them, and not the other way around?

------
vinceguidry
I got rid of my cell phone 3 years ago and just use Google Voice. It was
awesome. People would bitch about how I wasn't available, but whatever. They
can leave a voice mail and I'll get back to them on my schedule, not theirs.

Nobody calls me. It's great. They can, but they don't. I have everyone
trained. Emails or texts.

I had a prepaid for awhile that I'd use only to make outgoing calls from. Now
I have an iPhone that I mostly use for listening to music, no data plan.
People can call me now, but they don't. GVoice is enough of a pain in the ass
to them that they avoid it. I tell people I wish Apple would let me integrate
it but secretly I wish they never do.

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tekalon
One thing I've been looking into doing is using Talkatone or other such app on
my tablets and Google voice on my computer to handle voice calls. This way I
only need to have one of my devices around rather than how I usually keep my
phone and tablet nearby. As mentioned by others, the cost savings would be
great. I already don't receive a lot of calls (most of my family contacts
through IM or texts). The only thing I would hate is to lose the number I have
through my carrier. It's easy to remember, and I'm already used to it. Wait, I
can port it over. Nevermind.

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Newky
Something which is becoming more and more common in messaging type systems is
a level above this. Now on most common instant messaging platforms, a person
can tell whether you actually read the message.

For instance in google hangouts, their icon shows where they last read in the
conversation.

This puts an added level of responsibility as you can no longer use any
excuses that you didn't see it etc

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drivers99
He didn't say if he also didn't have a land line, but it was implied by
referring people to email and/or skype (although skype has an option to let
you pay to have a phone number, doesn't it). One problem I can think of is
sites that rely on sending a code to a phone as a second form of
authentication, like banks.

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setitimer
The thing that kills me is people who reply to emails with a phone call. I
actually quit putting my cell number in my email signature because of this. If
I wanted to talk to you I would call you; if I emailed you for something then
I expect a reply via email.

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keithpeter
_" So, I told everybody that I didn’t have a cell phone anymore, and to send
me an email instead."_

Being able to send an email _from a phone_ is common now, so I imagine this
might be a possible 'free ride'.

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0X1A
For the past 3 years I haven't had a cell phone, that is up until about 6
months ago when a friend gave me a Samsung Mesmerize. I don't have a line and
only use Google Voice to receive texts, and I make calls through Talkatone.

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giantSlayer
Am I that lame? I still have a cellphone.

