Am I the Only One Here with No Cell Phone?

[mikethompson]

Both my wife and I have managed to go without a cellphone our whole lives (we are both 38) which solicits gasps of disbelief from most people.

With our youngest heading to school in September, and hopefully me heading to the workforce, we are considering getting one so the school can contact us in an emergency. So it looks like our streak may be coming to an end.

Anyone else in the same boat?

 

[Casual]

It is possibly to selectively use technology. It is difficult though.

There are now modern phones being made with only minimal call, text, and email capabilities. That way it is easier to resist the worst excesses of the technology industry.

 

[davek]

I have an i-phone3, a little over a year ago I had a brick. So, I like to have a cell phone, but a phone is a phone to me. I'm more into computers. I worked as a machinist when I had a brick (Nokia). I dropped it a few times and had it break into it's composite boards, etc. Snapped it back together and went on. I think you could have driven nails with that thing. I don't like carrying a $400 item in my pocket.

 

[pappymac]

You can still get basic phones with minimal extras. You can also get a cheap smart phone and ignore everything you don't want intruding on your life.

 

[Old School 3319]

I am with you I do not have one and dont want one. I have to carry a phone when I am inside the factory but when I go home it stays at work

 

[Kozeman]

Not sure. I tried calling you to discuss this but there was no answer. ?

 

[sallow]

I went without one until a few years ago, but my wife had one. I am about 12 years older than you.

My work bought me one, now I am used to it. I can read the New York Times and text people.

 

[scloyd]

Before retiring I had a company issued cell phone. I was so used to having it, I bought one for myself after retiring. I use mine mainly for calls and texting. Having two young grandchildren, one in school, I wouldn't go with out a cell phone.

 

[tbradsim1]

Useful tool sometimes, recently car warranty fucks have been burning up the phone, sad shit, I have an IPHONE 6S, bought it for wife, big mistake, she can’t even mute a TV. We traded phones, I had a Nokia flip, forget what they called it, Soccer series, tough. Don’t go out, live on farm, if I had to carry that sucker with the otter box I wouldn’t have it.

 

[scloyd]

recently car warranty fucks have been burning up the phone, sad shit,

Same here....almost everyday.

 

[Old School 3319]

My work phone is just a simple flip phone call and text thats it

 

[Country Bladesmith]

They’re a tool just like anything else. Use it how you see fit. I don’t do social media (at all), unless you count this forum. I use my phone quite a bit. Other than calling/texting/email, it’s mostly to look stuff up on the internet when I need to, and to use the calculator if the need arises. And take pictures of the kids. If the phone is making life easier for you, then you’re doing it right. If it starts to run your life, then you have a problem.

 

[autumnfog]

My cell phone is the simplest possible.
Calling and texting. No apps and no internet.

My choice is to cut down electronics/technology to basic needs.
Why?
Stress reducing.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

A cell phone is a necessary tool for many things I do, professionally and personally. If I don't want it, I leave it sitting, turn it off, turn off notifications or simply ignore it. We don't have a land line in the house and haven't had for years.

 

[didimauw]

My job on the railroad, I am on call 24/7. So it's a requirement to have it on me at all times. I'll get disciplined if I don't answer it. Other than that, my phone is a tiny computer In My pocket. Hardly used for communication.

 

[ray47]

After I retired from our local Sheriff's Department in 2009, I turned in my cell phone to the department. I didn't receive one (a flip phone) until my daughter insisted a year ago that she let her get one for me so I could have a phone on me when I'd go downtown shopping or taking care of other business. She wanted me to have a phone so her mom could call me in the event of an emergency. My wife has heart problems. I hardly ever use it and I have a bad habit of leaving the phone at home when I go out.

 

[irishearl]

Never owned one but my wife does.

 

[philobeddoe]

I have an iPhone 10, the way I look at it, I am basically carrying around the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in my shirt pocket. If you know how to look, you more or less have the sum total of all human knowledge in a little box in your pocket.

 

[Ryszard]

I have an iPhone 10, the way I look at it, I am basically carrying around the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy in my shirt pocket. If you know how to look, you more or less have the sum total of all human knowledge in a little box in your pocket.

I agree with this and I use my phone almost exclusively for information consumption.
While I do not like to be available 24/7, I like obtaining new information about my interests on the internet.

I hardly ever use the computer or other electronic devices though.

 

[ophiuchus]

I’m glad to know some folks are still holding.out. I remember the days when “not at home” excused me from answering calls. I miss that.

I’ve been carrying one version of iPhone or another since they launched. It’s become too handy a reference tool to me to give up. The unfortunate side effect is that I always have a damn phone with me. (Hell, now even my watch rings wit’s incoming cal.