I'm Cheap. Fix My Cell Phone Please.

[mso489]

indianafrank, there's just a lot of Darwinian pressure to master and use technology, and to do battle with its

various intrusive and competitive features. If you don't participate, I guess you disappear for large segments of

the population. I am fascinated by the social and psychological aspects of technology, so to that degree I'm in

the game. I just don't find it entertaining, fun, engaging, etc. Sounds like you are holding your own against the

mighty chip.

 

[meerschaummatt]

I have a smartphone, but I try to use it as little as possible, and I despise texting even though there are times when it is a necessity. I took Facebook off of my phone. I don't need to have my phone vibrate to notify me that someone "poked" me. That's just stupid.

 

[warren]

Can't you turn off the notifications?
Though I do not use a tenth of the capabilities of my smart phone, I wouldn't be without it. I tend to treat it as a convenience for me so it spends most of its time in a camera bag or the console in the truck. Handy, but not demanding.

 

[sablebrush52]

Thank you, gentlemen, for one of the most entertaining threads I have heretofore read. I am a full member of the contrarian codger community, for I have had the same cell for the past 10 years and can't see any reason to upgrade. All I want the damned thing to be able to do is make and receive calls. This particular LG had three systems for doing that and only that, which allowed it to hold connections in very spotty areas where other phones could not. Apparently there is still nothing being made that can touch it as the basic tech has not been improved. Instead, phones have been turned into another robot pacifier.

 

[phred]

If you really don't need all the bells and whistles, check out the Jitterbug cell phone - basic flip phone, large buttons, free basic features (US roaming, US long distance, call waiting), no GPS, no web browser, no e-mail...
As for me, having bought my first cell phone very reluctantly, I'd be lost without my current generation smartphone - it's rather handy to have all of its functionality immediately at hand. I've gone from not seeing the point of texting to preferring it for certain communication needs (arranging to meet at a convention, for example, or having my wife's father check in every morning so that we know he survived the night as he's 84 and living alone...)