# What's your own phone policy?



## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Poll to follow.


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2018)

I have a smartphone, only enabled to text and use as a phone. (So on balance I chose the 2nd option)

Is there such a thing as a "simple mobile" - aren't they all "smart"? That's certainly all I've seen.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

After years of having to use the phone to both deliver and receive bad news as part of my job, I developed my already strong aversion to the phone to a point of extreme prejudice. Another downside to the phone is the mild tyranny that the caller enjoys over the callee--I may be in the midst of great music, profound sleep, eating dinner, or wonderful sex, only to be interrupted by the G-D phone! I then must decide whether to ignore or to answer. The letter, carefully crafted, then sent to whomever, is executed at my own pace and leisure, and its recipient can then read it and respond to it at his/her own pace and leisure--this exchange of letters is how much of our heritage as a civilization came to be. The modern email is, or can be, treated as the modern equivalent of the letter, inasmuch as its composition and reception are not subject to that tyranny previously referenced.

Another difference is that, because of the time delay involved in communication by letter or email, a certain amount of brain-time, of reflection, is introduced into communication. This buffering effect is often, and grievously, lost during the spontaneous real-time nature of faceless telephonic communication--"I wish I hadn't said that!". "Did they really mean that?"

So I have a Go-Phone plan for $100 per year and a candy-bar phone for roadside emergencies and the rare other necessary phone call, usually associated with travel. That phone is off, except when I need to make those rare calls, and that's just the way I like it. The home phone is also rarely used, and our friends and relations are used to reaching us via email. We have signed up for anti-robocall intervention, have an unlisted number, and often just turn off the house phone when we have more important things to do than wait for an unsolicited phone call. Otherwise it's a love-fest with the phone!


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2018)

Come on SM, you know you can increase your control over the device. Work based issues not so much, but personal definitely. Contrary to a lot of people (from what I see) my phone is on if I want it, off if I want it, answered if I want it, ignored if I want it, called back if I want it, in my time when I want to, blocked if I want to... you get my drift. A lot of people seem to be attached to their phone; it only leaves their hand when they trip up because they weren't attending to their walking.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

dogen said:


> Come on SM, you know you can increase your control over the device. Work based issues not so much, but personal definitely. Contrary to a lot of people (from what I see) my phone is on if I want it, off if I want it, answered if I want it, ignored if I want it, called back if I want it, in my time when I want to, blocked if I want to... you get my drift. A lot of people seem to be attached to their phone; it only leaves their hand when they trip up because they weren't attending to their walking.


But dogen, my control over my phone is very near total; dictatorial, even brutal. As you say, my phone also is on when I want it, off when I don't. The question is--Who is to be Master? I am the Master! :devil:


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2018)

There's a line I love in Pride and Prejudice...(stay with me...)

In essence Mr. Bennett tells his family "I have received a letter. I consider it to be of some considerable importance, so I replied to it a fortnight later." 

That's my kind of timescale.


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2018)

dogen said:


> There's a line I love in Pride and Prejudice...(stay with me...)
> 
> In essence Mr. Bennett tells his family "I have received a letter. I consider it to be of some considerable importance, so I replied to it a fortnight later."
> 
> That's my kind of timescale.


I'm getting a bit bored of all this phone talk, so how about, _a propos_ of nothing, this quote from Virginia Woolf:

"Anyone who has the temerity to write about Jane Austen is aware of [two] facts: first, that of all great writers she is the most difficult to catch in the act of greatness; second, that there are twenty-five elderly gentlemen living in the neighbourhood of London who resent any slight upon her genius as if it were an insult to the chastity of their aunts."

You have succeeded in the first Dogen, as to the second, well it conjures up a whole range of possible issues...


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2018)

My appreciation of Austen can be measured by never having read any of her books. I just saw the telly production (at the behest of the Austenista in the household!)


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2018)

Despite her old maid image, her books are top draw and much better than the modern film & TV costume drama adaptations.

Mansfield Park was my favourite.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

I've owned an iPhone for a very short while. My wife wanted me to partake in a phenomenon called the "group app" , that was very short lived. Can't stand it. Insufferable nonsense.
I do have a very rudimentary mobile phone and my friends and family seem to appreciate it. They only call when absolutely necessary. I am a bit partial to my private time and space, thing of the past it seems.
Strange: when engaged in wonderful sex, switch off phone. Lesson nr 1 in these modern times, learned the hard way (pun intended)


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## Dr Johnson (Jun 26, 2015)

I have a "semi" smart phone which cost £19.95. The internet connection is disabled.


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2018)

Jos said:


> I've owned an iPhone for a very short while. My wife wanted me to partake in a phenomenon called the "group app" , that was very short lived. Can't stand it. Insufferable nonsense.
> I do have a very rudimentary mobile phone and my friends and family seem to appreciate it. They only call when absolutely necessary. I am a bit partial to my private time and space, thing of the past it seems.
> Strange: when engaged in wonderful sex, switch off phone. Lesson nr 1 in these modern times, learned the hard way (pun intended)


And, by inference, leave it on if it isn't wonderful?


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2018)

Jos said:


> Strange: when engaged in wonderful sex, switch off phone. Lesson nr 1 in these modern times, learned the hard way (pun intended)


The post after Jos's began:

' I have a "semi"...'

For a moment, I wondered where we were headed.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

I have a smartphone. It helps me determine which CDs to buy!  Seriously, I can look up reviews of CDs. I can also reference my CD inventory spreadsheet to see if I might already own something. I can't think of any other useful purpose for a smartphone though (I do have some MP3s of classical music loaded on an SD card on mine just in case I'm in desperate need of some classical music).



Jos said:


> Strange: when engaged in wonderful sex, switch off phone. Lesson nr 1 in these modern times, learned the hard way (pun intended)


Sage advice!



dogen said:


> And, by inference, leave it on if it isn't wonderful?


Yes, of course! I can reference my CD spreadsheet if the other sheets aren't exactly spreading. Besides, she's going to have her phone on vibrate anyway! :devil:


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I have a smartphone and love it. It lets me get online to access this site, buy CDs, send messages to my wife , read reviews and play Candy Crush when I'm bored stiff waiting at the doctors. Its all good in my book. If i dont wanna be contacted, or fear mind control, i turn it off.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

I have a smartphone, somewhat unwillingly. I do not answer calls, and I mostly only make them to my wife or daughter. I check news headlines, which sometimes leads me into deeper research if I read something interesting, and I check weather, which is usually inaccurate but within tolerance limits. I have several music, relaxation, and ambient noise apps (darn anxiety!), and several sacred texts apps, which I like to read on the phone because I can amp up the font size to the point at which I can read it without my eyes watering too badly. Basically, it's a damn nuisance.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

I had a blackberry from work until my early retirement in 2012. Since then I'm handphone free and loving it.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Merl said:


> I have a smartphone and love it. It lets me get online to access this site, buy CDs, send messages to my wife , read reviews and play Candy Crush when I'm bored stiff waiting at the doctors. Its all good in my book. If i dont wanna be contacted, or fear mind control, i turn it off.


Excellent! Wise use, under rational control by a mature adult of a potentially addicting technology.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

dogen said:


> And, by inference, leave it on if it isn't wonderful?


Haha, that could make for some interesting pillow talk.
"What d'ya think hon, keep going or check likes on facebook?"
Bit more to the left please.......


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Art Rock said:


> I had a blackberry from work until my early retirement in 2012. Since then I'm handphone free and loving it.


Were there actually any privately owned (and payed for) blackberrys ?


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Jos said:


> Were there actually any privately owned (and payed for) blackberrys ?


Believe it or not, there was a time right before the iPhone came out where Blackberries were considered hip. Of course, I think MySpace was still a thing back then too! :lol:

Here are a couple of random questions:


I'm wondering if anyone here still has a beeper.
I wonder which as fewer germs, an average public telephone (let's assume one from the 1990s that actually had some usage) or the average mobile phone? It seems like a lot of people like to use their phones while on the toilet.


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2018)

Klassik said:


> Believe it or not, there was a time right before the iPhone came out where Blackberries were considered hip. Of course, I think MySpace was still a thing back then too! :lol:
> 
> Here are a couple of random questions:
> 
> ...


I used to have a Blackberry tablet and I knew someone who always had Blackberry mobile phones. All non-work.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

I've had iPhones since I was 12. I feel naked if my phone isn't within arm's reach. Yep, I'm a typical young person


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## LezLee (Feb 21, 2014)

Here's the great Rufus Wainwright's 'Vibrate'


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

my policy is to take a cell phone and chuck it as far as I can into the nearest body of water

I don't need them, don't want them, don't want to live that way


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I have a smart phone but apart from occasionally googling I use it for calls and texts only. I avoid Soshul Meeja totally and I'm not interested in uploading any games - as a result of all this I use my phone about half a dozen times daily on average, maybe less. The main reason I upgraded from my previous bog-standard model was because the volume level was insufficient - if I was speaking outdoors and there was traffic or other noise around me I could hardly hear the other person - with the one I now have the other person comes through loud and clear.


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## Guest (Feb 14, 2018)

Wait, MySpace _was_ a thing? I didn't even know it had _become _one.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Once upon a time I had a cellphone; hated the thing. Actually I've never cared for phones in general. Presently, I just have a couple of land-line phones in the house, and sometimes I feel like throwing them over the fence.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

I really wanted to vote for Strawberry Alarm Clock because it is such a cool 60s band, but voted my phone type, which is a basic phone with texting. But for everyone to enjoy, here is the Strawberry Alarm Clock:


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## senza sordino (Oct 20, 2013)

I have a smartphone, an ipad mini connected to wifi only and no home phone. My phone does so much more than I need. I phone people, I text a couple of people and I photograph if something interesting is worth remembering. I don't do social media, this forum is my only online source of friends, all my other friends are flesh and blood. I don't have a Facebook account, nor Twitter, nor Snapgram, Instersnap or Insterchat, and I don't really like Youtube. 

I walk to work. I can't read my phone without my reading glasses, and I can't walk with my reading glasses, so I don't read my phone and walk. I don't use my phone much each day. I charge it up every evening, and typically the phone has 90% of its battery left at the end of the day.


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## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

dogen said:


> Contrary to a lot of people (from what I see) my phone is on if I want it, off if I want it, answered if I want it, ignored if I want it, called back if I want it, in my time when I want to, blocked if I want to...


As soon as the answering machine was invented, I felt a gigantic injustice was reversed. Going all the way back to Alexander Graham Bell - when the phone rings, it was immediately the highest priority thing to attend to. Before you even knew if it was your ailing mother, your irritating brother, or some marketing other. With the answering machine, and all its incarnations we call voice mail, I (we) can take back my own damn priorities.

In what universe does your wanting to talk to me obligate me to make time for you?

There was a time when, years ago, that if you answered after more than a few rings you felt you had to explain to the caller why you didn't pick up right away.

I have two smart phones, and two old fashioned land lines with answering machines, and all are set to ring twice and go to voice mail. I hardly ever answer the phone. I respond with a call back if I feel like it.

I used to have a separate phone number that I only gave to folks whose emergencies were important to me. I would answer that one right away. Then the marketers and salesmen and robot calls took over and I shut it down.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Smartphone. I finally gave up my landline. 

My phone sends text messages and alerts to my watch, so I can keep the phone on vibrate. 

I have the Evernote app, so I keep files of my favorite parts of books/lectures there, and if I need a bon mot on the fly, I can pull it up. 

My phone also syncs to my car stereo, so through Spotify and YouTube, I can pull up just about any music or podcast I'm interested in. 

I also have Audible, so I can listen to books. I'm too busy anymore to sit in a corner with a book, but I'm surprised how many books I've knocked out through headphones walking to and from work. 

And with Google, I can pull up music reviews at my used CD store and even listen to the pieces before I commit to a purchase. 

It's also there to summon help in case I've fallen and I can't get up. 

Oh, and it does make phone calls. That's the thing I do the least with it.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Tulse said:


> Despite her old maid image, her books are top draw and much better than the modern film & TV costume drama adaptations.
> 
> Mansfield Park was my favourite.


I love Jane Austen but dislike Mansfield Park and think Fanny Price is a drip


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## Marinera (May 13, 2016)

Bulldog said:


> Once upon a time I had a cellphone; hated the thing. Actually I've never cared for phones in general. Presently, I just have a couple of land-line phones in the house, and sometimes I feel like throwing them over the fence.


Yes! You must be my long lost twin.

I resisted cell phones since the very begining. Aquired one only after my sister decided hers was too old and she needed a newer model. I was just a convenient phoneless sibling to dump her outdated stuff onto. Don't know how it even happened. She left if in my flat, told our parents that i had it, and she needed a new one. Got new cell phone before breakfast i imagine.
I have a simple mobile phone now with buttons, no touchscreen. Dislike smartphones and hate touchscreens. 
Also I have a landline that I never answer and hardly make any calls from.


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## Guest (Feb 17, 2018)

I have an iPhone 8. It's fine, but as someone recently wrote, "We need dumber phones and smarter people."


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

For many years already I've got the Nokia flagship '808 Pureview' from 2012. Mostly used as a nice high quality photo camera. For my wife we recently ordered the Nokia flagship 'Lumia 1020' from 2013 (138 Euro, 2nd hand). This Nokia features Windows 10. Again, the photo camera is the magic plus.


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