katyjay 5,091 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 When I bought my Blackberry, I thought about the 30-year business I ran with 1800 employees, all without a cell phone that plays music, takes videos, pictures and communicates with Facebook and Twitter. I signed up under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses, 13 grand kids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space. That was before one of my grandkids hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree, Twhirl, Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twittererific Tweetdeck, Twitpix and something that sends every message to my cell phone and every other program within the texting World. My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything except the bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag. The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost every now and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that in a box under my tool bench with the Bluetooth [it's red] phone I am supposed to use when I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife and everyone in the nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. I had to take my hearing aid out to use it, and I got a little loud. I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside that gadget was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time. Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, "Re-calc-u-lating." You would think that she could be nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next light. Then if I made a right turn instead. Well, it was not a good relationship. When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the cross streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPS lady, at least she loves me. To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our house. We have had them for 4 years, but I still haven't figured out how I can lose three phones all at once and have to run around digging under chair cushions and checking bathrooms and the dirty laundry baskets when the phone rings. The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on something themselves but this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I check out just knocks me for a loop. I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused, but I never remember to take them with me. Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me, "Paper or Plastic?" I just say, "Doesn't matter to me. I am bi-sacksual." Then it's their turn to stare at me with a blank look. I was recently asked if I tweet. I answered, No, but I do fart a lot." Us senior citizens don't need anymore gadgets. The TV remote and the garage door remote are about all we can handle. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Braddy 160 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 It's the same with mobile phone shops, me and the missus went to buy new ones, just pay as you go ones, in the shop they want to sell you fancy ones all singing and dancing phones, you tell them your not interested in them they look at you gone out .Then they are not interested in you because you are buying a cheap phone, we then walked out off the shops.Still got no new mobile phones yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Had my fobile mone(pay as you go) for five years it came with £10 worth of credit since then I have topped it up twice @ £10 a time I still have about £3 left.. All it does is make calls & send messages (plenty for me). "IF" & when I need a new on I will get one much the same as the old one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 That was funny Kath...... I'm lucky, I live in a cell phone dead zone, so have no use for them... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MELTONSTILTON 452 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 What is a mobile phone? here we have no signal what so ever, it is only when we go down into the valley we an get a weak signal, and that is on a good day, so I do not have a mobile at all. My wife has one for when she is out to work or shopping, it does almost everything apart from wash the dishes, but if she wants to contact me it is the good old land line n° she has to dial. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 We have two masts at the end of the street signal GOOD! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Meltonstilton asks: "What is a mobile phone?" @ #5. Does he really want to know? 'cos innocence is Bliss. PS: Meltonstilton, could you tell us a little bit about the area of France that you live in, s'il vous plait? Signed: Francophile. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 It was always thought it was ignorance is bliss. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
.... 23 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Absolutely love the stuff my mobile can do and find it invaluable. Also a very necessary piece of kit for some of the work I do which would be impossible otherwise. I don't think of it as a phone so much as a pocket computer. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Bubblewrap I had no intention of quoting a saying; as far as I'm concerned my chosen word was used in its right context. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Limey 242 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 I'm with Stu - I have a Samsung Galaxy and I love it! Odd thing is, I probably use it the least as an actual phone - mostly for e-mail, finding cheap petrol (gas), doing my banking, playing games (words with friends), and getting the weather forecast! When on a road trip, I use it to stream BBC Radio 2, or any one of thousands of other radio stations, or use it to play my music collection! Amazing that all those LP's fit in the palm of my hand and the fidelity is far superior to any record player I ever owned! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
.... 23 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 That sounds a great phone, Eric. I have similar - an HTC Desire HD which does pretty similar. Both are the top contenders for iphone supremacy I believe. Like you I rarely make calls but I do use it to communicate in other ways. I find it really useful to collect emails when I'm away from the laptop or desktop computers. I wouldn't want to be without it. Some of the things I've used it for, apart from texting and phoning: GPS mapping Local weather forecast Up to date traffic information Camera/Camcorder Calendar function Storing bus/rail timetables FM radio MP3 player Storing Microsoft Word and Excel documents Expense account function Accessing my blog Kindle ebook reader A torch! Finding cheap offers on meals YouTube videos Alarm clock Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,468 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 GPS mapping Local weather forecast Up to date traffic information Camera/Camcorder Calendar function Storing bus/rail timetables FM radio MP3 player Storing Microsoft Word and Excel documents Expense account function Accessing my blog Kindle ebook reader A torch! Finding cheap offers on meals YouTube videos Alarm clock So why do people still call it a phone ??? Somebody needs to invent a new name for these things Quote Link to post Share on other sites
.... 23 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Remember when electronic 'personal organisers' were the things a few years ago k? I think that gets much closer to it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 So why do people still call it a phone ??? Somebody needs to invent a new name for these things Filofax..................... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paulus 541 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Pooter-Fone........................ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MELTONSTILTON 452 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 Meltonstilton asks: "What is a mobile phone?" @ #5. Does he really want to know? 'cos innocence is Bliss. PS: Meltonstilton, could you tell us a little bit about the area of France that you live in, s'il vous plait? Signed: Francophile. I live in a village called Bois-de-Champ, in an area called the Vosges, which is in north/ east France, it is called a mountainous area but they are only 650 m above sea leve,l the mountains are not the rocky sort but big round hills, coverd in pine trees, so forestry is the main industry for miles around, in the summer it is not too hot , but in winter it is very cold with lots of snow............I have put a marker on the member map so you can have a see where I live, it is the house below the marker................... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
.... 23 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 So why do people still call it a phone ??? Most people call them mobiles. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ayupmeducks 1,730 Posted November 4, 2012 Report Share Posted November 4, 2012 And here we are in my hobby still messing with Morse Code... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,468 Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Most people call them mobiles. I think it depends where you live! They are always referred to as "mobiles" in the UK, but most people in the States seem to use the phrase "cell phone". Maybe some of them over there use "mobile", but I've never heard anybody in this country use "cell phone". Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jackson 301 Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Meltonstilton, thanks for getting back to me; I intend taking a look at your French village on Google. Many thanks again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
.... 23 Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 I think it depends where you live! They are always referred to as "mobiles" in the UK, but most people in the States seem to use the phrase "cell phone". Another interesting thing I found, on my many visits to Canada (I assume the US may have been similar) is that mobile phone usage was much less than in the UK as far as I could see. Maybe something to do with covering the greater distances with networks, I'm not sure. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Limey 242 Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Stu - some of that is due to the way the phones are paid for. Over here most are on a two year contract that has limits on usage. If the limits are exceeded, the cost goes up pretty steeply! One difference I noticed in England was that people are a little more polite about phone use. Most noticeable is they will move out of earshot when on a call, here they just talk louder! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
StephenFord 866 Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 ...and don't get me started about mobile phones on trains! At least we seem to have got past the novelty stage, where every conversation started, "I'm on a train..." Well, myself and a few travelling companions struck a blow at that after a while, by cheering whenever we heard the phrase! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
.... 23 Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Haha! very good Steven! Similarly, I always keep my eyes open for the immortal: I'M ON THE BUS! ( or 'in Sainsburys/Tesco/Asda' etc). Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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