Giving up your phone

Agreed. A smartphone still isn't cheap. I have a limited data plan, my wife has unlimited, and our bill is $150 a month. I know others pay a lot more. And that's not even taking into account the initial investment of several hundred dollars. It is a wise investment, though, considering everything you get in the deal. Even for people on limited incomes, it's a good use of money if the phone is used wisely.
And a regular "dumb" cellphone (if you can find one anymore) is no longer a luxury. You can get a cheap plan for what you'd pay for a land line at home, and no one would call a home phone a luxury.

 

I don't know what I loathe more, that cell phones were invented or my own attachment to mine. There is no putting the genie back in the bottle.

 

When I moved to LA, the cable company offered me a "deal" on bundled services, I have my own internet, I didn't need a home phone. So I pay just for the cable.

I thought about the home phone thing.

I would have done DirecTV, but I want my TV to work if the weather is bad.

This is pretty much the way I feel. I don't wanna be so attached to something.

 

I start to panic if I don't have my phone near me, which dates back to my days as a journalist when I knew I would have to be ready to chase down whatever story was happening on a moment's notice... Usually it was something super important like the team signing a fourth tight end who would be on the roster for three weeks tops that would take me away from the family dinner...

I don't really have a problem not using my phone, but I sure feel better having it with me.

 

I'm pulled into this thread like Superman to kryptonite ...

I don't have a cell phone. Never have. Still don't. And while I understand the pluses many of you have mentioned, allow me to mention a few of the benefits of NOT having one:

1. You are always "in the moment" (even if, admittedly, many of my "moments" are boring things like bike rides, walking the dogs, yardwork, listening to music, hanging out with the wife/kids).

2. I'm 41 years old ("an old 41," as I like to tell people), married with 14 and 12 year old kids, and I work as a copy editor at a 20K daily newspaper. There is NEVER something I need to know that instant, from a device in my pocket. I have a landline and computer both at home and at work. It's easy to reach me either place.

3. Sometimes you don't want to be reached by anybody. When I'm out alone with my wife, or when I go biking/hiking by myself (both a rare luxury, but something I still enjoy once in a while), I don't want a cell phone on me. Emergency situations? I've handled them before, and I don't get THAT far away from civilization.

4. Last but not least: Monthly cell phone bill = $0.

Obviously I've used cell phones before. My wife and 14-year-old son both have them (one uses it a lot more than the other, as you might guess). The soon-to-be 12-year-old daughter wants one for her birthday, but also occasionally remarks how her friends will be enthralled by their device and ignore their friends who are actually physically present around them. She's a chip off the old block sometimes.

Anyway ... Bodie, you should judge how much importance/use you get out of your cell phone versus how much you pay for it, and make the choice that's right for you.

-- One fossil's opinion

 

I think about the emergency thing, but, in reality how many emergencies does one person have in their life where someone has to be able to get in touch with them now?

My gramma goes into the hospital at least once every two months, I guess it's an emergency but my mom knows if she called me right away, I'd freak out, leave work and hop on a plane. So she waits until she has all the info then she emails or calls me.

I can count the number of actual "emergencies" I have been a part of in my life on one hand.

 

Responses to this topic/question on here are always fascinating. And confusing.

 

Don't be passive/aggressive, come out and say it.

 

What it comes down to is that people don't trust their self-control. No shame in that, really. Same thing as people choosing not to keep junk food around.

 

Self-control is absolutely an issue, something I struggled with when I first got the iPhone. You have to set your boundaries. You can turn the phone on silent and not even know it's there if you want to go to a movie or out on a hike, etc.

It helps that my company foots nearly the entire bill as well. I might feel differently if I was shelling out a ton for a data plan. Then again, my last dumb phone was costing me $70 a month, so there's that.

 

whut?

Lived in SoCal for six years. Never once did my DirecTV go out, for any reason. Or any other system for weather-related reasons, for that matter.

 

Even when it's windy?

We had DirecTV in Vegas and any time the wind kicked up, it didn't work. It was even worse in NYC, little bit of rain, no TV.