August 21, 2004
RETIRING THE TITLE AS AMERICA'S BEST COLUMNIST:
Staying Out Of Cell Hell (Robert J. Samuelson, August 18, 2004, Washington Post)
Someday soon I may be the last man in the United States without a cell phone. To those who see cell phones as progress, I say: They aggravate noise pollution and threaten our solitude. The central idea of cell phones is that you should be connected to almost everyone and everything at all times. The trouble is that cell phones assault your peace of mind no matter what you do. If you turn them off, why have one? You just irritate anyone who might call. If they're on and no one calls, you're irrelevant, unloved or both. If everyone calls, you're a basket case.Posted by Orrin Judd at August 21, 2004 10:26 AMI'm a dropout and aim to stay that way.
This is where being hard of hearing has its advantages. :) Not only do you never have to bother with cell phones, you can turn off your hearing aids and enjoy blessed science when people get too loud and irksome.
Posted by: Joe at August 21, 2004 10:31 AMMine is almost exclusively used for outgoing calls...
Posted by: mike earl at August 21, 2004 11:30 AMThus, the voice of someone who is too quick to judge. I like my cell phone. It is combined with one number, the only number I give out, which calls me wherever I want, and will give me the option of ignoring it (when it takes a message, and pages me with the number and length of message), listening to the id of who called and either accepting or sending to voicemail.
The cell phone, because it is silent when I want and loud when I'm willing, allows me total control over calls. And I don't miss the call from my spouse, which is more important than whatever else I'm doing.
If you adopt the cell phone like an ordinary telephone, you deserve the interruptions you get. If you use it intelligently, it's a good tool, among others, for keeping in contact.
Posted by: Arnold Williams at August 21, 2004 1:05 PM"The central idea of cell phones is that you should be connected to almost everyone and everything at all times."
For the uber-extroverted executive/managerial/marketing class, this is their idea of nirvana. To the introverts among us (like me), this is the 6th level of the Inferno. I have a cell phone, but use it almost exclusively for the free long distance calls on evenings and weekends.
Posted by: Robert Duquette at August 21, 2004 2:09 PMReminds me of the Maine storekeeper who was the last one in town to get one of those newfangled telephones. When a long-time friend and customer heard it ringing, and the storekeeper continued their conversation, the customer finally asked if the storekeeper was going to answer it. The reply: "I put it in for my convenience, not theirs."
My cell-phone is only on if I am making a call or expecting one. And I plan to keep it that way.