Sign of the times...

Bob

Well-known Member
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SOOOOO true, I've seen people bump into things or other people and even walk in front of traffic with eyes glued to their phone. I've seen teens at the mall walking side by side NOT talking to each other ONLY talking/texting (or whatever else they do) on phones. My neighbor got rear ended and car totaled by a teen who was texting and ran into them. It seems worse and more hazardous then drunk driving nowadays. Oh well I guess that's PROGRESS ?????????

John T Owns an old DUMB flip phone. If it rings I open it to talk and close to hang up. I don't text, I have this new technology where I can actually TALK to someone and NOT have to type IMAGINE THAT !!!!!!!
 
Check out the local family restaurant. Rather than the family enjoying each other's company, ALL have their faces stuffed in the epidemic.

I too have a flip top. With Consumer Cellular now. Phone was $30, new from them and 250 min per mo. is $15 (plus the scab govt fees of course). Can't beat a deal like that and endorsed by AARP. Not an AARP guy but to have that endorsement helps to understand that this company supports us seniors.
 
I don't think the inventors of the technology ever thought for a second that this might be the outcome.

As with any technology, it is the responsibility of the user to use it responsibly. Of course, the knee-jerk reaction is to blame the technology. (Sound familiar?)

Do you think there will ever be a large outcry to have smartphones banned because of the potential for abuse? Nope. Too much money involved.

You think a smartphone can't cause mass death? Wait'll the first busload of tourists or school kids swerves to miss a smartphone zombie and goes sailing down a ravine, or off a bridge. You won't hear one peep about grabbing everyone's smartphone.
 
John T, I have a $20 flip phone on ATT and I use it just like you do.
I told someone the other day that I have never texted and keep the phone in case I flip a tractor over and survive, I can call for help.
Richard, about as old fashioned as you can get.
 
Yep. Me too. I have a cell phone that stays in my truck. If you need me, I will call you! Reckon I use it about 5 or 6 times a year. And somehow I seem to survive quite well. Imagine that?
 
On the flip side, my smart phone is as handy as a Leatherman tool around the farm.

When you're fixin' something and you're not sure how it goes back together, pull out the smartphone and look up the parts diagram! I do it all the time. If I need parts I can find out how much it's going to cost to make the repair, and even order them.

Again, it's all about RESPONSIBLE USE. Again, SOUND FAMILIAR?
 
Yep, Have a flip phone. Pre- payed minutes ,if I don't use all of them the minimum I pay is $20 every 90 days. If my phone dies I can't keep the plan though.Eventually I will have to look for a different plan.
 
Saw where they are putting 'soft' barriers (big air bags?) around sidewalk lamp posts in Austria, to protect cell phone zombies fro hurting themselves!!! :roll:
I think sharp spikes would provide fewer repeat incidents.
 
this what I use. I gave up my original flipper as it did not have a keyboard. it has gotten to the point where my kids seldom (millennials for petes sake) acknowledge my emails so I have to text them.
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The trouble with science and technology is that the inventors fail to take human behavior and penchant for addiction in to the equation. Just because it can be done,does that mean it should be done?
 
I too only own a flip phone....Its usually only turned on and with me when I go more than 10 miles
from home..I dont text..I buy $100 worth of minutes on June 1st every year and when I renew a year
later theres always minutes left..We dont have long distance on our land line so I do make a few long
distance calls with it..
 

My flip phone died and I ended up with one of those new dumb phones, I'm to dumb to know how to use it.
It's big, bulky, had to get a case to put it in so not to break the screen, can't use it with gloves on and can't get it to work half the time with gloves off.
It does have texting but I hardly ever use it, unfortunately that's the only way to get hold of the kid's, they won't answer the phone.
I send them a simple text saying (Call me) and they do, couple of times they texted back but I wouldn't answer back so they called.

Texting does have one benefit, you can send a text in areas where you can't call, if I have problems and no cell service I can text the wife to have her bring parts, tools or the truck to pick me up.

Told everyone years ago I wasn't going to spend 5 minutes texting what would amount to a 30 second phone call.

I think they should make it a law that cell phones should automatically shut down when traveling over 5 mph.
 
See it frequently! Especially frightening when people are driving and texting!!

I do like smart phones though... A LOT. Can read YT on my lunch hour. LOL

Seriously, it does come in really handy if we are out and about and need to look up a phone number, an address, do a price-check at another store, or use the Google Maps to navigate in an unfamiliar town.

"In 1,000 feet... turn right"... came in pretty handy when our daughter and I were making a college visit.

Also love, love, LOVE the great camera in my phone. Some YTer told me a few years ago, to forget about buying a new digital camera and just buy a smartphone with a good quality camera (it was great advice - no longer have to carry a separate camera).

It's a 'puter' in my pocket and it's a good tool. One just needs to have a brain about using it at appropriate times... while walking/driving are NOT appropriate times.
 
We followed a car through town yesterday. The traffic signals were out of sinc, and we got stopped at almost every light. This person was so involved in their phone that they never knew when the light went green, until they finally noticed that the lanes on each side were moving without them. And in between lights, they had their head down, just glancing up occasionally to see how concerned they should be with the traffic. I'm not a horn blower, but it sure was tempting. I've always said that phones should be automatically disabled if they are moving, but that idea will never fly. Society wants to believe that we humans are smart enough to not use a phone while we are trying to drive, or at least that we're adept enough to do it safely. Some folks are adept and/or smart enough, but there's evidence that many of us are not. I'm afraid that I fall into the "are not" category, but I feel no need to prove it.
 
There is a proposed bill here in Ontario that will make crossing the street while using an electronic device illegal. The fine for first offences is $50 and 75 for repeat offenders. We have a law against talking on a cellphone or texting while driving or sitting at a light that is vigourously enforced. Police will ride city buses around here so they can look down into cars then radio to a patrol car to pull you over and ticket you.
 
I saw a news item a while back on the situation in Holland. At busy intersections with a lot of pedestrian traffic, etc, the Walk/Wait displays are also at curb level or into the pavement. That way those who are glued to their phones are able to cross more safely because they might see the signal. A Google search will give you more info and photos on how this all works. One link is below here ....
Crossing the Street for Dummies
 
That's where I was until my son got a phone at around age 16 (paid for himself, tracfone at first which I paid for 10 minutes he had to save for me to find him...)

Now that he's out on his own I send him texts as he rarely answers the phone. I still don't carry it on my, but it's in my jacket pocket now. I check it first thing when leaving the house in the morning and as I leave work (unless I'm in the middle of a "conversation", then I set it on my desk and check it more often).

We're closer than we would be if I didn't text. Thanksgiving invite was an exchange of texts, allowing him to check with girlfriend, etc, instead of having to answer on the spot. I wasn't a fan at first, but it's got its place (if used responsibly).
 
I made my first call this year on my cell phone about a month ago. Worked great. Then last week I was going out to the farm and a man was walking along the side of the road. I stopped and asked if all was well. He said, I laid my cell phone of top of the car, forgot , drove off. I think it is right along here in the grass. Asked if I had a phone, I said yes. Took me a while to dig it out and turn it on. Gave it to him to call his phone. Could not locate it . He hands it back and I said, call again, I have a ton of minutes I will never use. He called several times while walking down the road, no results. Well, got some use out of it even if it didn't do any good. I still glance to see if a phone is laying along there some place.

Kids all went to cell phones, cut off land lines. I won't call them unless dire emergency as I tell them I don't want you answering a dam phone in an in appropriate place. I do not text. I do that here on my keyboard.
 
About 4 years ago my son drove his grandmother to the drugstore to pick up some prescriptions. While he was waiting, he saw someone intent on her phone walk straight into a display of sunglasses. He said he started laughing, but she didn't think it was all that funny.
 
I turn my flip phone to vibrate only, just before church on Sunday morning. Usually forget to turn it back to ring for a couple of days. One week it was on vibrate till Thursday.
 
If there were to be such a law as disabling phones when moving over 5 mph, that would disable the phones of the passengers, bus riders, train riders, airline passengers, and probably a few that I did not think of.

Be careful what you wish for. You might not like the results. And remember, that would also apply to you.
 
(quoted from post at 20:46:36 11/17/17) If there were to be such a law as disabling phones when moving over 5 mph, that would disable the phones of the passengers, bus riders, train riders, airline passengers, and probably a few that I did not think of.

Be careful what you wish for. You might not like the results. And remember, that would also apply to you.

I wouldn't have a problem with that, I hardly ever make a call while driving, don't like answering the phone while traveling and won't look at a text until I've stopped somewhere.
People riding in a bus, train or plane might look out the window and see a interesting sight and might possibly talk to someone next to them again.

Nothing dumber to me than two people setting side by side texting each other and not saying a word.
 
Cell phone use can be restricted in moving vehicles. The problem is there is not enough interest or public support in doing it. The geeks invented data communication technologies, they could easily figure out ways to restrict it.
 

I have an I phone, and it saves me time and makes me more productive every day. Our rural small town Fire Dept makes great use of them to help extend limited resources. My grandfather resisted getting a tractor until my uncle took the farm over. After all, it was known that they would actually kill people!!! Why would anyone in their right mind have one on the farm??? There have always been people who resist change and there always will be. No big deal.
 
I was one of the late bloomers and one of the last with a land line. Pathetic thing about land lines, Verizon spent a ton of money on upgrading our service out here with Fiber Optic lines. Wasn't but a couple of years and next to nobody had a land line account. Buttttt they made their money back with the fancy phones.
 

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