Who Needs Wireless?

Just Wireless News ^ | 08/08/2009 | Skip James

[Island Girl]

Is there a Luddite ping list on FR that I hadn’t heard of?

Eleven years ago I got my teen daughter and myself cellphones after she suffered her 1st kidney stone attack. I decided I needed to be completely reachable for her.

When my kids were in college our phones kept us in touch and missing them was bearable. They’re still thousands of miles away and we talk all the time. I got my husband a phone and made him learn how to use it. When we go to Costco he has a habit of getting lost and with our phones I can track him down. Can’t imagine life without my iPhone.

[Defiant]

Well, you're a little older than I am, but age is not important. Only the ability to adapt and learn. My grandmother, who is nearing 90 now, got a computer about 10 years ago, and she took to it like a kid. She was able to connect and reconnect with people via email, and she learned how to keep track of her accounts and to use programs to keep her genealogy research and to write and print out letters and all that stuff. I think it kept her sharp, and definitely made her life more enjoyable.

Funny, but while I was typing this the Verizon ad with the parents typing away on their phones while the kids complain about it came on. LOL.

So, anyway, I don't really think it is an age thing, except I do think that below a certain age (25 or 30) the use of cell phones constantly and without thought or effort is pretty much 100 percent, and as they age, old farts who wish to eliminate such infernal devices will become extinct.

[Defiant]

You bring to mind another issue, which is the ease with which we communicate with anyone anywhere in the world. In the bad old days of ATT monopoly, calling someone in the next county was an expensive proposition, forget about calling New York, or another country. Cell Phones, combined with cheap network technology, have made communication cheap, in addition to being easy. Long distance charges are pretty much a thing of the past, as most cell phone plans include free long distance. So you can pick up a phone and call someone with nary a thought that you have to keep it short.

[KevinDavis]

I got rid of my land line... Just have cell..

[freedommom]

They can track you when you use a cellphone.
Use a computer and they keep tabs where you go.
The digital converter box’s are hooked into phone lines
so who knows.
If your state has a chip in your drivers license they can
track you at red light cameras.

Technology is not free

[r9etb]

Two points, Skip.

1. You either need to hire an editor or buy a good spell-checker.

2. You win the Blog Pimp award for today.

[Defiant]

Is there a Luddite ping list on FR that I hadn’t heard of?

LOL.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

I am dependent on my cell phone for almost all communication and tell people if they want to reach me, to call me on my cell phone. I do not answer the house phone and only have it because of the internet.

The cell phone is a huge time saver. Many times it rings while in my car. I never talk on it in city driving and I also use a head set. I love it.

[Richard Kimball]

Is anyone who posted on this thread less than 85 years old? Cause it sure doesn’t seem like it.

No kidding. I was reading through the comments wondering if there's a "Hey you kids, get off my lawn!" ping list.

[MissDairyGoodnessVT]

now that’s a pretty good deal and you’ve got all those minutes after 3 yrs.

I have a landline,for which I pay 15.00 a mo for w/no voice mail. I’m very happy with that . I used to have a cell phone but it just didn’t fit my lifestyle.

I’m looking around for a WORKING 1980’s style desktop pushbutton phone if anyone has one and wants to get rid of it contact me.

[Richard Kimball]

The story is told that Alexander Graham Bell absolutely refused to have a phone in his house.

Einstein felt the same way about his H-Bomb.

[Defiant]

I'd love to have one you could plug into a full-size monitor, keyboard, and mouse

It's coming.

[Richard Kimball]

Haven't posted yet, but I concur with many, and I'm 42.
Been in IT professionally for 20 years.

That makes you 87 in human years.

[Defiant]

I was reading through the comments wondering if there's a "Hey you kids, get off my lawn!" ping list.

LOL. Add me to that list if it's about kids who run across your lawn, because that drives me nuts.

[Marie2]

If you just have a land line for internet, ask the phone company for a “dry loop” instead. That’s for internet only, and it’s cheaper than a land line.

[vpintheak]

Same here. It is handy at times, I cannot understand how people can be on them constantly.

[vpintheak]

I am somewhere significantly younger than that. Cells have their uses, but crap people need to get a life and return to actual face to face conversations. I love computers and use some top of the line CAD software, I am no luddite.

[Defiant]

How is coverage in Alaska?

[Island Girl]

My son was just here for a week’s visit. The face-to-face conversation was great. We talked Tech and installed Ubuntu on the old computer. Good times. But he’s back on the mainland now, and we can still talk on the cell whenever we like. I’m so grateful to have children that want to talk with their parents!

Back in the Day, my future husband and I were dating long distance. Even in 1978 dollars, the money we spent on landline phone calls could buy my whole family iPhones.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

Thanks, I’ve never heard of a dry loop.