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Thoughts on cell phones


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My wife and I just got the 6.  If I had my way, I wouldn't have one at all.  I only have it because she's disabled and may need to contact me, otherwise I don't see the big need for them.  I do see people looking at them way to much and get lost in it, not seeing what's around them.

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I have used the i-Phone since 2008. I think it has an edge over Android in overall ease-of-use, responsiveness, polish and availability of apps. 

If your primary complaint is the navigation app, I suggest you switch to Waze. Everyone I know use Waze, either on iOS or Android. It is light years ahead of any other navigation app in my opinion.

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10 minutes ago, Slartibartfast said:

I'm old-school and insist on using the wetware app Sense of Direction with the associated applet Preparation Before Travel.  When I bought a new car in 2011 I specifically ask for non-Nav.  I don't think I'm any worse than the popular nav apps.

 

I sometimes try those but I found out that they are incompatible with the female wetware Why Don't You Look It Up On Your Cellphone and We Are Going To Be Late Dammit What Is Wrong With You applets.  

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On ‎18‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 6:21 AM, 11bee said:

Can't really disagree with you on this.  For every plus they bring into our lives, they take something away.   My little one plays girl's 5-year old soccer.   Absolutely disgusting how many parents attend the games and do nothing but f-with their phones the entire time.   I've seen so many kids pull off what they think is a great play, look up get praise from mommy and daddy and find that they never even saw it because they were doing something really important like updating their status on FB.   Sad....

 

 



You know I was at my daughter's swimming lessons awhile back and looked around and thought the same thing. Then I thought about my own lessons in the same pool thirty years previously and realised I was BS'ing myself. Back then everyone was reading the evening paper or a magazine or gossiping and paying about the same amount of attention :)
 

Edited by Mumbles
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On ‎18‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 5:52 AM, breadneck said:

My life is so much better without a smartphone. I never could stand any of these modern mumbojumbo gadgets. I have a Nokia 6220 and it works great

for texting and the occasional call. I absolutely despise how these technological mediums have been embraced by so many and is a source for people to

stop interacting/socializing with eachother not to mention between familymembers. I repeat, absolutely despise smartphones and what they take away from your life.  

 

  



You know there is a middle ground right?

About the biggest thing I use my personal smartphone for is texting or messaging to enable in person socialising or activity, or for socialising with those same people on-line.

I have a work smartphone and a personal one, and they make running both aspects of my life a lot easier, since I am mobile a lot in both. They don't do anything I didn't used to do the old fashioned way, they just save a tonne of faff, and in emergencies or disasters (like say the recent earthquakes we have been having in NZ)  they are incredibly useful.

Smartphones are tools, nothing more.

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21 hours ago, Mumbles said:



You know there is a middle ground right?

About the biggest thing I use my personal smartphone for is texting or messaging to enable in person socialising or activity, or for socialising with those same people on-line.

I have a work smartphone and a personal one, and they make running both aspects of my life a lot easier, since I am mobile a lot in both. They don't do anything I didn't used to do the old fashioned way, they just save a tonne of faff, and in emergencies or disasters (like say the recent earthquakes we have been having in NZ)  they are incredibly useful.

Smartphones are tools, nothing more.

 

NO.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry2AubNq0Tg

 

Edited by breadneck
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I'm still happy with my folding brick (Samsung Rugby II)  Gotta say, I was impressed when I took an accidental swim in a lake and it was fine.    It does what I need it too, call, text and the occasional reference pic, though I do feel shamed in public to be using in front of people (especially at 35)...but every day I see the "walking dead" on my way to work where there are maybe 2 people for every dozen or so who are actually paying attention to the world around them...I don't want to be one of those people.

Edited by zerosystem
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24 minutes ago, zerosystem said:

 but every day I see the "walking dead" on my way to work where there are maybe 2 people for every dozen or so who are actually paying attention to the world around them...I don't want to be one of those people.

 

That actually leads to another semi-related point.   It seems that at least once a week, I have oncoming traffic cross into my lane.   The vast majority of time, I note the driver of the oncoming car has his / her (and it's pretty much 50-50 between guys and gals) head down, which tells me they are either having a stroke or are screwing with their phones.   So far, the oncoming driver has looked up soon enough and been able to get back into their lane before hitting me but I feel that at some point, my luck is going to run out.  

 

I hope if that happens, I at least manage to take the other SOB with me. 

 

 

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4 hours ago, 11bee said:

 

That actually leads to another semi-related point.   It seems that at least once a week, I have oncoming traffic cross into my lane.   The vast majority of time, I note the driver of the oncoming car has his / her (and it's pretty much 50-50 between guys and gals) head down, which tells me they are either having a stroke or are screwing with their phones.   So far, the oncoming driver has looked up soon enough and been able to get back into their lane before hitting me but I feel that at some point, my luck is going to run out.  

 

I hope if that happens, I at least manage to take the other SOB with me. 

 

 

 

Once a week ?  Most of my driving is on the freeway so I don't worry about oncoming traffic. I do however have same-way traffic drift in/out of my lane probably 6 to 8 times A DAY and it is ALWAYS someone staring down at a phone...   :(

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Yeah driving and texting/staring at cell phone screens and wandering around the lanes is nuts in my State too...and we have a hands free law! Its not just young people either but gramps and grans too. I guess whatever is on their phone is just THAT important.

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Years ago I had an iPhone 4 at work.  Upgraded to a Galaxy 5. Hated everything about it. Could not grasp the software and functions, just confused the crap out of me.  Switched back to an iPhone 6 and was back where I belonged.  Upgraded my personal cell from a flip to a 6S and love it even more. 

 

Only complaint is is the lying battery life meter.  Apple is pulling a trick from Volkswagen on this one. 

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On 20/12/2016 at 10:43 PM, Slartibartfast said:

I'm old-school and insist on using the wetware app Sense of Direction with the associated applet Preparation Before Travel.  When I bought a new car in 2011 I specifically ask for non-Nav.  I don't think I'm any worse than the popular nav apps.

 

On 20/12/2016 at 10:57 PM, KursadA said:

 

I sometimes try those but I found out that they are incompatible with the female wetware Why Don't You Look It Up On Your Cellphone and We Are Going To Be Late Dammit What Is Wrong With You applets.  

 

+1 on the wetware. The female wetware Navigator app provides integrated support - although it can be a bit slow to respond at times :)

 

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On 21/12/2016 at 0:23 AM, Mumbles said:


Smartphones are tools, nothing more.

 

True. But they are doing things to us:

 

Nutshell...

 

Regarding Navigation apps, a lot of musicians seem to be punting their own versions (and heeeere we go...). The Pink Floyd one is pants -just wishing you were somewhere doesn't cut it.  The Blondie one is my current pick; it's great at finding alternative routes: you can go one way...or another...

 

I'm sure there must be more out there. 

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On 12/21/2016 at 7:12 AM, breadneck said:

 

NO.

 

Yes. I enjoy using my mobile phone responsibly. I don't use it while driving and I sure as hell don't walk in dark cities oblivious to the world. (Especially cities im not allowed to be armed but thats another story) poor dear believeD the hype that it's safe. Lives in a city you can't carry a gun, because some genius with armed guards says she'll be fine. She believed him. Stupid. stupid. I'm sure she is getting an apology letter from the city right now. Just kidding they don't care.

 

Even without cell phones you have dreamy dumb bells who don't pay attention to the world around them. Like so many things from guns to alcohol to cars to medicine there are two sides.

 

When I pods were all the rage, people were popping both head phones In and again degrading their self and situational awareness. Lots of bus strikes.

 

Used responsibly, they make the world a smaller and more easier accessible place. Got a picture from a friend on the Iraqi border just yesterday. It was wonderful to see him and be able to keep in touch. Mobiles are a godsend to keeping In touch with close friends scattered all over the world in some scary places.

 

Society is generally soft. The Mobiles are just the cherry on top of the big bland soft dish. A lot of this stuff is confirmation bias:

 

Moron almost gets his by bus=Moron

 

Moron on cell phone not paying attention almost hit by bus = the cell phone! It's made him a Moron!

 

Good luck on your crusade though. It's been wonderful to watch some of these people remove themselves from the gene pool. 

 

Edited by TaiidanTomcat
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With age (I'm a day short of 79) comes the gift of institutional memory.  The changes I've seen in the American culture have been astonishing.  In my lifetime — I was born pre-TV — we have gone from being aware of what's happening in our immediate vicinity and knowing little or nothing about anything beyond that, to where we now know what's happening everywhere on Earth, as well as something of what's happening beyond Earth.

 

I witnessed some of the technological change at ground level.  In 1960, I went to work for Burroughs Corporation as a field engineer, a fancy title for office-machine repairman.  I toured Burroughs' Detroit factory when that pioneering company was still making mechanical adding and bookkeeping machines.  By 1973, when I left Burroughs, they had small computers in businesses, banks and military installations.  Thanks to the rapid development of solid-state devices, Burroughs progressed from making slow, mechanical, unreliable contraptions to making fast, quiet and reliable computers.  In the 1960s, transistors were a big deal.  Today, there are chips that contain billions of transistors.

 

Anyhow, I told you that so I can tell you this:  I have the ability to use cell phones, but I choose not to.  Years ago I realized what happened when people allowed cell phones to dominate their lives—the frustration when something doesn't work, the general neglect of things more important than talking about something inane with someone you barely know, the rudeness and disrespect for others that seems to come bundled with the phone.  Having grown up with "land lines," I also grew up with the quiet and privacy that came with being able to leave the vicinity of ringing telephones, and the demands of the callers.  Those who have never known the freedom of being "out of reach" are the poorer for technological "progress."

 

I'm no Luddite.  I use GPS, fish finders, the Internet, satellite TV, and I love my iMac, but mobile phones are a threat and an invasion of my space.  Sure, they're handy at times.  My wife has a simple one, far from being "smart."  If I had to, I could use it to make a 911 call.  Other than that, I have no use for one.  With luck, I never will.

 

And that's why whenever someone asks for cell-phone advice, I suggest throwing it away.  To date, I don't know of anyone who has taken my advice, but I truly believe that the world would be a better place without cell phones.

 

 

 

 

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37 minutes ago, Unglued said:

With age (I'm a day short of 79) comes the gift of institutional memory.  The changes I've seen in the American culture have been astonishing.  In my lifetime — I was born pre-TV — we have gone from being aware of what's happening in our immediate vicinity and knowing little or nothing about anything beyond that, to where we now know what's happening everywhere on Earth, as well as something of what's happening beyond Earth.

 

I witnessed some of the technological change at ground level.  In 1960, I went to work for Burroughs Corporation as a field engineer, a fancy title for office-machine repairman.  I toured Burroughs' Detroit factory when that pioneering company was still making mechanical adding and bookkeeping machines.  By 1973, when I left Burroughs, they had small computers in businesses, banks and military installations.  Thanks to the rapid development of solid-state devices, Burroughs progressed from making slow, mechanical, unreliable contraptions to making fast, quiet and reliable computers.  In the 1960s, transistors were a big deal.  Today, there are chips that contain billions of transistors.

 

Anyhow, I told you that so I can tell you this:  I have the ability to use cell phones, but I choose not to.  Years ago I realized what happened when people allowed cell phones to dominate their lives—the frustration when something doesn't work, the general neglect of things more important than talking about something inane with someone you barely know, the rudeness and disrespect for others that seems to come bundled with the phone.  Having grown up with "land lines," I also grew up with the quiet and privacy that came with being able to leave the vicinity of ringing telephones, and the demands of the callers.  Those who have never known the freedom of being "out of reach" are the poorer for technological "progress."

 

I'm no Luddite.  I use GPS, fish finders, the Internet, satellite TV, and I love my iMac, but mobile phones are a threat and an invasion of my space.  Sure, they're handy at times.  My wife has a simple one, far from being "smart."  If I had to, I could use it to make a 911 call.  Other than that, I have no use for one.  With luck, I never will.

 

And that's why whenever someone asks for cell-phone advice, I suggest throwing it away.  To date, I don't know of anyone who has taken my advice, but I truly believe that the world would be a better place without cell phones.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy birthday

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5 hours ago, Unglued said:

 And that's why whenever someone asks for cell-phone advice, I suggest throwing it away.  To date, I don't know of anyone who has taken my advice, but I truly believe that the world would be a better place without cell phones.

 

I tend to agree (to some extent) but each new generation finds these devices to be increasingly indispensable.  In some ways, they are becoming a substitute for human interaction.   My teen daughter went out with some friends a few months back and I stumbled upon them at a local coffee shop.   All four were sitting at a table, ignoring each other, staring at their phones.   I was in there for 5-10 minutes waiting for my coffee and not once did any of them look up or engage in conversation with each other.   When my daughter got home, I asked her what the point was of going out.  She could have saved the cost of an over-priced mocha-latte whatever and just stayed in her bedroom and texted her crew.  She laughed and accused me of being "old". 

 

To take this thread totally OT, I think a bigger threat to society is social media.   It allows people who would otherwise be considered pretty decent folk to totally fly off the handle and engage in some pretty despicable behavior.   Anyone who was on FB or another source during the recent election season probably knows what I am talking about.  

 

 

Edited by 11bee
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I've been using the iPhone since they came out and never had an issue until last week when I couldn't move one of my picture files from the iPhone 6+ with the latest updates over to my windows 10 pc. The other files aren't an issue its just the latest pictures and both apple and Microsoft says its the other's issue.

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1 hour ago, 11bee said:

   It allows people who would otherwise be considered pretty decent folk to totally fly off the handle and engage is some pretty despicable behavior.   Anyone who was on FB or another source during the recent election season probably knows what I am talking about.  

 

 

 

Amen brother!  My 17yo daughter was totally freaking out with the crap she was taking in on Twitter. I kept telling her to turn it off and ignore everything for at least two weeks. Ha!  That was funny.  A 17 yo without her social media for two weeks.  

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I didn't even get into texting, as even thinking about it increases my blood pressure.  In addition to gaming, Web surfing and TV watching, texting is yet another time-burner that prevents people from engaging in healthy outdoor activities.  It has been blamed for social unrest, cheating by students, vehicle accidents, the ousting of the president of the Philippines, the 2008 Chatsworth train collision (which killed 25 passengers), and a dramatic increase in the number of Darwin Award recipients, not that there's anything wrong with that.  Texting deserves credit for all that and more.

 

Regarding texting while driving, it scares the hell out of me knowing so many people do it.  Come to think of it, without FB and various forums, I wouldn't know it was so prevalent.  I was happier before I knew.  The worse case of this I've seen to date was one time when I was out for a walk, and waiting at a busy intersection for the light to change so I could cross the street.  When the light turned, I started walking.  A woman, looking down at her smart phone, blew the stop light and drove completely through the intersection without even looking up. She came within inches of hitting me.  These fools are out there, and multiplying, and there is no reward for getting killed or maimed by one of them.

 
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3 hours ago, 11bee said:

I tend to agree (to some extent) but each new generation finds these devices to be increasingly indispensable.  In some ways, they are becoming a substitute for human interaction.   My teen daughter went out with some friends a few months back and I stumbled upon them at a local coffee shop.   All four were sitting at a table, ignoring each other, staring at their phones.   I was in there for 5-10 minutes waiting for my coffee and not once did any of them look up or engage in conversation with each other.   When my daughter got home, I asked her what the point was of going out.  She could have saved the cost of an over-priced mocha-latte whatever and just stayed in her bedroom and texted her crew.  She laughed and accused me of being "old". 

 

To take this thread totally OT, I think a bigger threat to society is social media.   It allows people who would otherwise be considered pretty decent folk to totally fly off the handle and engage is some pretty despicable behavior.   Anyone who was on FB or another source during the recent election season probably knows what I am talking about.  

 

 

 

Why I don't Facebook.

 

 

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53 minutes ago, TaiidanTomcat said:

Why I don't Facebook.

 

Wut?  But how will your hundreds of virtual "friends" know what you ate for lunch, whether or not you finally got over that really nasty stomach bug, who you voted for, how much your boss sucks, etc, etc?  All this information is critical and needs to be shared with the masses.  How will you be able to get us hundreds of pictures of your kids and pets, along with the latest adorable memes you come across?  It's a brave new world out there TT, don't be afraid.  Just wade out into the interwebs and start sharing.

 

Very disappointing.   I give this post an "unlike".  

 

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1 hour ago, 11bee said:

Wut?  But how will your hundreds of virtual "friends" know what you ate for lunch, whether or not you finally got over that really nasty stomach bug, who you voted for, how much your boss sucks, etc, etc?  All this information is critical and needs to be shared with the masses.  How will you be able to get us hundreds of pictures of your kids and pets, along with the latest adorable memes you come across?  It's a brave new world out there TT, don't be afraid.  Just wade out into the interwebs and start sharing.

 

Very disappointing.   I give this post an "unlike".  

 

 

Facebook is just too weird. Even more bizarre when you know these "hyper interesting" people in real life and it doesn't match their online persona.

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