Meh. I went five year without a cell phone and I was fine. Part of this is being clever, thinking ahead, and keeping a cool head.Originally Posted by Tradd
Another part is herd immunity, as 99.08% of the population has one.
Back in 2014, shortly after I got rid of my smart phone I was walking through the grocery. A dude collapsed with a heart attack. Within 30 seconds I found an RN to attend to him and another person with a smart phone to call 911.
I use my iPhone 8 Plus to listen to radio over the internet constantly. Most often it's at work where we can't stream audio on our computers and regular radios don't work due to electrical interference from the computers. I listen to either a local station or BBC Radio online.
Go driving through some really rural area, have a breakdown, and you'll wish you had one.
And really, relying on someone else to have a phone when you can't be bothered?
I successfully went about 45 years without a cell phone, which included multiple coast to coast road trips and several years hanging out in Alaska. It never occurred to me that doing without personal instant communication devices required being clever, thinking ahead or keeping a cool head, although I do recall lusting after Dick Tracy's cool two way wrist radio. Now that I have a smartphone I think Mr Tracy could only dream about something this cool.
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein
Incorrect comment based on my experiences. Do you only travel based on your coverage map? Is the map accurate? Are they changing the system? (2g, to 3g, to 4g, etc)
Out in the country where my relative lives, my phone becomes a brick, even though the map says there is coverage.
Really rural areas, are not likely to have good phone service, at all. Boss, lives in another area, and home phone was so unreliable he got a cell, and that only is partially better. (have to drive away from the house)
We are in the country. Depending on I'm not sure what, sometimes we have a signal, sometimes not.
That said, as a woman who is frequently traveling alone on country roads, i would not give up my phone. My smart phone? Maybe. But I would NOT give up my phone. I got stranded the first year we were here. A lady state cop stayed with me and said, "Don't worry, we won't leave you." It was the first time it occurred to me that I could FREEZE to death waiting for a tow truck. My car had died on a noncommercial roadway. Someone from a nearby house nicely let me use their phone. Without it I would have gotten real cold. My car just quit and wouldn't start again. There were no businesses nearby or civic buildings. There was a small side road with some homes on it.
Also, I'd like to add something which may not have occurred to folks. I traveled to L.A. to go to a funeral. I woman who'd been a friend of ours in high school got mad at me (hasn't talked to me since mad) because I hadn't responded to her message. She lives in L.A. I didn't get the message until I was 1/2 way home, 3 days later. If you live in the city/suburbia and are used to a certain level of services, they may not be the same if someone visits you from elsewhere. Or, if someone lives elsewhere, their services may not be as fancy or quick!
I haven't been on the forum in a while - my at home parenting days are over, and I've been busy at work - but passing by, I thought I would add to this discussion, (though others may have noted the same thing somewhere in the thread). While I have been trying to distance myself from Google, (using Duck Duck Go for searches, for example, and ProtonMail for mail), I do have a Google Fi phone for a phone - long story that I won't go into here.
The thing that I really like about it is the "Pause Service" button. Generally, I only use a cell phone when I am traveling. At home, I'm never far from my home phone or my work phone. I'm usually on a bicycle, so if I get a flat or something, I only have to throw it on the city bus to get home. I've never found I really needed a phone day to day, but it is nice - though I'd argue not necessary - to have when you are traveling to another city or another country.
Why pay for a phone when you're not traveling? It always bugged me, that monthly cell phone bill.
Now, when I'm not traveling, which is most of the time, I keep the cell service paused, and I'm not charged for it. The phone usually sits by the kitchen radio, where it's plugged into the aux port, so I can listen to podcasts or stream music while I'm in the kitchen - none of which requires cell service.
I don't like Google. I don't like businesses collecting and selling data regarding my habits, but I'm willing to compromise in this one area, so I can have cell service - and a consistent cell number - when I need it but not pay for it when I don't.
I mostly hate the cost of them,but. I read a few news threads on mine. I use the camera, calculator, read e-mails and GPS. We have ours thru Boost Mobile. It's 25$ a line and we have 4 lines. The Wife and kids have I phones. Mine is a Moto E4 plus. Thru Boost mine cost 28$. I bought it because It had a good price, a good camera and good battery life. My family all says how great there phones are while they are constantly charging and having phones die on them. I charge mine once a night and depending on usage, mine could last 2 days. I've considered having a digital fast and think it would be good. But I'm not there yet. In fact I probably need to do it once a week, but I too have drank the cool aid.
Thanks for the info on Boost. I'm "investigating" other cell phone options at the moment. Best deal I could find that fits two users is Consumer Cellular for $55/month for two lines - unlimited text, phone and 10G data. If we could manage it and then ditch the landline, we could afford it with little increase a month. I will look into Boost. Thanks, again!
To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer." Mahatma Gandhi
Be nice whenever possible. It's always possible. HH Dalai Lama
In a world where you can be anything - be kind. Unknown
If you are not already aware, Boost is a Sprint brand, will require a phone on Sprint's approved list, and will offer service only where Sprint prepaid offers service. That may be excellent where you live, work, and want cellular service -- or it may not be.
Consumer Cellular offers service through either T-Mobile or AT&T. In both cases that coverage is not quite as good as regular postpaid T-Mobile or AT&T service, but it's better than the prepaid coverage offered by either carrier. CC defaults to offering T-Mobile service, but you can get AT&T service by asking for it, so if one is markedly better where you will want service, specify that one. If you're in Target buying the SIM, CC affixes a T or an A to the model number to indicate the carrier.
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington
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