You know, generally speaking, I like technology. I really do. I’m not sure how I’d get along without a computer and internet access, but I know I wouldn’t like it very much, at least not until I had gone through a long and potentially painful withdrawal period. However, there are some technologies and gadgets that I’m not too fond of. In particular, I think the whole cellphone “thing” has gotten out of hand. Way out of hand.
There is, of course, nothing wrong with the idea of cellphones. They can be quite handy, and I’ll readily admit it. I have a Tracfone, one of those pay-as-you-go cellphones, which I occasionally put minutes on, particularly when we’re going out of town. However, I’m a bit shocked with just how many people have cellphones, and perhaps more importantly, how much the gadgets are stuck to their ears. It doesn’t seem to matter where I go – the university, out to eat, to the grocery store – some people can’t seem to do anything without a cellphone glued to the side of their head.
I can understand businessmen and women needing to be available at any time; say, CEOs and other “important” folk. I’m sure there are plenty of other professions that require such constant availability, too. But I refuse to believe, for example, that half of my fellow university students are secret millionaires who must monitor their business around the clock, regardless of what they’re doing at the time. They take calls during class, they text message in class. They’re on the phone (or texting) while walking to and from class. They’re on the phone (or, amazingly, texting!) while driving. A few of them have moved up to not even needing to hold their phones; they have those little Bluetooth-powered earphones, so they can take that extremely important phonecall at a moment’s notice. After all, who knows when you’ll need to take a call and not have time to pull the phone out of its holder? And anyway, having a Bluetooth earphone latched onto your ear all day, whether you’re using it or not, holds a message: look at me, please33!
To all of that, I have to ask: don’t these people get tired of being available around the clock? Don’t they get to the point where they just want to turn the little handheld slavemaster off, and go do something in peace and quiet? Do they ever think that maybe they should turn the phone off and pay attention to the human beings all around them? I’ll often walk by the university cafeteria and take a peak in, and while it isn’t always the case, quite often I’ve seen a peculiar sight: a cafeteria full of people, most of them sitting by themselves at their table, all of them eating and talking on a cellphone. All together in the same room, but essentially alone besides the person that’s on the other end of the phone. Strange.
As I said, I don’t have a problem with cellphones per se. Rather, I have a bit of a problem with how people use them. At times, it looks as if the people are being used by the cellphones instead of the other way around. In many situations in which face-to-face interactions should take precedence over a (usually relatively unimportant) phonecall, the reality is, the phonecall wins almost everytime. I wrote before about one of my classmates texting throughout a class, and unfortunately, that and taking phonecalls mid-lecture are extremely common. What is it these people are talking about that it can’t wait until a 50 minute class is over?
I suppose that, if you get right down to it, I just wish that people would use common sense with the things, and show a little more respect for other people. Being in mid-conversation with someone and them taking a phonecall to talk about last night’s football game or something similar… well, to me, there’s something wrong with that. There’s something wrong with so many university students thinking it’s perfectly normal to interrupt a class repeatedly so they can take that call about tonight’s forthcoming drinking binge.
For those who are expecting important phonecalls, fine; leave them on, but set them to vibrate33, please. For those who aren’t expecting any important phonecalls – their wife isn’t pregnant and due to give birth at any moment, their father isn’t in the hospital, they’re not waiting on that billion dollar contract to be finalized – I wish they’d consider turning the ringing taskmaster off for a while. It wouldn’t hurt them to go through a class without texting or to have a phoneless meal with their spouse. It really wouldn’t. Those of us around them would appreciate it; at least I would, anyway!
Some people need to remember that they own the phones. Somewhere along the line, the relationship seems to have been turned on its head.3
- If you’re one of the folks who uses the Bluetooth headsets, my apologies – but I really do think they look absurd, particularly when they’re not in use. They make me feel like I’ve fallen into a science fiction movie – which, I suppose, could be interesting, but with fewer Bluetooth headsets and more Wookies.333
- I commend those who set their phones to vibrate when they’re going to be doing something that they don’t want to interrupt. However, it seems to be a common thing to set the phone to vibrate, and then set it on the table / desk they’re at. As one of my professors commented at the beginning of the spring semester, this is a bad idea; a vibrating phone on a hard surface sounds a bit like machine gun fire.
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Tags: All Entries, cellphones, people, society, Technology
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My husband is one of those who always use bluetooth headsets; He uses his cellphone to listen to podcasts, and walks around the house acting like a lunatic: laughing at what to us seems like nothing.
In Norway even kids (9 – 10 and up) have cellphones, so I’m trying to get used to it, even if I’m one of those that misplace mine all the time. I really don’t want to be available all the time.
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Too true. I’m glad to hear there are others that hate cell phones.
I sometimes daydream of a world without cell phones. I grew up in a computer-filled world and I sometimes think that it may have robbed me of learning some skills and abilities (discipline to remember spelling for example). I often think then how the cellphone-filled world will rear the next generation, what will they perhaps be missing if everything can be done by phone.
Anyway, a good read. Ditto on the cellphones in lecture, very rude and annoying.
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Lobot takes offense.
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There may have been a time when using a mobile used to be something out of the ordinary, especially in an environment where you wouldn’t expect it, i.e. students at a university.
I think the point is, however, that these days, using technology for nearly everything has become second nature to us. We don’t think: “who should use this, what are the benefits, can I do this” like we did when we first bought some new-fangled gadget.
Now, the thing’s there and it’s how things are done. They don’t necessarily replace other ways of communication, but complement them (I’m fairly sure a lot of people with mobile phones do still talk to others face to face). Not using a mobile, then, would be like not sending an IM to someone just because you knew you could as easily walk over to their desk. We’re just using what’s available to its fullest potential.
As for setting the things to vibrate, or even switching them off at times, I agree. You just know there are certain situations, like class, where taking a call mid-lecture is something you just don’t do.
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zhayena: Yeah, I’ve looked at people strangely before, who were walking and talking (apparently) to themselves. Then I noticed the little tiny headset on their ear.
Kids (9, 10 years old) have cellphones here, too. I’m not sure how I feel about that. As a parent I can see where it’d be good to be able to get in touch with your kid regardless of where they are, but on the other hand – well, shouldn’t you know where they are anyway, cellphone or not?
Tom: I don’t hate cellphones, I hate how they’re everywhere, all the time.
I think it’s inevitable that having computers, phones, etc. leads to us not learning some skills that people before us took for granted. That’s nothing specific to cellphones or computers, though; any new technology will lead to the atrophying of some skills. The Native Americans largely lost the art of bowmaking in the span of (I believe) a couple of generations after the introduction of firearms via Europeans.
Joshua: I had no idea who Lobot was. I recognized him after a quick Google search, but I certainly didn’t know hiw name.
Hopefully we’ll never reach his level! Too weird.Nils: I agree, it’s not something many people think about anymore. The phones are there, everyone uses them, and it’s seen as normal to do so. I suppose you’re right; I may have been a bit harsh. Certainly, they can complement other forms of communication. My gripe, though, is just what you said: people don’t really think about it anymore, they’re on autopilot to grab their phone whenever it rings, regardless of what they’re doing. Some of that comes from the very nature of cellphones; most people grow up “knowing” that when the phone rings, generally, you answer it, then and there.
Unfortunately, since cellphones are with their owners practically around the clock, there’s never any respite. Regardless of where folks are, they’ve got their cellphones, and many people are still running on their long-learned habits: the phone rings and you answer it.
I can see the relationship between cellphones and IM, but I’m not sure IMing is quite as bad. If I leave an IM app running on my computer, and I have a friend over and we’re talking, if someone pings me on the IM, I don’t say, “Hey, can you hang on a few minutes, I have to take this IM.” I get that quite often with folks and their cellphones. Drives me bonkers.
Currently, though, I’d just be happy if my fellow classmates would turn the things off during class. I’ve considered buying some foam bricks to hurl at people when their phones go off for the 2nd or 3rd time in a 50 minute time period.
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This has nothing to do with your latest post, but I thought this might be interesting for you:
http://usaerklaert.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/von-der-amerikanischen-marine-und-ihren-amphibischen-angriffsschiffen/
Ein deutscher Text über das amerikanische Militär -
Zeitlos: Danke für den Link, ich werde ihn bald überprüfen. Ich hoffe, dass alles bei dir und Marcel gut geht!
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