Where Would We Be Without Cell Phones?

I was having a discussion the other day with my niece about cell phones and other things, when my mother-in- law asked the question, "what would you all do without cellphones?". The question stumped me a bit but made me think.

She carries a cell phone (cellika phone as said by Sister Cantaloupe) and still doesn't know why she needs to. I guess under the pressure of me, my husband, and everyone else who convinced her that she needed one.

Seeing where we are now it's kind of hard to go back in time to the place before cell phones existed. Who would want too? Before that there were pagers, which some people actually still own. My biggest thrill with the pager was typing the short code 07734 and 14 (hello and hi upside down) to bug my friends.

Having used a cell phone since 1995 I don't think I could survive without one now! I wouldn't know how!! I would have to be completely reprogrammed. I would be able to start letting my nails grow though.

The cell phone has given users the convenience and portability of having an means of communication with them wherever they go. To some, the cell phone is a replacement of a landline. Believe me... I saw that one coming!! Once consumers did the math and realized that paying $30+ for certain areas of calling was outrageous compared to what providers were offering for unlimited areas of calling the trend took off. Here in Chinquapin, NC Embarq (formally Sprint) holds the monopoly since they are the only provider and it surprises me to see that people are ok with it. It took me a year to figure out that I do not need their service. They provide calling numbers which are shared with other towns and then charge for the distance of a call being placed. For example... the landline exchange in this area is shared with a town that is 20 miles away. The nearest town to where I am is 7 miles away. To place a call to that town that is 7 miles away is calculated by the distance of the original exchange location... thus being considered an "extended call area" or "local long distance" and costing more money... WTF???

I couldn't think of an educated answer to my mother-in-law's question, so I went with wit. "Send smoke signals I guess"... which I realized wouldn't work well since there is a burn ban in the area. TGF cell phones!

Comments

[Furie]

I hear that new technology in the area of smoke signals now allows photographs to be sent with the message. However it does cost way more firewood to send a photo message so most people don't...

[Darla]

LMAO @ Furie

[John Garger]

Can someone give me an idea whether or not I should go for a smart phone or just use a more stylish phone and wait for some better technology? I am on the Sprint network, and was referred to http://www.sanyowireless.com , but I'm not seeing any options that look like smart phones. I don't need an MP3 player or a camera, I'd rather have a phone that is lighter and easier to carry. Any recommendations would be welcome.

[Terrance]

Well John...you told us what you DON'T need but you need to tell us what you DO NEED! Then we can advise better as to if you need a smartphone or not!

As for the smoke signals, lol! Just don't do it in California. They do not need the potential for more flames. :-)

[Micky]

Agree with the comment about cell phones replacing landline phones, this is indeed very true here in Finland. We don't have a landline, but use our mobiles, so does the rest of our family here.