The one piece of technology I think I’ll never really get to like is the mobile phone. It’s strange because I love my iPod, my PC is always on, and I have a PDA (which is broken at the moment). When I wrote my 100 things, items number 65 and 66 were about my love-hate relationship with my mobile phone.
65. I always forget to turn my mobile phone on.
This never ceases to annoy M and anyone else who has my mobile number – you can never call me because my phone is never on. My excuse is that I am always in meetings and can’t have the phone ringing at inopportune times. Despite the fact that I am not in meetings 100% of the day, however, my phone does seem to be switched off close to 100% of the time. It doesn’t help that my phone is a Sony Ericsson J200i, which must have the worst battery life of any mobile phones out there – I have to keep it switched off to save the battery life, see? (Obviously I don’t use my phone much, otherwise I would probably have tried to replace the battery in the darn thing by now…)
66. I don’t know how to send text messages on my new mobile phone. I can’t work out the new-fangled dictionary helper thingy that’s supposed to make typing faster. Ok, you can all stop laughing now.
I still haven’t worked the dictionary thing out yet, because I have worked out that if I punch the letters in using edit mode I can bypass it. And did I mention I am pretty slow when it comes to typing on that tiny keypad? But then I don’t send many text messages anyway so it hasn’t been a major problem.
My mobile phone doesn’t shrill out some Top 40 hit when it rings. It doesn’t have a fancy cover or interesting wall paper, or any of those cute little doo-dads that hang off the phone and make tiny tinkling noises. My mobile phone sits at the bottom of my bag, switched off and unloved.
So why do I bother to have a mobile phone, you might ask? One reason only: I like the idea of being able to call M in dire emergencies!
Categories: technology, mobile phone
8 Comments
I never used to know how to use the dictionary function either, but since i learnt i’ve not looked back. I’ll show you in September when i’m in town!
As for the phone ringing in meetings, is the ‘silent’ mode not an option?
my phone is on all the time, on silent ring. i even leave it on at meetings… if it ‘rings’ during the meeting i just don’t answer it (i check the messages later). i keep mine in my trouser pocket or denim jacket pocket when i’m on the move, or it sits on my desk when i’m working (at home or uni). this system works well for me!
Hahaha not turning your phone on. That’s like my mom. 😛
But you may be right – ppl now use and abuse mobile phones like there’s no tomorrow. Once of the worst aspects (beyond annoyingly loud and shrill ring tones) is the unneccesary call. One scene in “Clueless” depicts this best: two girls yakking away and they end up meeting at the end of the corridor. Now couldn’t that conversation have waited 10 more secs and be carried out without the phone????
About the dictionary thing : I don’t like it either. 😉
i think a problem with phones in general, not just mobiles, is that a lot of people feel compelled to answer them even if it’s an inconvenient/inappropriate time to do so. like my mum-in-law, she could be up a ladder two metres in the air with both hands full cleaning out her gutters and she would still try to rush down and answer a ringing phone! silly thing is, she has an answering machine. i also hate it, just as example, when people are having dinner and you ring them not knowing they were eating and they answer the phone and make you feel foolish or bad for interrrupting them. EAT YOUR DINNER AND DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE!!!! IF IT’S IMPORTANT THEY WILL RING BACK!!!! (i feel better now, thanks!:))
because i can ignore my phone if it’s not an appropriate time to answer it, i feel comfortable leaving it on all the time. of course, if i was at a funeral, on a plane or at the cinema it would be turned off.
Cherry: Thanks, I am really looking forward to catching up! 🙂
Mooiness: Ohhh I hate those conversations you have to listen to in public: “I’m on the train, yep, I’ll see you in 10 minutes”. Surely it makes more sense to call someone if they haven’t turned up, not right before they are supposed to turn up?
Cyn: I suppose I am just hopeless with the mobile, if it is on silent I would never ever know if anyone called me, cos I dont look at it 😛 I know what you mean about people who must answer the phone though.. I always ring a colleague just as she is about to leave her office, and she always most graciously lets me know she can’t talk and can she call me back/can I call her back? She is the most gracious person I know when it comes to phones, even if I always have to postpone my conversation with her! 🙂
you’ll hear/feel it vibrate when it ‘rings’. with some phone models the display and/or buttons light up while the phone vibrates, so you get a light show as well.
that’s why i leave it on my desk when working – you do tend to notice when your phone is doing a funny disco dance next to you. also you know when it’s about to ring cos you hear that funny interference noise before it goes off.
It doesnt help that the phone Con and I have is a P.O.S. My battery lasts about 15-20 minutes of talk time from full. Normally when I answer I have to check the battery to work out if I’m going to have to cut the call short. I have to have it on charge every single day or it goes dead as soon as I do anything with it. Short answer is, steer clear of the J200i and it’s siblings.
I think I’ll go back to the Nokia’s but I can’t stand the new look and feel, eugh!
M!!!! It’s CW. C… W… Don’t reveal my secret identity!!
😛
I don’t care about the poor battery life – like I said, keeping my phone switched off prolongs its battery life. Unless of course, I take cyn’s advice and start leaving it on, on ‘silent’ mode…