Life without a cell phone

I don't get folks who feel so chained to their mobile phones. I have a cell phone. When I feel like using it to make calls, I make a call. When I feel like using it to answer a call, I will answer it when a call comes in.

If I don't feel like answering a call, I simply don't. If the call is important, the caller will leave a message and I'll return it at my leisure. If the call is not important, often the caller will not leave a message and I'll just forget about it. The cell phone is there for my convenience and during the times it inconveniences me, it gets turned off. It's just a tool... control it, it doesn't have to control you.

I will say that I completely agree with her point about "glance[ing] surreptitiously down at the corner of the table to see who is calling/emailing/texting while we’re in the middle of a conversation." When I'm talking to someone you have my full attention (except for certain emergency circumstances which I will let you know about upfront) and would appreciate the same courtesy.

This is so ridiculous I have to rebut this point by point.

Her points:

1) Convenience: The closing line of this statement says it all: "... or borrow someone else’s cell to make the call. Now that’s convenience."

There's a distinction between "life without a cell phone" and "life without owning a cell phone."

2) Paraphrasing: "I can never lose my phone numbers because I remember them and put them in a Rolodex and an addressbook."

There is nothing about owning a cell phone that prevents her from doing this.

3) Paraphrasing: "I will never be distracted by my phone while I'm with others."

There is nothing inherent about owning a cell phone that forces people to do this. If the author feels so vehemently that this is a bad thing, then surely it couldn't be too hard for her to bring a cell phone around and ignore it in social situations.

4) Paraphrasing: "I have a landline that gets perfect reception, which is much better than an unreliable cell phone." There is nothing preventing one from owning both a cell phone and a land line.

5) Paraphrasing: "Cell phones cause cancer." Maybe, but there has not been strong evidence supporting this claim, IMO. See the other links shared so far.

6) Paraphrasing: "No one device can interrupt my life." Two words: Silent Mode.

Part of it is the social contract that is implicitly engaged when someone knows you have a cell phone. Basically, those people have a reasonable assumption that they can call you, and if they can't talk to you, at least they can leave a message which you'll probably respond to within a few hours.

A lot of people seem to think that turning your phone off while you take a hike is as the same degree of freedom as never having any of your extracurricular activities interrupted - ever. It's not.

Are there downsides to not owning a phone? Of course. I was just commenting that habitually being incommunicado is, for me, a peaceful state to find oneself.

Landlines only make sense if you own a home do your number won't change that often. My apartment doesn't even have a phone jack.

She doesn't seem very tech savvy. Who doesn't back up their phone numbers these days? If I lost my phone tomorrow, I could just go online to my google contacts and get them all back.

I can understand the liberating feeling. 1 year ago, I went to Europe for three weeks and didn't take a cell phone or get one there. It was really nice not having to worry about returning calls and just going back to basics. However, I still think the convenience of cell phones for those few times you really need it outweighs the liberating feeling of not having one.