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A World Without Mobile Phones?


Guest busy lizzy

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Guest busy lizzy

Dont you think the world was a lot better before mobile phones?

People communicated face to face

People didn't sit like Zombies on buses and trams all comatosed

People didn't waste time sending useless texts or calling in loud voices to people with inane comments

People are so obsessed with them they now say they are their lives and they couldn't live without them

People didn't nearly get run over because they cant take their eyes of their phones for a second

Friends meeting now sit in silence gawping at their phones instead of talking to each other

People never get any peace or quiet for themselves they can be contacted at any time

society is turning into a race of programmed robots where mobile phones are taking priority over everything else

I have never had a mobile phone,never wanted one,never needed one,I communicate face to face and dont have deformed thumbs

Is there anyone else out there like me?

I hope so

I will be interested in any replies

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A friend said to me recently, I'm the only person he knows who doesn't own a mobile phone. (Australia's mobile phone ownership per capita is one of the highest in the world)

About 20 years ago, I bought one of the first analogue mobile phones. It was like carrying a house brick around. Answering the first call I ever received, the battery went flat half way through the conversation. I thought 'This will never catch on' and I've never owned one since. Thankfully, like you I've never felt the need for one.

I concur with all your statements above, lizzy (carefully avoiding the controversy about brain tumours)

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I've got one, always in my coat pocket, It's so low tech I think it has got valves.

Never goes off because the batteries are always run down. I keep it in my coat because I always have my coat on when I'm in the car.

It's sole purpose is for emergency use if my car ever breaks down. However I drive Skoda's 'so they never break down. I have a car charger in the glove-box to recharge it.

The only time I used it was when my mobility scooter broke down and I summoned my "scooter-get-u-home" recovery service. As luck would have it there was some charge in it, (the phone that is as well as the scooter).

Imagine the look on my face when a Twiggs recovery low-loader turned up. It was about 40 feet long and my scooter was strapped into place with enough room round it to hold a five- a-side football match.

Most of my road came out to see me free-wheel it back off the lowered ramp.

It turned out to be a loose motor brush but I didn't carry a screwdriver, I do now ! lol

HD

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Dont you think the world was a lot better before mobile phones?

Yes, a much better place.

What's more, we got on perfectly well without it so they are by no means "essential", unless you work for a mobile phone company in which you can't live without them as they are "essential"only to making vast profits.

Having said that, I actually own 2 mobile phones and use them both.

One of them is a PAYG phone with minimal credit on it. It is my "receiving calls & texts" phone because most people that know me have its number

The other is a contract phone, my "making calls and texts" phone, used because the contract I was offered was so good that the phone company are almost paying me to use the phone, rather than the other way around.

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A friend said to me recently, I'm the only person he knows who doesn't own a mobile phone. (Australia's mobile phone ownership per capita is one of the highest in the world)

Could this be due to Australia's geographical position, size and current population?

It is very remote from the major population centres of Europe, North America and even eastern Asia, - it's not exactly "where the action is"

It is a large country consisting of, in the interior regions, mainly empty space. It's population is relatively small so the population density in persons per square km (or per square mile) is low. That makes it sound like one very lonely place.

In British TV programmes about emigration to Australia and "life down under" most people that do emigrate, regardless of what sort of a life they make for themselves in Australia and weather they like the place or not once there all of them say that the main drawback and disadvantage of the move is that all their friends and family have been left behind, half a world away, and this is what they really miss most and have the biggest regrets about.

If this is the case then surely a mobile phone would help overcome the lonliness and the friends and family back home problems.

If I lived in Australia, then like most other Australians I would want a mobile phone, - and I would probably be making a lot of International calls.

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I think they are the best invention ever but don't get me wrong , you would never catch me walking through the street

talking on a mobile [ and not looking where I'm going ,like some do ] or on a bus , train or even worse , in a restaurant.

Are these people who talk so loudly on their mobiles bothered that people can here all they are saying in their " private " conversation?

How embarrassing, it makes me cringe. But for really difficult situations and emergencies they are fantastic.

I have four, one I use all the time, plain and simple.

Another , touch phone, can't get to grips with it.

One with camera , this , that and the other too complicated and the "large " print for text is far too small I can't see it.

Then I've got a cheap spare for back up. But I only use when neccessary.

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Could this be due to Australia's geographical position, size and current population?

It is very remote from the major population centres of Europe, North America and even eastern Asia, - it's not exactly "where the action is"

It is a large country consisting of, in the interior regions, mainly empty space. It's population is relatively small so the population density in persons per square km (or per square mile) is low. That makes it sound like one very lonely place.

In British TV programmes about emigration to Australia and "life down under" most people that do emigrate, regardless of what sort of a life they make for themselves in Australia and weather they like the place or not once there all of them say that the main drawback and disadvantage of the move is that all their friends and family have been left behind, half a world away, and this is what they really miss most and have the biggest regrets about.

If this is the case then surely a mobile phone would help overcome the lonliness and the friends and family back home problems.

If I lived in Australia, then like most other Australians I would want a mobile phone, - and I would probably be making a lot of International calls.

Well, I'm no authority on mobile phones as you can imagine (in Australia or anywhere else) but my brother-in-law is here again from Nottingham and he brought his mobile with him. There is NO WAY he would call his friends and family back home on his mobile. For half an hours conversation via our landline, he would get about 2-3 minutes on his mobile.

Oh, I forgot to mention, he's Yorkshire born and bred - Brightside to be exact!

Also, in many outback areas of Australia including Tasmania, there is very poor or no reception at all.

But thats only hearsay, as I have no way of testing these things myself.

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Both my wife and I have PAYG phones, but rarely use them. The most use mine gets is receiving texts from my daughter in Lichfield. She uses texts more often than calls as she gets so many free on her contract. My wife has a policy of only switching hers on when she wants to send a text or call, then it's switched off immediately, which is really annoying if you want to respond, or get in touch. It's also useful for texting my son if I see a good bargain on single malts in the supermarket... :wacko:

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I have currently 225 mobile phones under my wing. Yes, 90% of them are out with other people but its me that gets to deal with the supplier, keep an eye on the bills/text usage/data usage etc etc.

So, I hate mobiles with a passion but hey, its half a job. The other half is computers and after 29 years working with thousands of 'em I don't like them much either ... I'll get mi coat ... :P

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Well, I'm no authority on mobile phones as you can imagine (in Australia or anywhere else) but my brother-in-law is here again from Nottingham and he brought his mobile with him. There is NO WAY he would call his friends and family back home on his mobile. For half an hours conversation via our landline, he would get about 2-3 minutes on his mobile.

Oh, I forgot to mention, he's Yorkshire born and bred - Brightside to be exact!

Also, in many outback areas of Australia including Tasmania, there is very poor or no reception at all.

But thats only hearsay, as I have no way of testing these things myself.

International calls by mobile are expensive and sometimes involve 2 way charging (a charge for the call at one end, and a charge to receive it at the other!).

I bet all ex-pat Australians have a landline phone to keep in touch with friends at home though.

Having said that SKYPE Internet video calling seems to be very popular and very cheap for friends of mine who have relatives that have emigrated to Australia.

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Go to Jamaica, check your email once a day for 7 dsys and receive a bonus bill for enormous amounts; our contract will charge you £20 a pop, even it its only 20kb ... and thats on a sizeable contract.

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Go to Jamaica, check your email once a day for 7 dsys and receive a bonus bill for enormous amounts; our contract will charge you £20 a pop, even it its only 20kb ... and thats on a sizeable contract.

Yes Richard, if I can quote myself from an earlier post in this topic

What's more, we got on perfectly well without it so they are by no means "essential", unless you work for a mobile phone company in which you can't live without them as they are "essential"only to making vast profits.

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£20 a pop is peanuts in relative terms, prior to the new contract my boss racked up £1,200 in a week in Greece, £60-70K a year contract gets the phone companies attention much more so than a one person contract.

Yes Richard, if I can quote myself from an earlier post in this topic

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£20 a pop is peanuts in relative terms, prior to the new contract my boss racked up £1,200 in a week in Greece, £60-70K a year contract gets the phone companies attention much more so than a one person contract.

I'll stick with the one person mobile contract I already have thanks, - Virgin Mobile effectively pay me to use their phone.

That sounds a lot better than the other way around.

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Like all things they can be abused! There is nothing more annoying than to sit on a busy train/tram and being forced to learn of someones sexual exploits the night before. Mobile phones should only be used in emergencies....I have one and it's never switched on unless I choose . I am the master of it...not a servant...as so many young people seem to be!

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Both my wife and I have PAYG phones, but rarely use them. The most use mine gets is receiving texts from my daughter in Lichfield. She uses texts more often than calls as she gets so many free on her contract. My wife has a policy of only switching hers on when she wants to send a text or call, then it's switched off immediately, which is really annoying if you want to respond, or get in touch. It's also useful for texting my son if I see a good bargain on single malts in the supermarket... :wacko:

I have to laugh at this one.

My husband is just the same, he complains that he can't get through to his friend and his friend complains that

he can't get through to him but neither of the old codgers have them switched on all the time.

I have have another friend who used to take her dog walking in the woods but felt safer if she took her mobile

phone whith her, bare in mind she hasn't a clue how to use her mobile.

I once asked her " what is the point of taking your mobile phone with you if you don't know how to use it ? "

Her answer was that if she got attacked she would hit the attacker with it. he he Nice one.

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Imagine the look on my face when a Twiggs recovery low-loader turned up. It was about 40 feet long and my scooter was strapped into place with enough room round it to hold a five- a-side football match.

Most of my road came out to see me free-wheel it back off the lowered ramp.

It turned out to be a loose motor brush but I didn't carry a screwdriver, I do now ! lol

HD

That would make a great Giles cartoon.

But you would have to be Granny.

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A smart phone is more than a phone these days, using it as a phone is only secondary. :)

So, the thing a phone is least likely to be used for these days is to make a phone call! :unsure:

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It really is noticeable how obsessed people are with their phones. We were at a concert last night, on the front row of the circle overlooking the stalls. When the interval arrived it was remarkable the number of phones that lit up immediately. We both could swear there was one couple sitting together who were texting each other!

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We both could swear there was one couple sitting together who were texting each other!

Seems like the art of face to face conversation is dead then.

There are some things you can say face to face that cannot be sent by electronic means. Text does not convey emphasis in speech, accent, gestures, body language, feelings and emotions at all, - all of which have some importance in communication and conveying the right message.

What a pity we seem to have lost this.

It's as though communication has become deteatched and impersonal

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Guest busy lizzy

This is amazing footage Blacky,how can we explain this?

It certainly looks like a phone to me!!

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Hi there

A question

Who could survive without their mobile phones today?

I have never had one and never wanted one, it disturbs me when people tell me they couldnt live without one!!

COULD YOU?

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It might be an unpopular view, but I love my phone and would be gutted to be with out it. 

Many years ago, when I first joined Sheffield History our computer was a huge thing which needed its own desk and corner of the dining room. Now I’m sitting tapping this out on a phone, in my chair with a cat purring on my knee and my feet up in the front room...all thanks to progress and phones. 

I can see why some people dislike them. There’s nothing worse than seeing someone standing at a shop till, braying on about something while rudely ignoring the person behind the counter. They sort of behave as if they are so important and so busy they can’t stop to interact with another person. 

It’s the same in restaurants. The site of four people sat at a table all looking at their phones makes me giggle. Perhaps it’s just a way of filling in the awkward silences?

Then there is work. 

I can remember being sent out as a young service engineer with a bag of ten pence coins and having to use smelly dirty phone kiosks to call the office every two hours. They stunk, were cold and I hated them. 

Now we can ring, email, text, use WhatsApp, Snapchat or messenger, all from the warm comfort of our vans. Oh and I get the joy of downloading music and radio programs to my phone and Bluetooth it them to my van while I drive round.

All in all, I have to say I love my phone and long may it reign supreme!

(Would waffle on a bit longer but my battery only has 30% left. Bloody iPhones.)

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