(Updated from original post of 22nd June 2016)
There were gasps of astonishment as billionaire Sir Philip Green, answering MPs’ questions about the BHS department store scandal, checked his texts on a cheap, twelve-year-old Nokia 6310. Surely, you would expect him to be able to afford the latest Diamond Rose iPhone.
All kinds of reasons why he might be using such an obsolete device were suggested: the Nokia was made to last; battery life is outstanding; he does not want constant email interruptions; pre-GPS phones are not easy to track; he is penny-pinchingly mean; he likes playing Snake 2.
Who knows? Maybe all of these. That was in 2016. But I’m still with Sir Philip, especially the penny-pinchingly mean. Here’s mine –
even older –
a Siemens A55 bought October 2003. It’s a phone.
It does texts. It works. And no, I do not play Stack Attack, Balloon Shooter, Move the Box and Wacko.
With O2 Pay As You Go, you have to top up at least once every 999 days so as not to lose your account and credit balance. My diary (paper of course) noted I next needed to top up before 13th July, 2016. £10 would see to it. There is also a usage requirement but a weekly text from the bank meets that. Some weeks I forget to switch it on.
NOVEMBER 2018
Sir Philip was in the news again with unflattering revelations about his other behaviours and attitudes. I added a note emphasising I did not share them. For example, I do not iron creases in my jeans (for comic effect I wanted to add that my wife does it for me, but actually I iron my own jeans). I still had my ancient phone, though.
AUGUST 2021
I know it’s eccentric and appreciate that smartphones can be useful, but I’d hardly use one. I also fear what I’d be like. It’s something to do with having worked with computers. I like the idea of not being instantly contactable. I’d be constantly fiddling with it while eating, or fact checking during conversations. I like to let thoughts take their course rather than being hijacked first thing in a morning. That’s why I try not to switch on the computer until I’ve done at least a couple of jobs, like ironing jeans. The daft thing is, I could probably program them (phones not jeans, although maybe when we get smartjeans...).
I don't have a smart phone I only learned to do texts on my phone when my carer started sending me texts on hers. I don't feel at a loss without one - I suppose it is a case of what you never have you never miss. To me it is a case of one less thing to go wrong.
ReplyDelete'One less thing to go wrong' is one of my favourite principles.
Deleteor should that be 'fewer'?
DeleteIf the phone does what you want it to do then that is all that matters. Like Weave says, what you've never had you never miss.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I want it to do anything at all other than help me out in an emergency. I haven't had an emergency so far in all the time I've had it.
DeleteF envies you. Her personal Nokia died and no similar (what is the opposite of Smart - stupid?) phone was available to replace it so she finally relented and got a smartphone in 2018 - and anyway her work requires her to be contactable by all possible means 24/7 - so a work smartphone had been forced on her many years before that. It has proven to be quite useful finding our way around in foreign countries, but we agree with you about the invasion of meals, instant fact checking in conversations and so on. Mr B does it and it drives F nuts. I, the Tigger, hate the camera feature of smartphones, but I am attracted (F says addicted) to certain bird and mouse videos which I can watch on it (although the tablet screen is better for viewing).
ReplyDeleteNavigation in unfamiliar places is one of the things I would find useful. However, looking up and either memorising a route or printing it out is almost as good and better for keeping the brain working.
DeleteBeing a colonial, I am not familiar with either Sir Philip Green or the BHS department store scandal, but I can say with some degree of certainty that King Canute was not forced to get a smartphone.
ReplyDeleteI like your phone; it looks worthy of a billionaire’s attention, but then I am inordinately attracted to shiny things. My latest jeans are the permanently creased kind. I think I look kind of spiffy in them but some younger folk do look at me askance.
Loads of people left without pensions.
Deleteermanently creased jeans! How lazy.
Au contraire, I can be confident of looking tidy and presentable at all times, unlike a certain Welsh blogger.
DeleteDave bought me my first iPhone about ten years ago, and I honestly think if he hadn't done it, I'd still be using my old flip phone. I seldom use the phone for anything except texting or calling -- oh, and the camera, but I could do without that since I have plenty of cameras. I forget to carry my phone a lot of times. I'm just not that into it!
ReplyDeleteI seldom use mine for anything at all. When people complain they can't find the right time to contact me I suggest they send me a letter.
DeleteSmartjeans. Now there's a great idea.
ReplyDeleteSmartjeans would respond to voice commands. For example "open fly" would open the fly. However, the software would need to be thoroughly tested. You would not want it to "close fly" before you were ready, especially in men's jeans. In other words, you wouldn't want bugs in your smartjeans.
DeleteI have a six year old iphone passed on from my DD. Previously I had an android and long before that a couple of flip phones (all replaced only with they died--none were Nokia). Needed a mobile for work as I did a significant amount of business travel and when home, I commuted/drove 100 miles a day. Having four children meant it was helpful for them to be able to reach me in an emergency. These days I mostly use it for family contact, the camera and banking. It is enormously helpful when traveling. My mobile is my only phone...no longer have a home phone.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that's the way things will go eventually, that landlines will become for internet, especially when they are all fibre landlines, and voice/internet phones will all be mobile.
DeleteThey will have to give us all a mobile signal before they can do that.
DeleteI had my landline yanked yen years ago, never misses it. Back then people would insist on a landline number. Cell not enough for some phones. So I just filled in all the blanks with my cell number. Land, check, home, check, work, check. They left me alone then. Nowadays it's not so unusual.
ReplyDeletePredictive text put phones where I had already typed forms!
DeleteNow it's the other way round in some cases - they insist on a mobile number. I just put the landline in all, unless I don't want to hear from them, in which case I give the Siemens A55 number which because it's rarely switched on I don't get bothered. Although an estate agent did once manage to phone me just as I was checking for texts.
DeleteNow smart jeans could be a thing if they made us look better! I do know many people that still use flip phones and love them. I've had a smart phone for quite a while now and I love it. We no longer have a landline so a smartphone does make a difference. However, we do maintain certain rules such as no phones out during meals!
ReplyDeleteThey might be quite bulky because of the inbuilt wireless and bluetooth features, and the USB ports.
DeleteSmartjeans? You mean like Jean Shrimpton... or Jean Alexander who played Hilda Ogden for many years in "Coronation Street"? By the way, any mention of Philip Green makes me feel nauseous.
ReplyDeleteSmarter than that. Jean Piaget.
DeleteI am sure you would be delighted, and also feel a lot more comfortable, with the Smartjeans® moisture detection feature which automatically alerts your nurse when your underwear needs changing.
Rather amazing old thing. Like I never thought I would read a newspaper on a phone, or read and send emails, I understand your caution with smart phones. They are addictive and I can't imagine not having one for maps, to check things, to remember a name or word, to help with public transport. Yes, I am a heavy user, although maybe not compared to young people. We have developed some unspoken rules about phone usage when out. You don't use them until you have ordered your food at a cafe but then you can until your food arrives and then they go down again until you finish. The conversation is always more important than your phone.
ReplyDeleteSomeone said that if the series Friends were to be made again, then instead of the amusing interaction and conversation between the characters they would all be sitting in the cafe looking at their smartphones.
DeleteWe did not have cell phones for years. My son got replaced his pay as you go when he went off to college. My husband took it over and had it for six years. It finally quit working. He replaced it with another flip phone which he has had ever since. I have a smart phone, which I bought a couple years ago (android).
ReplyDeleteThere must be very few students or young people without them now. I doubt they could manage their lives without. My wife took over one of ours' smartphone for some years but has her own now.
Delete