May 13, 2009
Is it foolish yet to have no cell phone?
At some point soon, it will be considered irresponsible, even negligent, to not have a cell phone.
Or are we already there?
* * *
Related:
• Man, I’m marginal. I have no cell phone…
• Qwest wants me to switch to the competition.
Anyone I know who has held out on getting a cell phone and then got one never went back.
I don’t know if it would be considered “negligent” or “irresponsible,” but it’s sort of like not owning a car in that it just makes a lot of things just that more difficult in our world today.
I think we are already there. Especially those of us in the vocational ministry that are supposed to be on call 24-7. I remember a while back getting “a good firm talkin’ to” because I did not have my cell phone on.
Makes you wonder how people like Jonathan Edwards are even in the history books…I mean he didn’t have a cell phone…how did he get ANYTHING done.
Ironic question for me. I realized, on my way to work this morning, that I had forgotten my cell phone. I feel extremely disconnected. I kept thinking, what if someone NEEDS to get a hold of me? I won’t be available for a short time.
How did we ever survive? It’s definitely true…once you take that plunge, Abraham, you seriously cannot go back.
@Mike,
Edwards was able to get so much done because he didn’t have a cell phone.
I am part of the 10 or so percent unemployed in this nation and the cell phones were the first to go. I admit it was hard at first but we have adjusted. Some people do look at me funny when I admit to them I have no cell phone. It looks like it will be a while IF we ever do get another cell phone. So I reckon we will be out of the club.
So two people have said that you won’t go back after getting a phone. Is this more of an incentive or a deterrent for you.
For me it would a deterrent.
I don’t think it’s irresponsible. My grandma didn’t have one until a few years ago and I didn’t think she was irresponsible…
;o)
60 Minutes did a segment on brain cancer being caused by cell phones. It is pretty crazy that a whole generation is growing up on them. For more info watch:
http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=797215
I do not feel safe and secure driving my kids places by myself with no cell. Or out on the highway driving to visit family a short-long-distance away. As a mom I would feel irresponsible in those situations with no cell. When kids are involved it changes everything. I could do without, if it were just me, but I know my husband wouldn’t like me not having a cell, because when your wife is involved, it changes everything, too. :)
I don’t think it’s irresponsible unless YOU feel it is, in regards to your work, or your wife and kids’ well-being when you’re not present.
I’m part of the no-cell phone club. We haven’t gotten one for some of the same reasons we don’t pay for cable TV and until very recently, didn’t even have a second vehicle. It’s money we don’t want to spend on a luxury item.
Because a cell phone is, in my opinion, a luxury item for many people, it’s not at all irresponsible or negligent to not have one. (I readily recognize that it’s a need for some–though probably fewer people than would say it’s a need.)
I got my own cell phone at age 18 (so, really, really late compared to most people, I guess) after I had a car accident and was glad my mom had convinced me to take her cell phone with me before I left the house.
So I could call the police after I’d collided with a wild boar…
So, no, I don’t think it’s irresponsible not to have a cell phone, and I hardly ever actually use mine, but I definitely feel a lot safer having one!
I don’t think we’re quite there yet – though at this point you probably are an anomaly, Abraham.
What doesn’t make sense to me (or at least won’t make sense in the near future) is to have both a cell and home phone. Especially as technologies like this one improve:
http://www.phonelabs.com/
I don’t think it is irresponsible of me to not have a cell phone, but I do recognize that it would probably make a few things “easier” for me and it would have lots of “cool” things I could do with it – like GPS track myself, play games, etc.
We have friends that refuse to get a computer, insisting that they will not evolve to this new standard. They also will not use a cell phone.
At what point does it become more about insisting the world must conform to me?
It really depends on your lifestyle. For us, they are indispensable and always have been.
But in your case, you are with your family a lot, you stay connected to friends via other tech stuff, and maybe the way you shop and go out is different than us.
I think it’s more of a bother for those that are used to the cell phone lifestyle and want to communicate with you that way.
“When Charles Hummel wrote his classic essay “Tyranny of the Urgent,” in 1967, he identified the telephone as among the worst offenders against our peace and complacency. And that was before we carried the offending instrument with us everywhere and embellished it with email, computers, cameras, downloadable ring tones and music files.”
I can’t find a link to the book, but the above quote is from this article.
I tend to side with Hummel. My friends get on me for hardly answering my cell. Quite often the home phone doesn’t get answered, unless I am not doing much of anything at the time.
I guess I’m trying to break from the idea of “if the phone rings, I HAVE to answer it.”
Also, when calling others, I usually hope they answer only if it’s convenient. I like email, because people have the chance to respond when they want to (although, friends with blackberries that always check their email are excluded.)
I tend to be a procrastinator, so maybe that’s showing in how I think about this. Oh yeah–God’s sovereignty fits in there somewhere…
…and like Andrea said, it depends. I have my own problems. So, for me, I need to watch it.
If you use Google Voice, you can always have it ring a friends cell if you need to be available. :-)
I didn’t have any phone for a while (other than work), and it was really nice. I had folks call my GV number so I would know who called, could listen to voicemail, all that stuff. It was more at my convenience.
Of course, my parents didn’t like being unable to get a hold of me.
It’s addicting to have one. We went without for quite some time recently. We adjusted. It’s healthy to realize just how we are actually able to get ourselves out of scrapes without a cell.
We don’t always answer it, or our home phone. I think it’s healthy for others to know we are available in an emergency … but there is no expectation that we are always available no matter what. We conform to each other. I don’t leave messages on the cell phones of people who don’t listen to them. I conform to the way they operate. When I work with my teams on various things, I know to call the people who don’t check their email. And people conform to my ways of operating.
But I did feel stupid asking to borrow a phone at Costco one time. :)
I always carry mine because I do feel it would be irresponsible not to. Let me be clear, though, not because to be out of contact would be irresponsible, but because if anything happened and I needed help (car woes, attack of some sort, etc), I feel I should have one handy.
If I were with a significant other who had a phone, I wouldn’t carry one.
I hope we’re not there yet! I’m also part of the no cell phone club and love it. I’m still single, so maybe things will change if/when I get married and have a family. But at this point in my life, it’s rather freeing to not have one. I just hope people don’t consider me irresponsible and negligent…
i got my first cell phone, because it was cheaper than a landline in france. when i move back to north america, i will go back to sharing the landline with six siblings and two parents. it will be hard :)
only if you didn’t have a home phone…which I”m assuming you do.
I read 90% of the posts so I might have missed some but I just want to mention a few reminders I haven’t seen:
1) You don’t have to answer your cell phone when it rings.
2) If you become a “slave” to your cell… that’s really your own choice, if it’s too much, get rid of it. If you can, by the Power of the Spirit, keep your cell phone use at a reasonable level. It’s all G’s.
3) 60 Minutes is not a trustworthy source of journalism, much less, truth. Remember Dan Rather?
The all-or-nothing approach is pretty unreasonable in most things, cell phones included.
In response to Abraham’s question:
I would say that society (not me) is very, very close to believing that it is irresponsible to not own a cell phone.
In thirty years, this won’t even be worth asking.
It seems like we are already there! At least it seems that way in Seattle. My wife and I share a pre-paid phone and a regular Cell Phone and that alone is enough to get a snicker and a subtle “how strange”.
I’m a twenty year old college student without a cell phone and very aware of the conveniences I’m forsaking. I’m not convinced that the benefits of a cell phone usually outweigh the costs. In fact, when fellow students find out I don’t have one their response is usually something like, “Oh that’s great! I support you” or “Oh, I wish I could live like that!” (with the occasional, “Did you give it up for Lent?” and “How do you know what time it is?”) I think most people who think their cell phones are indispensable are quite self-deceived. Also, in most emergencies, someone around has a cell phone you can borrow. People are always glad to be your hero of the moment. Trust me on this. :)
I recognize that for some people a cell phone is not necessary, but I do find that people who do not faithfully answer their phone or who are hard to get a hold of are “negligent.”
This, truth be told, applies to one of my best friends. She is a college student living with her parents, but she is not often at home and sometimes her parents landline is tied up with dial-up! And she does not check her email frequently. It is hard to get a hold of her and that is frustrating, in addition to worrying about her driving around town late at night without a cell phone.
So yes, if their not having a cell phone makes them hard to contact, then it is perhaps irresponsible and negligent.
I dread the day it’s considered negligant or irresponsible to not be on Facebook. I fear it’s coming.
pardon me, I forgot an apostrophe!
“parents’ landline.”
I am 15 and for my age group, almost all my peers have cellphones. And while I don’t think I am considered “irresponsible” I do know that people think I’m a little strange. But when I look at what most 15 year olds use cellphones for (i.e. texting) I think perhaps it is “irresponsible” to HAVE a cellphone. Very rarely can I sit down with a friend and have a good godly discussion with them. Because their minds are focused on what they are texting. It makes me think, “would Jesus have a cellphone? Would He absent mindedly heal a leper while texting Peter “gt bhnd me satan” Jesus found it hard enough to get time alone with God. What would it be like if Jesus had had a blackberry, blog, facebook, twitter, myspace, etc…?
probably if you’re writing blog posts about it, you should get one.
It’s a little ironic to see people on their computers, obviously reading a blog, lamenting the time-consuming over-connected nature of cell phones.
Computers, tv, cell phones, twitter, cars, facebook, land phones and all technology (even things like books and magazines): they all have the potential for good and bad.
Humans are still the sinners, not things.
That said, I’d hate to go without a cell phone. It isn’t indispensable, but it’s a helpful tool for us.
How much do the non-cell-phone people use their friends’ cells?
I had a buddy who held out for a long time, “I don’t need to be always available” and all that, but finally had to get one when his friends cut him off and said “Dude, you use a cell phone, you just don’t pay for it.”
it depends on the actual answer to the question “what did people do before cell phones?”
before cell phones, i couldn’t have made good use of driving time by calling friends and family to catch up.
before cell phones, i would have had to pay for a landline anyway, and i couldn’t even take it anywhere.
before cell phones, if i broke down on the side of the road, i’d have to unsafely walk to a call box (do those work anymore?) or find a pay phone (i NEVER see those anymore).
before cell phones, in case of emergency, people would just have to wait until i got home to tell me.
none of these things are, in 99% of cases, life-threateningly bad. but throw in the expectation that 99% of people have that they should be able to reach you ASAP, and it’s a pretty good case to get one.
I don’t understand when people say it’s “freeing” not to have a cell phone. You don’t have to answer it. Most people screen their calls anyway or text. And I would think that NOT having a cell phone in certain situations would be dibilatating.
The conveniences of a cell phone far outweigh any negatives. Personally, I think it’s irresponsible not to have one if you’re married or have children.
I strongly dislike cell phones. I dislike how people call me from their cars to have a “good conversation”, while being blissfully unaware how difficult it is to concentrate on them while I can hear all the driving noises. Or they call me while shopping. Or from a little kid’s birthday party. I believe that the greater the use of cell phones, the greater the tendancy is to forget/disregard social etiquette.
There is a quote from Inherit the Wind that laments the price of progress: “Progress have never been cheap-you have to pay for it…You may have your telephone, but you will lose privacy, the charm of distance. Mister, you may conquer the air but the birds will lose their wonder and the clouds will smell of gasoline.”
I say to hold out.
While cell phones are nice to have, I have also seen how they interfere with real communication. My hubby and I have had to make a “no technology” rule from the time he gets home until the kids go to bed, because it can rule our lives… if it’s important, they’ll leave a message. And texting, emails, facebook, twitter… NONE of them for 3 hours. It’s like a nice breath of fresh air. All of this seems to just add to the instant gratification lifestyle of our society.
[...] May 13, 2009 I came across an interesting post that questioned whether or not not having a cell phone was irresponsible. It is a really interesting question that I have already given some thought to, and I have come to [...]
I strongly believe our remodeling company would go under without cell phones given the current competition. I don’t know how I would get through the day and actually stay organized without one. Therefore, I think it would be negligent to not use them.
On the social side of things, it’s very annoying for me to see people enslaved to their cell phone, feeling an obligation to take the stinkin’ thing with them everywhere and always answering no matter the company. I often leave mine at home when my wife and I go out because she always has hers :-)
I do think cell phones have bought about some serious respect issues, like talking on the phone when you’re checking out at the store or ordering lunch – rude!
I love having a cell phone, but find zero negligence for those who choose not to own one, especially in your case – you’re always on the computer and you have a land line – why would you need one?
You and me bro, all the way. On the long road to irresponsibility.
I think it depends on what your life circumstances are…what your purposes are for having one.
I originally bought one for roadside emergencies but now I also use it for client services.
There are few people who know my direct office line but those who do can get transferred directly to my cell when I’m away from work.
Plus there are a handful of people in my life that I want to be available for anytime, anywhere.
Plus, it makes it a lot easier for my transplant coordinator to find me.
I’m sure some people used to think: “Why have an indoor toilet? The outdoor one works just fine.”
“Why buy a CD player? Music sounds great on tapes.”
“Why buy a DVD player? I see nothing wrong with videocassettes.”
I think not having a cell phone is often more of an inconvenience to others than it may be to you. I can think of only one time when I’ve had an emergency where I needed my cell phone. In that situation, it would’ve been just as easy (albeit more time consuming) to back track 20 miles and use a gas station phone.
A cell phone is a convenience we’re all expected to have, but not a necessity. I mean, what did doctors, on call, do before the cell phone? They managed quite well because they didn’t know it could be any different. We are now part of a society that is all about quickness, convenience, and multi-tasking. That said, I do take my cell phone everywhere and use it often, but don’t feel as though I have to answer it. And, it’s a convenience I’m usually glad I have.
I think most of you are missing the point. Yes, there are many times when it is convenient to have a cell phone, and they may be needed to compete in certain businesses, but in 2009, if someone doesn’t have one, they either don’t want it or can’t afford it. People are pressuring them to buy one because they feel uncomfortable with the idea of anyone being that far outside the mainstream.
When I was a kid, my parents chose not to have a television. This made a lot of people so uncomfortable, they had to come up with a reason we “needed” to have one.
So now they say it’s “irresponsible” not to have a cell phone. They generally give one of two reasons:
1. People need to be able to reach
you in an emergency. No one has ever had an emergency where not being able to reach me until I arrived someplace that had a phone would have resulted in loss of life or limb. Usually, it’s only an inconvenience. For most situations, there is always someone else they could call. Even if one of my children were in an accident, and no one could reach me or my wife, any police officer can act as temporary guardian and approve emergency medical care. Look up the law in your state.
It’s rare that even I am unreachable for more than an hour or two. When I forget my cell phone, turn it off, of just leave it home because I’m tired of telemarketers and other jerks who have to talk to me at their convenience, not mine, there is always someone reachable by phone who knows where I’m going, and when and where I can be reached again. Not because I make a special effort, but because people are such natural busybodies, they have to know where I am at all times, and they can’t believe I’m not always reachable by cell phone. The thought of someone actually having to leave a message frightens them. Do these people take their phones in the shower? I’ve heard them take calls in public restrooms.
2. You need to be able to call for help in an emergency. This has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. As more people are pressured to get cell phones in case of emergency, the phone companies are removing all pay phones, starting in poor urban neighborhoods.
So Instead of carrying 50 cents, (oh, let’s be generous and say 2 bucks) that you only have to use in an emergency, you have to buy cell phone service. Even the prepaid phones require you to add minutes periodically, whether you’ve used your old minutes or not, just to keep your service. The best deal I’ve seen is $20 plus shipping for the phone, then $15 a month to maintain service whether you use it or not. Again, the poor are the hardest hit.
And if you break down on the side of the road, most people will assume you have a cell phone to call for help. I’ve had people stop to make sure help was coming, but that’s becoming less common except in rural areas, where people feel safer and cell phone service is less reliable. So eventually, not carrying a cell will be as foolish as not carrying a spare tire. Are we there yet? Not in my area, but I don’t live in a big city.
Good Night, I hope not. For crying out loud.
Personally I think it’s irresponsible to attach your children to an umbilical cord.
Oh, my no! You have a long way to go. You don’t need them until your kids are teenagers when they are old enough to be separated from you a the Mall or amusement park. Then you will need them so you don’t have to keep walking in circles trying to find each other. Also, so when the siblings are old enough to go places without you, they can find each other when separated. Or if they are out on their own and need to call you for a ride home no matter where they are. (And at times you might need to call them for a ride because, unless you can afford to have a car for each of them, they might be giving you rides to places when your job or activity starts before theirs does.)
I never felt the “need” for a cell phone until my kids were old enough to be left alone at the house. Basically, I feel fine leaving my 13 year old to babysit if I have a cell phone, but not so fine if I don’t.
Cell Phones are a blight on privacy and free time.
~pardon the brevity; sent from my Nokia E71
You know, more and more households are doing away with land lines and going with cell only phone service.
My daughter babysits for one such family and when they leave home they take their cell phones with them, leaving my daughter with no way to contact them (or to call 911) and no way for them to contact her.
Unless she has a cell phone.
Is this her responsibility?
@ Joy
We are one such household with two boys (under two) and no landline. However, we make sure that either our babysitter has a cell phone or else we leave one of ours with her. Shouldn’t be her responsibility, IMHO.
1. I have no cell phone. I do not want people calling me all day, every day. I know some of my relatives would do this — I have a hard enough time returning people’s phone calls let alone adding in not returning their calls to my cell phone.
2. I have a 14-month-old son. I feel no panic driving 80 miles with him weekly to visit my parents. People know when I leave there and my husband knows when to expect us back, and they know the route we take.
3. My husband has a cell phone for work, as in, the phone is issued by his employer. I’ll tell you what: his boss expects that phone to get answered whenever and wherever. I think cell phones really help drag out the workday into the worknight.
Not a fan, and was raised without one so I’m really very calm about not having one.
What I resent about any new technology is the attitude that some people have once they adopt it: this is the way we do things now, and you’re a bad person if you’re not like us.
When I was thirteen, only doctors and firefighters needed to be immediately available at all times. They had pagers. No message, just a beep that told them to call the office. I think the President, some senators and governors, and a very few other rich and powerful people had “car phones”. My parents would leave me in charge of five younger siblings for three or four hours, and it was no big deal. I generally knew where they were going, but I don’t remember them leaving a phone number. In case of emergency, I had the numbers of the police and fire departments (this was before 911) and the phone on the wall. For non-emergency problems, I could get help form the neighbors. I tend to feel that people who think they, personally, must be contacted in any situation, and no one else could handle it, even temporarily, have an exaggerated idea of their own importance.
Myrrdin, I take it you (or your children) have no belly buttons? ;-)
Abraham,
I have heard that the rumor is that the new iPhone software coming out this summer will allow one to tether the iPhone to a computer to allow for 3G internet access. Not sure if there will be an extra charge. Wasn’t this your main gripe with the iPhone?
I have the G1, fascinating little hand held 16 gig computer that also serves as a phone. :-) I am the Director of Emergency Medicine at a local hospital. Before the days of cell phones I would be paged and have no recourse but to pull off the road and locate a pay phone – one that was not in use. In my case it probably would be irresponsible not to take advantage of a time saving (perhaps life saving) bit of technology. Many years ago we were having similar conversations about pagers. We never dreamed of cell phones. I wonder what comes next after cell phones?
[...] Terry Leahy refuses to carry a cell phone [like someone else I know]. He has identified his time in cars, trains, and planes as his most productive thinking time and [...]
Hubby and I are 66 and 65: a major reason for us carrying cell phones is as consideration for our adult kids who live off ‘n gone. It’s an “ease the mind” issue for them (for our sakes), knowing that we are reachable.
Likewise, I see it as a courtesy to my husband and security for me to have a cell phone on me at all times (even when I’m outside in our very rural yard with no close neighbors). I can’t think of a good reason why either hubby or kids should have to worry about me ever falling anywhere, getting hurt, etc. and not being able to call for help.
For the same reason, if either hubby or I were left alone after the death of the other, we would definitely have the Lifeline button/pushy thing (bracelet or neck thing) with which to call for help.
Some of the reasons for cell phone use actually are for the convenience and peace of others in our families.
We use our cell phones as our “private phones” also! We do NOT give the number to friends, acquaintances or business relationships. That’s what the landline is for. So that highly reduces the # of calls we get. I realize that’s not feasible for many folks.
A few weeks ago, my cell phone was out of commission for a couple days. It felt deeply liberating. Then, I got it fixed.
My husband and I shared a cell phone for a few years but when the contract ran out we opted for TracFones. Cheaper. We don’t talk long (you pay ahead so it’s anywhere from 8 to 15 cents per minute) but since we have a landline that’s OK, we have TracFones for emergencies. So that’s an option for cutting costs.