Don't you just HATE cellular phones?

[Adalbertus]

I hate cell phones and never had one. I'll refuse to have one. I don't want to be available all the time. I don't like to share a talk on the phone with everyone being around. It's annoying when you are waiting at the checkout in the supermarket and the person in front of you starts to talk into that thing. It's annoying when you are sitting in the train, tired from work and someone talks into that little box much louder than would be a normal chat in the train.

six or seven calls from the wife during work is not specific for cell phones, however. I had a colleague with a very bored wife ... OTOH, she's South American and barely speaks German.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Pekka
Yeah I know! But when you eventually open the phone again, it will be filled with text messages and phone calls, and your answer machine is full of angry people shouting why you don't return calls.

That's easy, find a service that doesn't provide SMS messages and mailboxes.

If you can't, ask the provider to turn those off for you, or maybe you can at least shut off SMS by adjusting your mobile.

[optimus2861]

In my frequent business travels in Europe over the last year and a half or so, what always irked me about those damn cell phones was, when you were in a meeting with several people who wouldn't turn their phones off. Sure enough, at least one call would come in on someone's phone, and off that person goes to take the call (because it's just SO much more important than the meeting you're in ). And the meeting grinds to a halt until his call's done. Five minutes later, repeat the process with the next guy's phone .

I'm thinking, I flew all the way over here from Canada, to work on this project with you, and here we are in a meeting, and you can't give me your undivided attention for one measly hour?!?!

And then someone will ask me, well why don't you have a phone while you're here? "Because I don't F***ING WANT ONE!!!" is what I want to say

[MattHiggs]

I wub my T68i... purty.

[Pekka]

optimus2861, I agree. It's so acceptable in here and normal that it's outrageous. It's ok to speak everywhere, loud and whatever the subject is. You don't have to worry about it, everyone does it!

[rah]

I directed a data/phone center for 10 years, and was on call 24/7/365 (not always primary or secondary but contacted frequently enough)
My current job is directing Application programmers.
I AM FINALLY FREE. NO PAGER, NO CELL PHONE.
I am in heaven and you couldn't pay me enough to start carrying one again. If I'm not at work or at home, I DON"T CARE WHAT YOUR STINKING PROBLEM IS, I DON"T WANT TO HELP YOU.

Yes, no doubt they are convienent. My wife and daughter both have them even asked me if I wanted their old one.
NOT A CHANCE. I've broken the chain of bondage and refuse to be sold into slavery again.

Besides all the annoying things that people have already posted, THE WORST, are all those socially innept people that bought these GREAT call plans (that I really don't care about what a deal they got) and have all these FREE minutes to use and feel obligated to use them no matter how much you don't want to hear from them, to discuss the weather and other similarly meaningless topics. GET A REAL LIFE AND STOP BOTHERING ME.


RAH

[Kassiopeia]

I'm a Finn. I have never had a cellphone, and I doubt I will ever have one.

You may proceed to express your utter disbelief now.

[Pekka]

You are either lying, or fugitive of the law.

[Lincoln]

I think that the whole cell phone culture is crazy. We have become slaves to technology. There really is another world out there that is not connected to some electronic impulse. People are turning into machines and they don't know it. Cell phones are rude. A ring can interrupt any conversation. They intrude at will where real people are trying to interract with real eye contact. This is a plague that is not going to pass quickly. I suggest that anyone who must have one at least learn some common courtesy and turn the thing off when it is not absolutely needed.

Telephones in general are rude machines. It is rude to tell someone that you are talking with in person to stand there and wait while someone who has cut into line (so to speak) yaps on the phone completely oblivious to your presence. Or you come to the home of an old friend and your conversation is interrupted by a phone call. Why can't people turn their phones off? If you don't control the machine the machine will control you.

[Kassiopeia]

You are either lying, or fugitive of the law.

I'm telling the truth, and the only illegal stuff I've done is 3 gigabytes of mp3s on my hard drive.

[Flubber]

I finally gave in to the dark side and got a cell phone. My wife wanted me to have one so I could contact her if I had a problem on my long bicycle rides (hard to find a payphone 50 km into the countryside . . . heck its hard to find a house )

Its tiny, its handy and mine almost never rings as I just gave the number to a few people. So I share everyone's feelings about cell phone rudeness and etiquette and the crazy cell phone drivers, but when I broke down 30 km from home on a very quiet country road to nowhere, I WAS SURE GLAD TO HAVE MINE .

[drake]

Pekka you sound very weak minded. You're letting the phone rule you. Turn the peice of crap off or throw it out. No one NEEDS one. We all made due without 5 years ago and we can now too.

[Adalbertus]

A few years ago at the University of Cologne, it went so badly in the economics courses that anyone whose cell phone rang during a lecture automatically would be excluded from the final exam.

[Pekka]

drake, yes, you are right. I'm not particulary weak minded, BUT when it comes to this phone thing.. I admit.
I should just throw it out. I need to get all the courage to do that first.

[Rex Little]

Originally posted by loinburger
I've got a Tracfone, which has an extremely cheap calling plan (five bucks a month)

Boy, are you lucky! I don't have a cell phone and don't want one, but my wife insisted on getting one to have in case of emergency. She got the cheapest available plan, but around here that's $25 a month ($20 for a digital service, but they don't cover rural areas). And as soon as her kid gets his driver's license, she wants him to carry a phone in case he breaks down or gets lost. So that's fifty bucks a month for something we go weeks at a time without using.