I blame fax machines

[trevtheturner]

I'll third it! :wink:

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[tim]

Now these devices helped with our business and I could support my customers far better with them, and this is my point.; for business use mobile phones are probably essential, but I practically never use my mobile for social stuff and only my family and secretary have the number.

My wife is a doctor who works in a highly specialised field which means that her clinics are spread all over the country. She runs these clinics on her own usually using local specialised nurses. The net result is she is often driving late at night on her own in unfamiliar areas. Am I happy she has a mobile? Does she sometimes call me to talk to me when walking back from the train to a badly lit car park just because it makes her feel safer? Not exactly business use but vital to her (and my) way of living and working.

The reason I got my first mobile? Stuck in a massive tail back on the A74 for 6 hours. Late to meet friends for a big get together - everyone was worried sick - oh and i'd got over being bored by hour three!

So please Luddites, get over yourselves - if you don't like texting, don't do it but if others want to then fine.

Every where I look people refuse to be alone (texting) or bored (texting). Boredom at a bus stop is good for you, the mind wanders and great thoughts might occur. But NO!!! these days being alone is an excuse to reach for the mobile.
When I used public transport, I read about 4-5 books per week whilst sitting on buses, I educated. entertained and enlightened my self and enjoyed every minute of it. I did not inflict pointless, ridiculously abbreviated messages on friends just because I was on a bus.
I see people walking down streets with their hands on those STUPID little mobile phones. Why not be alone for a while Look around you or, perish the thought, talk to someone in the flesh!!!!!!

Dangerous comment Tony. :roll: Stone throwing and glasshouses spring quickly to mind!

One final thought:

A huge number of my mates think I'm pretty sad talking to a bunch of like minded people I've never met on the web in a wood working forum. I don't think its sad, i think its entertaining, stimulating, social and educational and can't understand why others wouldn't want to do it as well.

Still at least its not like texting (its got spellchecker! BTW the spellchecker doesn't recognise the word 'spellchecker', 'spellcheck' or 'recognise' either).

According to your profile Tony - you've sent the equivalent of 1770 texts. However, most texts are c 150 words long max therefore by extrapolation the figure is closer to 3,000. I imagine that you still talk to people as well and see people? How do you know these texters aren't reading books, seeing their friends, educating themselves? Ever used the phrase IMHO? See what I'm saying?

In my day..... :twisted:

I love the smell of the 21st century in the morning

Tim

Whose not sure that the rant is over.

 

[Alf]

Not exactly business use but vital to her (and my) way of living and working.

I disagree. She wouldn't be in those situations if it wasn't for her job.

The reason I got my first mobile? Stuck in a massive tail back on the A74 for 6 hours. Late to meet friends for a big get together - everyone was worried sick - oh and i'd got over being bored by hour three!

Tim, I can only assume this is deliberate obtuseness to prove your point.

A huge number of my mates think I'm pretty sad talking to a bunch of like minded people I've never met on the web in a wood working forum.

They're probably right...

According to your profile Tony - you've sent the equivalent of 1770 texts. However, most texts are c 150 words long max therefore by extrapolation the figure is closer to 3,000. I imagine that you still talk to people as well and see people? How do you know these texters aren't reading books, seeing their friends, educating themselves? Ever used the phrase IMHO? See what I'm saying?

I see what you're saying. However I think it's somewhat different to spending your time texting schoolmates you've just seen, workmates you're just about to see etc etc, which seems to comprise the bulk of this behaviour. If, however, Tony has a couple of hundred woodworking friends he regularly sees (pausing only to get out his laptop when he's with them in order to post on this forum, of course) then I would agree your point is valid. There are reasonable grounds for having and using a mobile, I don't think anyone's denying that, but it seems to be taken to extremes. All IMO, natch. :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[Anonymous]

Now that, Tim, is a whole new slant on texting that I've never considered! fully agree.

(oh, and I work for the world's largest telecoms equipment manufacturer, and HATE HATE HATE phones. All phones, not just mobiles. Can't stand the things)

 

[tim]

tim wrote:
Not exactly business use but vital to her (and my) way of living and working.

I disagree. She wouldn't be in those situations if it wasn't for her job.

Thats partly true - but work is part of life - difficult to draw the distinction - what about if she was off to see some friends instead?

tim wrote:
The reason I got my first mobile? Stuck in a massive tail back on the A74 for 6 hours. Late to meet friends for a big get together - everyone was worried sick - oh and i'd got over being bored by hour three!

Tim, I can only assume this is deliberate obtuseness to prove your point.

What do you mean - that I'm making it up to prove my point? Actually not the case - it was before mobiles were given out routinely as part of work contracts. I was living in Edinburgh and driving to London. The sheer frustration at not being able to contact anyone meant that the following day in London i went out a got a mobile.

In general I don't disagree with the fact that it can be pretty annoying to be surrounded by a whole bunch of people texting but my gripe would be with the group not the texting.
Its also pretty annoying to be surrounded by a bunch of people who are doing something collectively that you aren't involved in - simple psychology of 'in' groups and 'out' groups. Be honest -if they weren't texting each other what would you rather they were doing? Singing songs, writing in the condensation on the windows, hitting each other with schoolbags - because sure as hell they wouldn't be sitting quietly reading or discussing points of philosophy.

Most of the comments in the threads above are thinly disguised comments of disappointment at the 'youth of today' and not about the technology. I felt it only fair to defend some of those points.

I mean really what does it matter if everyone has mobiles? To answer the question honestly (me included) is actually to admit its about how intolerant we are. :wink:


T

Who can't understand the lyrics anymore in songs - not proper music is it!

 

[Alf]

What do you mean - that I'm making it up to prove my point?

Don't be daft. My point was that no-one's saying mobiles don't have their uses, such as letting people know where you are if there's a delay, but the use of them is taken to ridculous extreme. That's what the gripe is about. It does seem to be reaching a point where people are unable to function without their thumb darting from key to key all the time. Maybe I wouldn't mind so much if I thought even a fraction of it was worth the effort of sending.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Gill]

It's quite cosy in this bunker, isn't it Frank? I wonder what's going on outside...

To be honest, I haven't read the thread on the rugby game. Instead, I've been busy watching workers' bums as foundations are laid for my new workshop. I can hardly wait - it should all be constructed in about a month, then it's just a case of getting wiggly amps supplied, a bit of insulation and cladding, and some varnish and preservative. Not necessarily in that order - the preservative will go on at the first opportunity.

Oh dear, I hope nobody expects me to actually go into the workshop when it's all set up and actually make something (hammer) .

Gill

 

[frank]

gill, looking at builders bums thats kinky that is :wink: :wink:

i am just going to pop my head out of the bunker to look at the rugby :twisted: :twisted: :wink:

 

[Waka]

Shouldn't you be texting for a taxi these days

Sorry Tony, that's one thing I've never tried, mind you it does amaze me how the young can adapt the thumb to wiz across those little key pad.

My use of a mobile is very limited and only to let my other half know where I am when travelling.

My pet hate about mobiles is the morons that travel the roads at speed with a mobile glued to their ears, putting other lives at risk. I'm not talking here about "hands free" although a recent report did suggest that this was as bad.

I do a lot of flying and the one thing that I don't understand is the guys that phone up the office repeatedly and say "thought I'd just check to see if there are any messages" or the guys that give a running comentary about getting on and off a plane.

Maybe the constant use of mobile phones makes people feel important.

Another technological advance that is supposed to help business is the e-mail.
How many people on the forum spend hours just sifting through e-mails on a daily basis (forum not included) to find that out of the 100 in the inbox only 10 are relevant.

welcome to the world of advanced technology.

Gill can I join you in the Bunker



If there is a real business need then it's a useful toy to have, but I suggest that a majority of mobile calls ont he airwaves are drival IMHO.

 

[tim]

Maybe the constant use of mobile phones makes people feel important.

I definitely think that is true.

BTW can you get a signal in the bunker? :lol:

Going to the pub (where there isn't one!) - I've got some 24 hour drinking to be getting on with :lol:

T

 

[Anonymous]

Do the anti-progress lobby on this thread really believe that times in the past were so good. I can remember when to own a car you had to be fairly wealthy or a doctor,the same for a telephone.People were crippled with polio or died ither thousands from T.B or any number of diseases. The Good Old Times were only good if you could afford it.I know the Rose tinted glasses game is fun but in reality there wasn't much rose tinting in my childhood but I did enjoy it all the same.

I see your point. But.

We are on a collilsion course for there not being enough money in the kitty for pensioners not to be cared for by the state. Last I heard this hits the buffers around 2015-ish. And when am I about to retire?

Government have spotted this and are actively working on the solution. Not to get more money in, but to stop people retiring at 65. Less than 10 years ago as I recall governments were talking about reducing the retirement age, now they are looking at increasing it to 70 and perhaps beyond. All well and good, but my lifeplan was to retire at 60-ish and spend a few healthy years relaxing. Seems they've taken the carpet out from under my feet with that one.

And what's wrong particularly with not being able to own a car? It used to be the case that you could park anywhere without much fuss. Today you have to search for a parking space. And back then you could rely upon a decent bus and train service. And with a lack of cars on the roads I believe the air we breathe was a bit safer than it is today.

I still manage to get by without holding a telephone to my ear as I'm walking down the street or pushing the trolley around tescos, but it seems many people can't. I'd happily scrap mobile phones in their entirety if it were possible, don't like 'em, never have.

I remember the 60's as being a relaxed atmosphere. People earning less than 10 pounds a week as I recall.

Andrew

 

[Midnight]

Luddite huh...??

yea.. well... that might be true enough... but there's days when that's definately a good thing to be. I've lost count at the munber of morphadites I've seen driving while using their mobile, this a full year after the said activity was banned; does wearing yer brain in yer backside automatically grant immunity??
Granted, back in the day, I've been guilty of doing the same myself. Difference was I wasn't immitating some poor bugger with an awfull sore ear... I used a hands free set. Ohh... I was stationary too... stuck in traffic..
The ultimate clown has gotta be those who think they can text while driving; ya canna miss em... focus on their groin, weaving around all over the place, absolutely no cognassance of their surroundings... maybe these super-hero's should be made to wear their underwear over their tights... give the rest of us a fighting chance of taking evasive action...
Kids abusing technology I can understand... kinda sorta... I mean they're kids... sposed to be daft.. right...??
What excuse do these supposed adults have..???


I debated the point with a workmate over lunch a while back... trying to figure what I was missing out on...

Text..??
never did use it... what's the point when I've access to free e-mail and / or forums...

Built in camera..
ummm... you need this because...????

But you can take pics and send em to your friends... I can take real pictures... scan em, edit em to suit... then e-mail or file transfer... again, all free..

OK... watching movies...
on yer phone...?????? the point of this is what exactly...??

To take advantage of blue tooth technology...
ummm...... my dentist takes care of that for me... well... that and toothpaste...

So I'm askin... what am I missing out on?? Near as I can figure.. it's less than zero... unless there's something to be said for repetative strain on my thumbs...

 

[Anonymous]

Good man Mike! You hit the nail on the thumb!

Somehow my wife and I grew up without a mobile phone and texting. Dunno how we managed, but somehow we did.

I've done some texting - about 10 seconds worth. That persuaded me that this was an utterly pointless exercise.

A bit like a PDA which has no keyboard. I loved my old HP200LX which had a diddy keyboard, can't get on with the stylus arrangement at all. Not least because I appear to be showing the early signs of parkinsons disease (runs in the family, I have to be careful picking cups of tea up, that sort of thing).

Reminds me of a joke but I think this forum might be a bit too upmarket for that sort of thing

Andrew

 

[Midnight]

PDA's..??

ummm... I make do with scraps o paper.. altzheimers takes care of anything else.. :wink:

the other day during lunch break (first break I hadn't had to work through in a while) I'm sat in the smoke shack... head miles away... and in walks this youngun... exchanged pleasentries as ya do.. and promptly settled back into planning the current project in my 'ead (read dozing)...

next thing I know the walls are reverberating to the sound of the Queen Mary's steam whistle... I near chit myself... cig went flyin et al... I'm lookin around expecting an 18 wheeler bearing down on me.. an the pup takes this silvered match box outa his pocket.. starts talking to it...

I'm like.. WTF.....???!!!!

It's my ring tone... says the pup...

I threw him out... bodily... it was raining..!!!!!! :evil: :twisted: :evil:

technology is a good thing....??????????????????? :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

 

[Anonymous]

Tim

I think you missed my point.

My main gripe is pointless texts in the vein pf those Alf pointed out and the INABILITY of said people to walk down a street, stand at a bus stop, sit on a train, drive a car etc. without reaching for that damed mobile!!

I have a mobile phone. It lives in a drawer mmost of the time and I take it to work and back each day. If I am going to be late picking my daughter up, then I phone the child mider on it. If my wife is in a dark car park at night, she may phone me on hers to feel a little safer
These are useful and legitimate uses and my rant was not aimed at thse uses. IUt was not at mobiel phones in general (read it again and you'll see)

And for the record, I have not sent 1700 texts, I have conversed on-line with friends who like the same thing I do - rants :lol:

 

[trevtheturner]

I managed perfectly well before the advent of mobile 'phones and, never having actually needed one, still do.

Isn't the situation really down to the companies that have developed these things, along with a lot of other 'modern' gizmos, who, by virtue of clever marketing, have convinced a majority of people that they need them in order to fleece more money from their wallets? Now that the majority have one, the next stage is for the companies to persuade people that they cannot do without updating to the latest, with photo/email/internet etc. facilities, to replace their perfectly serviceable existing 'phone. The gullibility and determination of so many, including members of my family, to be sucked in in this way to 'keep up' with the next person amazes me. All IMO :wink: . (I do have a mobile 'phone, with camera, passed on to me by my daughter when she 'upgraded' (???) last July. I've taken it out of the house twice, when I might have needed it. It came with a tenner's worth of credit on it, which it still has!).

Damned things annoy me when LOML, indoors, exchanges text messages, several in one sitting, with one of our sons or daughter or a friend, over something much better dealt with by using the house 'phones. :evil: :evil: Constant peep-peeping is the signal to bail out to the workshop!

In Kenya on safari some years ago we could have left a 'phone or camera/camcorder at a stopping-off point out in the bush and gone back later to retrieve it. It would have been most unlikely to have been moved because it was useless to the native population - no charging facilities/batteries/films etc. But.........in the absence of all these modern things, including TV, cars, washing machines, et al, the majority of the population there, living in mud huts! but always keeping themselves clean and immaculate, and with an average income equivalent to about two quid a week, seemed every bit as happy and contented as any Brit. I know.

So, I wonder again, just what is this 'progress' that we talk of?

Cheers,

Trev.

 

[tim]

I do agree with a lot of what has been said - I don't know why I would need the ability to send video on my phone! Hats off to their marketing guys though.

I heard recently that the main reason that mobile phone calls are so intrusive (aside from the ring tone) is the fact that your brain tries to fill in the missing half of the conversation making it impossible to ignore. That coupled with the general banality of it (or pompous self importance of some calls) is absolutely maddening. However, removing any rose tinted specs for a second, if you look at old comedy sketches, Andy Capp, Giles etc etc there were far too many references of old of (generally) women talking for hours on a telephone in the hall to a neighbour up the road (that they had seen earlier that day) or teenage daughters hogging the phone to gossip with their mates. Its human nature to talk utter c**p, its our way of bonding - grooming and picking fleas if you like. You only have to listen to a bunch of blokes talking about football to realise that - its a leveller and makes most people feel part of the group and comfortable.

Trev I agree with you about the 'keeping up with the Jones' mentality - that has gone mad.

Tony - I did read your comment again and while you say in your later point that it was not a rant against mobile phones in general I think I was probably swayed by the sign off comment:

Mobile phones Aaaaarrrggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

What do you think? :wink:

Anyway I'm glad you responded, I thought you might be just sitting there on your Playstation (or is that another thread for the future) :lol:

T

 

[Anonymous]

ITony - I did read your comment again and while you say in your later point that it was not a rant against mobile phones in general I think I was probably swayed by the sign off comment:

Mobile phones Aaaaarrrggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

What do you think? :wink:

Anyway I'm glad you responded, I thought you might be just sitting there on your Playstation (or is that another thread for the future) :lol:

T

Ohh that comment

By the way what's a playstation? - it's OK, I'm not a technophobe or anything like that, just hate the texting phenomenon!

I was shocked to see a guy who had a playstation fitted in his car the other day?????? Drive safely :wink:

 

[dedee]

Can I bring in Python at this point

"What did the Romans ever do for us"

Like it or not, agree with it or not we cannot uninvent things nor has any developed society ever stood in the way of progress.

Andy

 

[Taffy Turner]

Surely the point here isn't the technology that is bad, it is the way that some people choose to use (or misuse) it.

Most of the ire directed at mobile phones is down to a simple lack of courtesy by the user. It isn't the mobile that is annoying, it is the sad gimp who insists on phoning his mates to tell them that he is on the train, when you are trying to quietly read the latest Terry Pratchet or whatever.

A quick call to SWMBO to tell her not to put the dinner on yet, as the train is running an hour late (yet again!!!) is a legitimate use for the technology (IMHO), prattling on for 20 minutes in a LOUD voice, with the F-word inserted in every sentence, about how drunk you were the other night, and what a slapper your mate's new bird is, IS NOT!!

BUT - it is the user who is at fault - not the technology.

If everyone was taught basic manners as a child, and bothered to behave in a polite and civilised way for the duration of their life, then all these irritations with technology wouldn't exist. It isn't the technology that is causing the problem, it is simply the means by which modern society's ills are brought to light.

That's my rant over for today!