# Crappy cell phone apologists **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 26, 2018, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190 "2018-03-26T04:58:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/21 "2018-03-26T22:21:01Z")
One thing FAR too many people don’t know is that you need to talk clearly and speak with a normal volume when using your cell, AND KEEP THE DAMNED MICROPHONE A COUPLE INCHES FROM YOUR MOUTH!!! Too many people talk with the mic nearly in their mouths and, when you ask them to speak clearer, they shout, overpowering the system. I don’t understand how their friends understand them. A Bluetooth mic is several inches from your mouth and works well, when you’re not driving with your windows open. My headset mic is 1.5 inches away from my mouth and people can understand me fine. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/22 "2018-03-26T22:50:39Z")
I thought holding the cell phone close to your head gives you brain cancer. I am an arms length kinda gal. (I kid;)) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/23 "2018-03-26T23:44:00Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > What is it with people who defend their phones that sound like shit? > > **“It must be your phone, that’s why I sound like I’m in a tin can”** > > No, because it doesn’t matter if I call you from my cell phone or a landline. You sound terrible and I have to keep asking you to repeat what you said. > > **“It must be your hearing”** > > No, because everyone says they can’t hear you right when talking to you on your phone. > > **"I was lying down, that’s why I don’t sound right.** > > **“I can hear you fine. So there is nothing wrong with my phone”.** > > No, everyone who calls you says they can’t hear you and/or it sounds like you are speaking through a bullhorn into a tin can. Your phone is a piece of junk. What is so hard about admitting you need to exchange your phone because it sounds terrible? What is so hard about that? Huh? Not my cell phone, but at times our land line connection is messed up. We live right near a radio tower and sometimes we get interference. If it gets really bad, I’ll switch to my cell phone, but there have been times when someone has called when I told them I had to hang up and call them back. If you don’t like it, too bad. I can’t help it, and my dad refuses to get rid of the land line. (Yes, I know this was about cell phones. But it happens on land lines too) ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/24 "2018-03-27T01:08:42Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Sometimes you just slip slowly out of date without realizing it. I had my iPhone 5s for over 4 years. I thought it still plenty good enough but, when my SiL spilled potato soup on hers and pretty much killed it, we both decided to go phone shopping together. > > Based on performance versus cost, we settled on the iPhone 7 Plus. The difference is nothing less than impressive. The phone itself is flawless, the device as a whole is faster because it can take advantage of 4G capability, the camera is MUCH better, and the battery lasts a LOT longer. The display, of course, is much bigger. Plus, it’s water-proof. Though I can’t speak for it being soup-proof… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/25 "2018-03-27T01:56:48Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Uh, some things do not work on a landline. Actually, you can text to a Bell landline here in Ontario. The system calls the target number and reads the text to the recipient. I also remember Bell payphones with texting keyboards. This feels so late-nineties. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/26 "2018-03-27T09:53:16Z")
_ **"Hello, I’d like to exchange this phone. I got it here 2 months ago and everyone at work is complaining that they can’t hear me at all, even those who have the same exact phone and/or the same service and have no problem with theirs. This unit is obviously defective".** _ Where the heck is the shame in doing that? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/27 "2018-03-27T14:12:23Z")
I have a friend with a crappy phone. While making excuses for it he, at the same time, brags that he still uses a flip phone. _Brags!_ ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/28 "2018-03-27T14:46:17Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I have a friend with a crappy phone. While making excuses for it he, at the same time, brags that he still uses a flip phone. _Brags!_ I think I know that person! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/29 "2018-03-28T01:26:08Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Based on performance versus cost, we settled on the iPhone 7 Plus. The difference is nothing less than impressive. The phone itself is flawless, the device as a whole is faster because it can take advantage of 4G capability, the camera is MUCH better, and the battery lasts a LOT longer. The display, of course, is much bigger. And here is one of the people the OP was talking about! Note that in this whole paragraph, Jasmine never says anything about the voice quality of the new iphone. Never even seems to be a consideration at all. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/30 "2018-03-28T02:05:39Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > And here is one of the people the OP was talking about! > > Note that in this whole paragraph, Jasmine never says anything about the voice quality of the new iphone. Never even seems to be a consideration at all. I used a 7+ once or twice. The audio sounded fine to me. Certainly better than my LG800, though that is not saying a whole lot. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/31 "2018-03-28T04:09:02Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > And here is one of the people the OP was talking about! > > Note that in this whole paragraph, Jasmine never says anything about the voice quality of the new iphone. Never even seems to be a consideration at all. She said “The phone itself is flawless.” How does that make her “one of the people the OP was talking about?” What about her response made you think she has a “crappy cell phone?” ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/32 "2018-03-28T04:30:40Z")
While it is true that most persons in their 40s or below use phones more for the portable computer abilities, decent sound is still important to some of us. Take me. Because of my blindness, communicating by text is far more difficult than it used to be; a whole lot of work is involved even when the iPhone’s dictation is working perfectly, which it rarely is. A person has to mean a lot to me for me to be willing to engage in more than the briefest of text message exchanges. ---
**Author:** ![Swampwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Swampwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swampwolf)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/33 "2018-03-29T13:34:01Z")
> [@Uncommon\_Sense](#): > > I think I know that person! I think I **am** that person! ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2018, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190/34 "2018-04-17T06:12:08Z")
I’ve found that I have the hardest time making myself understood if I have to call any kind of large business or other organization with, presumably, elaborate land based telephone installations, PBXs, and so on, and this is probably the main reason [I hate, hate, HATE](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=844129) dealing with these organizations over the phone. Most of the time I can hear them fine, but they can’t seem to hear me. Whereas, if I just call another private party, who almost invariably will answer me on a mobile, we can all hear each other just fine. In both situations, I’ve tried it with and without a wireless headset and the results are the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/crappy-cell-phone-apologists/811190.md?page=1)