Were the classifieds ever really useful for that sort of thing? My memories of the classified ads in the very local newspaper was that they were mostly real estate, jobs and cars for sale - and people didn’t really read them unless they were looking specifically for those ads. So putting a notice in however many local papers covered the area still wouldn’t have gotten the word out to all that many people. I really don’t remember how I found out about the farmer’s market moving and that sort information 30 years ago
Apple Watch, so the phone stays in the office when I am at home. There is no place on the property where I am out of range of the phone, so I can reply/ignore/cuss at anybody who calls or messages while doing yardwork.
Not so much the classifieds – we used to (and sometimes still do) take out a quarter-page ad. But the regular customers, at least, used to look there for our starting date; and nearly all adults who wanted to keep any kind of track of what was going on used to at least skim through the paper.
I didn’t say it did. It makes it a less user-friendly computer, for me.
I don’t have many apps on my cell phone but one app I do have is Parallels Access, which lets me open a window to my computer and remotely control it. It’s a bit awkward, but I can pick which application and then click with my finger and invoke typing (keyboard pops up for me) and use actual MacOS applications.
The iPhone screen has really nice screen resolution. It may be small but you could run it at 1680 x 1050 and it would make a decent computer. Especially given its built-in ability to zoom. While I was stuck in a hospital waiting room for 7+ hours, I did some useful work on my computer at home via remote control.
I’m not answering this you, you data hungry damned dirty apes
I get that, for sure. But me, it’s going to nag at me if I don’t.
I do have a higher tolerance for that kind of thing if the question is a matter of remembering an actor’s name, mainly because I’d like to give myself a good shot at remembering it and enjoying the satisfaction that comes from that.
But if it’s a matter of trying to figure out if I’m correct in thinking I recognize someone I’ve seen somewhere else, I might never be sure unless I look it up. I mean, pay attention to the closing credits, sure, but I’m likely as not to blink when the name in question makes its half-second appearance onscreen.
I keep my cell phone on our central device charging rack in the corridor, along my wife’s phone, our landline wireless handset, and a lot of other things that need charging. Except when working from home, because I need my phone multiple times per working day for my employer’s 2FA.
For reading on the couch or in bed I use not my phone but my tablet.
I know what a computer is. For the record, my career was in IT. I used to work for a major computer manufacturer and software developer. I’ve done IT consulting for major organizations, I’ve designed the architectures of major multi-million-dollar business systems and project-managed the development of many of them. I was also part of the enterprise architecture group at a major financial institution. I’ve worked with computers my whole life, before most people had even a rudimentary understanding of what a computer was. I know what a computer is.
As noted above, I, too, was in the biz. I’m not disputing that a smartphone is indeed a computer, and by legacy standards, most of them are pretty powerful multiprocessors, too. I’m just responding to the question in the OP. I mostly hate the damn things, and use them only for making and receiving phone calls and, OK, for texting when I’m forced to. Otherwise the stupid thing stays down in the kitchen beeping to itself.
As an Old Fart with a lifetime of experience with computers, I’m something of an anomaly – a paradoxical mix of technologist and Luddite. In some instances I embrace technology – I have numerous desktop and laptop computers all over the house. In other instances, I’m just annoyed by the idea that computer and communications technology should be deployed for no other reason than “because we can”. I love and appreciate the utility of cell phones, but I put the ubiquity of smartphones in the same category as internet-connected fridges and stoves. And I acknowledge that most of the world disagrees with me.
What I’m referring to here is the generation of people who miss out on life by constantly having their attention glued to their stupid phones. People who attend spectacular events and miss a lot of it because they’re taking pictures and texting back and forth with their friends about how great it all is. I was at a very fine sushi bar some time ago – the kind where the sushi chef’s expertise is part of the experience, along with the beauty of the finished product – and some idiot nearby was constantly taking pictures of the sushi and, judging from the relentless tapping on the phone, exchanging texts about it with her friends. It was annoying, yes, but also rather sad.
No, I don’t carry a cell phone at home.
I have a landline to talk to people.
My cellphone is always switched off except for 3 situations:
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Emergency call when traveling.
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2FA notifications with financial institutions
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As a hotspot when my internet service is down.
The ability to carry on asynchronous group conversations without being tethered to a messenger app on a computer is one of the greatest things about smartphones, just behind the whole “sum of all human knowledge” bit. My phone is always nearby, but also always on vibrate. If I’m able to hear it go bzzt, I’m probably not so busy that I can’t peek at it.
I guess I’m just not important enough to need to turn my home into the digital equivalent of Alcatraz, because I rather enjoy being able to stay in easy touch with my friends and loved ones. Or maybe I’m not smart enough to understand how my phone is ruining my life. Or maybe I’m not virtuous enough to realize that technology is a plague on society.
I dunno. I just really like animated gifs.
I wouldn’t know how to do that back then or now other than putting a notice on the bulletin boards at the local grocery stores.
No, that seems bizarre to me.
Phone stays on my desk. I also stay at my desk at home, generally. Works out pretty well.
And a secondary phone without a SIM card will catch any correspondence sent to my super secret Google Voice number. Anything sent to that number is likely important, so it’s hooked up to a 700W Crown amplifier driving four fifteen inch speakers, natch. Annoys the hell out of the neighbors, but safety first!
Anybody who knows me knows I delete all voicemail messages without listening to them, so a quick glance at the phone every once in a while gives me any information I need.
Emergency (caused by or to others)? Yeah, sure I’ll see it, but what’s the diff if it’s in an hour or two versus at that very second? Pretty doubtful I’m in a position to offer immediate life-saving aid, like Paramedic Batman or something.
Yes, it’s always within arms reach, either in my pocket or next to me on my desk when I’m sitting down.
No, I just leave mine laying around wherever. Sometimes it may not be touched for days. In fact, I often leave home for short trips, for instance shopping, and don’t bother taking it with me.
I gots my devices. I’m positively a Borg with the devices attached to me.
My tablet, my hand me down phone from one of the kids is my regular phone. And my secret phone. Are always near. Often all three needing me at the same time.
My regular phone and my caretakers phone are set to receive notifications if I alarm one of my medical devices. So the phones and devices need to be nearish. Works good inside the house.
I have a smart watch but it’s in a drawer. Wasn’t handy as we were led to believe.
Never had landlines out here in the boondocks.
No, I do not carry my cell phone with me at home. It stays in its charger, on the kitchen counter. I have a landline, which is also my office line, with three or four extensions scattered around the house. If you want to reach me, call me on my office line. Chances are, I won’t even look at my cell for a few days, at least. I sure don’t hear my cell phone when it rings, unless I’m in the kitchen.
I also don’t carry it when I drive to the supermarket, or walk to the corner store. This appalls my sister, who is so tied to her phone that she cannot do anything without it. “What if you get into a car wreck? What if you collapse on your way to the corner store?” Well, my car has a phone built in, and I’ve been walking to the corner store for over fifty years. If I didn’t need a cellphone on a three-block trip to the corner store in 1968, I don’t think that I need one on the same trip now.
Sis wouldn’t shut up about how little I used my phone until I told her about a really cool app that I downloaded. It suggests winning horses at North American racetracks. “Really, Sis! I can stand in line for the betting window, and get expert selections in the next race!” She shut up after that.
(Actually, I analyze the Racing Form, and make my decision on whom to bet after studying a number of factors. The app’s selections are just another handicapper’s selections, and I can get between one and six sets of professional selections, depending on which track I’m playing. Great suggestions, but knowing how to analyze the Form is paramount.)
I voted Yes. The cell phone has risen to the top priority along with wallet and keys, for what stays in my pockets. My Swiss Army knife and Leatherman are up there too, but I don’t always have them with me. So I guess they are Priority 2.
After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, my keys and wallet are always with me. Now it’s the phone too. You never know when you’ll have to run out the door with only what’s in your pockets.
No. Mine stays on the side table in the living room. Once in awhile I’ll take it to my bedroom to use the alarm, but that’s rare.
I do hate when I forget to take it with me when I leave the house though. If I’m walking, I want the music and if I’m driving I want the gps and my music library.
When my daughter was in high school she would text me around 10 or 11 most nights to “chat”. I think it helped her fall asleep. After ten minutes of texting she would tell me goodnight.