# I love love love love love caller ID! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 26, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519 "2009-02-26T16:21:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/21 "2009-02-27T16:51:16Z")
> [@Solfy](#): > > I don’t carry a cell phone. Me neither. And I too _love_ caller ID for many of the reasons you stated. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/22 "2009-02-27T18:43:29Z")
I haven’t run across a plan in recent times that doesn’t have caller ID included(landline or cell). That said, years ago when it was first offered and I had little money, I saved every penny, bought a caller ID unit (you had to get an external box) and ordered the service on the first day available. I never looked back…it’s one of the greatest things offered to mankind. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/23 "2009-02-27T18:55:58Z")
I have lived in two vastly different areas of the USA since caller ID began. In California, there was such a big hue & cry from privacy advocates that the state made the caller ID blocking function the default. So if you had a CID display, it was mostly useless since no one knew they could turn it on at the sending end, and they weren’t encouraged to do so anyway. In contrast, in a small Wisconsin town, the privacy advocates must have been asleep or at least more mellowed out, for the default setting was to NOT block outgoing calls. And since most people had no idea that such a feature existed, they were quite surprised when I was able to identify them before saying “hello.” I don’t know of anyone who blocks their CID now except the bank started doing that recently. It’s only useful if most people use it. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/24 "2009-02-27T19:23:08Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I have lived in two vastly different areas of the USA since caller ID began. In California, there was such a big hue & cry from privacy advocates that the state made the caller ID blocking function the default. So if you had a CID display, it was mostly useless since no one knew they could turn it on at the sending end, and they weren’t encouraged to do so anyway. I never, ever understood that argument. How was it supposed to be an invasion of someone’s privacy to oblige them to reveal their phone number when calling someone else? All Caller ID does is make it HARDER to harass others. ---
**Author:** ![Solfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Solfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solfy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/25 "2009-02-27T21:35:08Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > The party you’re affiliated with ahs your phone number, and it does not fall under the “do not call” registry, just as charities and non-profits do not. No affiliation - they’re a charity. Unfortunately they don’t seem to understand “no.” (or the “no” isn’t clear enough - see below) > [@neutron\_star](#): > > I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - this is horseshit. Especially politicians, because they’re slimyh bastards who are even less worthy of my time than telemarketers. I have some sympathy for the charities, but as long as my telephone line is a service that I’m paying for, it’s really only fair that I be able to block unwanted calls from _every_ organization, whether they make a profit or not. The charity in question is a “police” charity. The charity portion of their work is questionable. It’s always the same woman, and she is rude to me. She asks for my husband, and if I ask who is calling she will only give me her name, and does so very curtly. She’s all sweetness and nice to my husband, who is sometimes too nice for his own good. He will engage her in conversation for reasons I’ve yet to figure out. (He also used to spend Saturday mornings chatting with the door-to-door JWs.) Instead of telling her he will never donate, he tells her he can’t at this time, maybe later. We’ve had words about this. I enjoy hanging up on her now. I did it twice again last night. A month or so ago I heard a news blurb about a PA politician trying to pass a bill to include automated political calls on the “do not call” list. I hope it succeeds. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/26 "2009-02-27T22:02:30Z")
I don’t have a cell phone, and no caller ID on our land line, but I’d pay money for a service that would block calls with a hidden ID. Out of courtesy, I would like to have the caller hear a message explaining why their call was blocked. It should also keep repeating that message over and over until it hears a dial tone, just in case the caller is a computer. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/27 "2009-02-27T22:06:08Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > Of course my cell phone (only phone I have) does have caller ID, but unfortunatly it is possible - for others - to set you cell on ‘secret’ (translation from dutch), so you still don’t know who is calling. The same goes for companies/organisations who set will produce 'anonymous’on your screen when tey call. > Of course you can always refuse to answer these unknown calls, but since my dad - for some unholy reason - has had his cell set on secret for the last couple of years I do tend to answer. [This](http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10166455-94.html?tag=rtcol;pop) should take care of that- but my carrier doesn’t have it yet. ☹ ---
**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:** [February 28, 2009, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/28 "2009-02-28T16:38:04Z")
> [@rjk](#): > > I don’t have a cell phone, and no caller ID on our land line, but I’d pay money for a service that would block calls with a hidden ID. Out of courtesy, I would like to have the caller hear a message explaining why their call was blocked. It should also keep repeating that message over and over until it hears a dial tone, just in case the caller is a computer. Such a service exists. It doesn’t do quite what you say, but near enough. Call my sister’s number with a blocked number and you’ll get a message saying “Sorry, but this customer does not accept calls from callers who block transmission of their number. Please hang up, disable your caller-id blocking, and call again.” And the receiving line doesn’t even ring. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/29 "2009-02-28T17:16:52Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Investigation into the options may show you that you can set your phone to “buzz & vibrate” rather than ringing loudly, or to ring softly instead of loudly, or, better yet, to have a different ring for different callers. Then when your loving hubby calls, you’ll know it’s not a salesman (unless your husband is already a salesman). > > Once you get used to the convenience of a pocket phone, you realize there are many more uses than you thought. I use mine to call while driving, since that “telescopes” my day and I don’t have to make some of those calls at the office and tie up my work. > > People who turn off their phones in the car just don’t get it. “I only keep it for emergencies.” Wasn’t that the original reason for connecting up a landline to your home? Did you turn it off until you wanted to make a call? You’re paying for the ability to receive calls, now learn to use the feature, stuck-in-the-20th-Century-dumbass. > > There’s a reasonable solution to most of the complaints I hear. “I forget to charge it.” So get an extra battery and a car adapter. > > ETA: I assumed you were just kidding about not wanting to take hubby’s calls, but if you’re serious, my solution won’t be much help. Sorry. You assumed wrongly. I don’t want to talk on the phone when I’m driving. Don’t want to receive calls when I’m driving. I carry that phone so that I can call someone if my car breaks down, or if I have a medical problem. I MIGHT accept a call when I’m out running around, if I’m in a restaurant or something. My husband MIGHT have something important to tell me. More than likely, though, he’s bored and just wants to tell me what he just saw on TV. You assume that I want to take calls. I don’t. I just want to be able to make calls when I’m not at home. Pay phones are very, very rare nowadays, and working pay phones are even rarer. We have four landline phones…and two of them have the ringer switched off. One is permanently switched off, and one I usually switch off. Anyone who really needs to reach me can leave a message or email me. Yes, I AM an unsociable bitch. But I’m happier this way, and society is better off this way too. Seriously. Just because YOU feel that you need to be available to everyone with a phone doesn’t mean that I feel the same way. I don’t keep my phone in my pocket, because it WILL fall out. I’m short, I wear patio dresses, and the pockets on those dresses are below my hips. When I sit, the pockets tilt and deposit anything that was in them into the crevices of my car seat. ---
**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:** [February 28, 2009, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/30 "2009-02-28T17:26:59Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > You assumed wrongly. I don’t want to talk on the phone when I’m driving. Don’t want to receive calls when I’m driving. I carry that phone so that I can call someone if my car breaks down, or if I have a medical problem. I MIGHT accept a call when I’m out running around, if I’m in a restaurant or something. My husband MIGHT have something important to tell me. More than likely, though, he’s bored and just wants to tell me what he just saw on TV. > > You assume that I want to take calls. I don’t. I just want to be able to make calls when I’m not at home. Pay phones are very, very rare nowadays, and working pay phones are even rarer. We have four landline phones…and two of them have the ringer switched off. One is permanently switched off, and one I usually switch off. Anyone who really needs to reach me can leave a message or email me. **Yes, I AM an unsociable bitch.** But I’m happier this way, and society is better off this way too. Seriously. Just because YOU feel that you need to be available to everyone with a phone doesn’t mean that I feel the same way. > > I don’t keep my phone in my pocket, because it WILL fall out. I’m short, I wear patio dresses, and the pockets on those dresses are below my hips. When I sit, the pockets tilt and deposit anything that was in them into the crevices of my car seat. I protest. Nothing in the rest of your post supports the statement I bolded. It is not bitchy to choose to control when others may contact you. Why should you be obliged to take calls from everyone? ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/31 "2009-02-28T17:49:46Z")
> [@Solfy](#): > > _Pssssst!_ I’ll tell you a secret! Lean in real close, 'cause I don’t want anyone to hear. If word of this got out. . . well, I shudder to think what people would say about me. You have to swear you won’t tell anyone. Promise? Okay, then. > > I don’t carry a cell phone. > > Traa laa laa! I love technology! I’m just like everyone else with a cell phone permanently implanted in my ear! I’m not a land line user, no sir! Those old phones are for fuddy duddies who never go anywhere! I have a life. I have to be reached at all hours everywhere I go! I think land lines should be banned! > > Ahem. I feel better now. (cmyk waits 12 years for Solfy to post how she “loves loves loves loves loves cell phones!”) ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/32 "2009-02-28T18:01:55Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I protest. Nothing in the rest of your post supports the statement I bolded. It is not bitchy to choose to control when others may contact you. Why should you be obliged to take calls from everyone? Precisely. That’s why anti-cellphone sentiments like **Solfy’s** have me baffled. Having a phone can be considered a matter of convenience and a form of communication for emergency, business, practicality, or social. Having a cell phone, simply makes the above mobile. If you don’t want to answer the phone, then don’t. That’s why you have Voice Mail. I don’t carry a cell because I ‘must be reachable at all times,’ and answer whenever the thing goes off. I carry it for MY convenience. I run a business, I have a family, I have to run around a lot. It’s nice to be able to receive a text message from my wife that says, “Pick up some milk on your way home,” rather than getting home and having to run back out. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/33 "2009-02-28T19:07:47Z")
> [@rjk](#): > > I don’t have a cell phone, and no caller ID on our land line, but I’d pay money for a service that would block calls with a hidden ID. **Out of courtesy, I would like to have the caller hear a message explaining why their call was blocked. It should also keep repeating that message over and over until it hears a dial tone, just in case the caller is a computer.** I have bolded the part I would pay $$ to have that. Maybe I could put that as the greeting on my land line answering machine… Hummmm ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/34 "2009-02-28T20:31:14Z")
Even on my landline service, I can’t not get caller ID. It is part of the basic minimum package. So long as I have a phone with the right technology, I have caller ID. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/35 "2009-02-28T20:36:31Z")
Well, I am trying “TrapCall” also. A lot of firsts for me… ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2009, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/36 "2009-02-28T20:41:39Z")
I also hear they have this newfangled “electronic mail” system goin’ around. Technology, it’s a-changin’ alright! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/37 "2009-03-01T15:07:02Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > You assume that I want to take calls. I don’t. I just want to be able to make calls when I’m not at home. Now this I don’t understand. Do you not take calls at home, too? Do you unplug your home phone until you want to make a call? Why is being not at home different from being at home? The feaures available for landlines and cellphones are similar; you can send a call to voice mail, see caller ID, etc. So what’s the difference? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/38 "2009-03-01T15:28:03Z")
Nope, I don’t unplug my landlines. They all have switches that turn the ringer on and off. One phone, my bedroom phone, has the ringer turned off permanently. Another phone, my dayroom phone, sometimes has the ringer turned on, sometimes not. I am a day sleeper. What’s worse, I’m perfectly capable of answering the phone if it rings when I’m asleep. Whether I really wake up or just answer the phone while I’m asleep is subject to debate. What is a proven fact, though, is that I’ll swear I’m awake and taking notes, and then I’ll go right back to sleep, or continue to sleep. I’ve had several people tell me they’ve heard me do it. AND I WON’T REMEMBER ANY OF IT. This means that when the doctor’s office calls, and sets up an appointment for a heart test, I’ll agree to it. And I won’t show. When my mother in law called and wanted me to tell my husband to come pick her up, I didn’t do that. She waited, I believe, for four hours. So, it’s best if I don’t have a phone where I sleep. I do turn off the ringer in my dayroom on occasion. I have my computer and a couple of game consoles in that room. Sometimes I just don’t want to quit playing my game to see who has the nerve, the NERVE ;), to call me. The living room phone has an answering machine, and generally I’ll check it once or twice a day. I don’t have caller ID on my landline. Even if I did have it in all my phones, I’d still have to stop whatever I’m doing and look at the caller ID. Basically, I usually don’t enjoy talking on the phone, and I don’t see why I should feel obliged to accept any and all calls from anyone who has a couple of minutes and my phone number. This goes double during election season. Then I DO turn off all the ringers in all the phones. Things have become worse lately. My brother-in-law has been giving out our phone number as his own, because he only has a cell phone and doesn’t want to use up his minutes…especially if the caller is a debt collector. Since the phone is listed under my first name and my husband’s last name (this is darned handy, because anyone who DOESN’T ask for Lynn is sure to be someone I don’t know), any skiptracer is gonna try to get hold of him at my number, too. So while I’ve always been disinclined to answer the phone if I’m not in the mood, now I REALLY tend to just let the machine pick it up. If it’s someone I want to talk to, I can always call them back. I’m the only one who really gets snarly about being called. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/39 "2009-03-01T16:07:21Z")
> [@Solfy](#): > > Years ago when I was a poor college student in an apartment so small that it wasn’t so much an “apartment” as much as a “compartment,” the local phone company enjoyed calling me to offer wonderful services that I was not currently using. I did so look forward to their calls. I told one agent that I didn’t need caller ID because I was psychic. > She was skeptical. > “You’re psychic?” > “Yes I am.” > “So you knew it was me calling and you answered the phone anyway?” > “Yes I did.” > > Another agent got a very sad story, complete with the phone version of puppy dog eyes, about how I didn’t need caller ID because no one loves me and no one ever calls me and I’m so lonesome. > > I’m not poor anymore, but I’m still cheap. Until recently I had a no-frills landline with no bells and whistles. Then the cable company pissed me off, so I got a cable/internet/phone package that includes caller ID. > > I am in love! How did I ever live without this?! > > Husband’s idiot friend calls for the third time in a day - I don’t answer it! Mother-in-law calls when I’m too grumpy to make small talk? I pass the phone to Husband! No more stupid survey calls! The woman begging money for the “chief of police association” who keeps calling and won’t leave a message? _click_ On _click_ Off. It only took her two hung up calls to get the picture. Prior to this she’d been bugging us monthly. (the “Do Not Call” list is leaving something to be desired) If only I had this service back in October/November in time for the elections! > > I fully realize that no one is forcing me to answer the phone and I could just as easily screen my calls with the answering machine. I am one of those poor saps who can’t stand hearing the phone ring without answering it just in case it’s an old friend or something important. > > Caller ID, you’re my best friend. we stopped answering our landline a long time ago. We still have a few neighbors who insist on calling our landline, but they have learned to wait for the answering machine to pick up and then wait some more for us to reach a phone. Their choice. If they need to get in touch with us they break down and call our cells. Not sure why we keep the landline. We can go a week without using it. 90% of the incoming calls hang up as soon as the answering machine picks up. I assume the telemarketer computers have programmed themselves with our answering machine response and don’t bother to listen any more. I set the response with a few seconds of silence at the beginning-the telemarketers used to pay by the second and I was hoping that by increasing their costs I would get dropped off their lists. Of course it didn’t work- to them the cost of a call is almost zero now. They buy blocks of time and their computers do all the calling-people don’t come on until you pick up and say something. ---
**Author:** ![Solfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Solfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solfy)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519/40 "2009-03-02T18:36:25Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Precisely. That’s why anti-cellphone sentiments like **Solfy’s** have me baffled. > > Having a phone can be considered a matter of convenience and a form of communication for emergency, business, practicality, or social. > > Having a cell phone, simply makes the above mobile. If you don’t want to answer the phone, then don’t. That’s why you have Voice Mail. I don’t carry a cell because I ‘must be reachable at all times,’ and answer whenever the thing goes off. I carry it for MY convenience. I run a business, I have a family, I have to run around a lot. It’s nice to be able to receive a text message from my wife that says, “Pick up some milk on your way home,” rather than getting home and having to run back out. I am not “anti-cellphone.” I am anti-“cellphone as a permanent attachement to people’s heads.” I think they’re great, and I think they’re abused. I have a cell phone. At the time we got it, it was a way to get unlimited local toll and long distance for less than what it would have cost to get the same service on our land line. It lived at home in a drawer next to the land line phone and was only used for outgoing calls. It’s still there, but now that we have unlimited landline service, we’ll be switching to a pre-paid “emergencies only” phone. I have a 9-5 job that requires virtually no travel. I have a phone at my desk with an extension in my lab. My spouse is a stay at home dad. There is nothing so urgent in either of our lives that can’t be dealt with by leaving a message on the land line phones at our disposal. Having a cellphone isn’t a necessary convenience for me, and I’m getting increasingly frustrated by people who think I should carry one as a convenience to _them_. No one needs to reach me that badly on my 30 minute commute. I am not so important that the world can’t wait. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-love-love-love-love-love-caller-id/487519.md?page=3)