# Is a cel phone also an acceptable alarm clock? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101 "2010-10-23T15:22:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/81 "2010-10-26T19:29:59Z")
Only works squatting, not standing. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/82 "2010-10-26T19:43:30Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > If it’s rare, and the consequences aren’t dire, then why take the trouble to be prepared for it? You must never travel, deliver a research paper, have an important meeting, pick someone up from a red eye on the train or plane, or never catch a train or bus to work first thing in the morning. The power goes out (and then back on) in my city at least once every few months. Once every few months being wildly late for class (in the past) or work (now) seems pretty unacceptable to me. Or forgetting my mom or boyfriend at the airport because I didn’t have a battery alarm clock. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/83 "2010-10-26T20:00:41Z")
Where the hell do you live that your power goes out constantly? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/84 "2010-10-26T20:05:50Z")
You must get your electrical power from Comcast. My cable internet was like that. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/85 "2010-10-26T20:06:24Z")
Any always in the wee hours of the night?!?! If my boss was unreasonable about me being a little late following a power outage I think I’d start shopping for another job post haste. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/86 "2010-10-26T20:10:07Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > You must never travel, deliver a research paper, have an important meeting, pick someone up from a red eye on the train or plane, or never catch a train or bus to work first thing in the morning. The power goes out (and then back on) in my city at least once every few months. Once every few months being wildly late for class (in the past) or work (now) seems pretty unacceptable to me. Or forgetting my mom or boyfriend at the airport because I didn’t have a battery alarm clock. Once every few months? What kind of primitive power network are you on? For class? That’s not dire enough for me to set up redundant systems. Work? If there’s an actual power failure, a lot of people are likely to be late and is not considered unacceptable, in the manner of auto breakdown, accidents, or public transportation failure. Train or bus? Public transportation is notoriously unreliable and people who use it routinely arrive a little late. When there’s an actual breakdown in transportation, lateness is not considered unreasonable. An important meeting, an airport pickup? Those events are so rare that it’s highly unlikely that they would coincide with a power failure. Your mom or your brother wouldn’t call you from the airport if for some reason you hadn’t shown up? Expecting someone to set up a redundant or failsafe alarm as a matter of routine is unreasonable, unless you’re providing some kind of critical or emergency services, for which lateness could be a matter of life or death. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/87 "2010-10-26T20:26:12Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Once every few months? What kind of primitive power network are you on? \ > > Work? If there’s an actual power failure, a lot of people are likely to be late and is not considered unacceptable, in the manner of auto breakdown, accidents, or public transportation failure.\ > Expecting someone to set up a redundant or failsafe alarm as a matter of routine is unreasonable, unless you’re providing some kind of critical or emergency services, for which lateness could be a matter of life or death. Redundant? I’m saying use a cell phone or battery alarm. It’s 2010; you don’t need the rooster to get you up anymore. I only expect somone to set it up because an old cellphone is literally $10 on ebay; the same price or less than a cheapass plug-in from Wal-Mart. So yeah, I expect it. The “my alarm didn’t go off” excuse is null and void. Unless, of course, you set it for PM. I’m talking about the power going out and back on. I’m on Pittsburgh primitive power grid, though the blackouts in LA a few years ago were so much worse. This to me is an insanely simple problem remedied by a cheap solution. Battery powered or cell phone alarms are as failsafe as you can get. > [@Skammer](#): > > You must get your electrical power from Comcast. My cable internet was like that. _snickers_ yep. I count the days to FIOS freedom. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/88 "2010-10-26T20:31:46Z")
> [@lindsaybluth](#): > > I’m saying use a cell phone or battery alarm. It’s 2010; you don’t need the rooster to get you up anymore. And you don’t need to set up unreasonable expectations for the world around you. > [@](#): > > Unless, of course, you set it for PM. Oh, really? So, that’s an acceptable excuse then? You got it. A mature person wouldn’t require people to come up with detailed excuses. People get late. It’s life. It happens. Live with it. Professions that absolutely need people there on time, no excuses – fire services, or the U.S. Army – take the step of housing personnel in a place where they can get them up when they need to. If you ain’t them, it’s time for you to relax your sphincter. ---
**Author:** ![alexandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@alexandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alexandra)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/89 "2010-10-26T22:09:57Z")
W > [@SanVito](#): > > On my side of the bed, I have an alarm clock. On the other, my girlfriend uses her phone. This is a great source of irritation as her best friend has a habit of going out late, hooking up with random men, and drunk texting ‘yooou’re my bezz and I luuurve you’ at 3 o’clock in the morning. > > I would rather all phones were banned from the bedroom. With some phones the alarm will still go off as normal even if you have it on silent/vibrate. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2010, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/90 "2010-10-26T23:03:52Z")
I use my cellphone (a “dumb” phone, as my friends joke 🙂 ) as an alarm clock, and leave it on the nightstand a foot or two from my head. It’s never failed yet to wake me. To avoid the dead-battery issue, I plug it in to charge as I sleep if the battery indicator is at two bars or has been at three bars for a good while. At home, I also set the timer on my television to turn on at (hopefully!) the same time as I’ve set my cellphone. It’s not so much a back-up to _waking_ me as to _keeping_ me awake: since the television is in the living room, I have to get out of bed to either shut it off or watch it :D, by which time going back to bed is more trouble than its worth. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/91 "2010-10-27T02:35:15Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > A mature person wouldn’t require people to come up with detailed excuses. People get late. It’s life. It happens. Live with it. I think you forgot the part about me getting off your lawn :rolleyes: Seriously though, this is a _simple_ fix. That meeting, for instance. 5 people showed up instead of 6. Business was conducted, whereas if we all used plug in alarm clocks/roosters, nobody would have showed up and it would have been a complete waste of time that we’d have to makeup somehow. There’s no point in clinging to the past if there are _extremely_ cheap and easy alternatives to ensure that you’re always up. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/92 "2010-10-27T02:44:16Z")
There is a problem when your work supervisor starts making decisions about your personal life and what devices you choose to use at home. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/93 "2010-10-27T03:11:55Z")
Lighten up, Francis. I don’t know if you heard, but many people even date and marry their coworkers. You have to tell HR when you’re having a baby - a decidedly personal thing. You have to tell HR when you’re having surgery and have to miss several days. I dunno where the hell you’ve worked, but I’ve had coworkers and bosses and other department heads tell me about their personal lives on a regular basis. Often unsolicited, but that’s a part of life. Many bosses do comment on people’s personal lives, properly and improperly. He was lightheartedly joking. He wasn’t going to fire her for not having a 21st century alarm. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/94 "2010-10-27T03:28:21Z")
It’s never proper for a boss to comment on someone’s personal life unsolicited. And the function of HR is markedly different from that of a supervisor and it applies only when someone is claiming benefits. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/95 "2010-10-27T03:45:36Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > A friend and I were talking and he was saying that he’s encountered a lot of people who use their cel phone as an alarm clock, with invariably poor results (because a cel phone isn’t loud or jarring enough). The problem is probably one of the following: 1. The phone has lousy speakers. 2. The menu of ringtones/alarms doesn’t include any sufficiently loud/penetrating sounds. 3. He’s a deep sleeper. If it’s case 2, the solution is to load some better sounds (assuming the phone allows you to use custom sound files). I use either a Classic Trek red-alert siren (loud) or a Kimmunicator ringtone (penetrating), cranked up a bit using a bit of dynamic compression and amplification. (Also, the Windows Mobile alarm function bites; I use SPB time instead.) ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/96 "2010-10-27T14:55:31Z")
> [@alexandra](#): > > With some phones the alarm will still go off as normal even if you have it on silent/vibrate. Mine does. I’m pretty sure that it will even go off if the phone is technically switched off. > [@lindsaybluth](#): > > whereas if we all used plug in alarm clocks/roosters Where on earth do you plug in a rooster? ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/97 "2010-10-27T15:00:01Z")
i was thinking a hen, but i guess that wouldn’t work either. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/98 "2010-10-27T16:08:44Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Where on earth do you plug in a rooster? You _obviously_ need to visit Western PA. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/99 "2010-10-27T16:19:12Z")
Not when you put it that way, I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Woo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dr.Woo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Woo)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101/100 "2010-10-29T00:40:26Z")
I use mine and it works great. It’s quiet enough that I hear it and wake right up, but it’s not loud enough to disturb my husband. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-a-cel-phone-also-an-acceptable-alarm-clock/558101.md?page=6)