Talk about your cell (mobile, wireless, digital, whatever) phone use!

In My Humble Opinion
1

Hey, like 'em or not, they’re here! So, if you have one and want to tell us how you use it, this is the place.

Not a debate.

I use mine quite a bit. Daytime use is almost all business. Like setting up an appointment to bid something, or some of the different guys I work with from time to time calling me to see if I can help out on something. Or, just to call and meet up for lunch.

Then there’s also the opinion calls. Like when I’m at the lumber yard and I wonder what john would use for blah blah blah. Or someone remembers that one other thing we need to get.

Essential? Probably not. Convenient? Hell yeah!

I have unlimited night and weekend, no extra charge* roaming, and no extra charges for long distance. All for less than I pay for my home phone. Plus, the convenience of being able to reach people or be reached in moments.

yes, I have family and friends that are LD calls that I probably wouldn’t talk to as much without the cell. In fact, before e-mail and digital phones, I was a card person, rarely calling those LD people. But now? Hey, I’m already paying for it (one way or another), so why not call?

I’ve even used it on the slopes at Winter Park! “What lift you going down to?” " I’m going to the bar." “Um, is little Shelly with you or her mom?”

Sure, some etiquette should be required. But, this is not a pro/con debate thread. Just tell us how you use your phone.

*I don’t call it “free” roaming, minutes, LD. You ARE paying for it, just by buying into that service. It’s either unlimited use or no extra charge for use.

2

I keep mine (Samsung T100) charged and on but I don’t use it much. Maybe roughly 2 or 3 calls a week. And the texting even less.

The contract has a roaming agreement. And I pay for the answermachine service but in the over a year since I got the phone I haven’t bothered to work out how to switch it on.

The other day I got a call on it while it was almost empty of charge, it was in my coat so it took me ages to get it and it went ‘dead’ before I could answer and didn’t record who called, so It will be a mystery forever (I did ring the people who are likely to ring me and it wasn’t them)
The games on it are pants and the software not very clever but it ‘gets me from A to B’ so to speak.

3

I also have unlimited night and weekend calling so I use it for all my LD needs. Don’t even have LD service at home.

I don’t use the phone a lot. Matter of fact, right now it’s out in my truck switched off. I like the convenience of having it if I need/want to use it, but it is for my convenience.

The only time I have come close to using the monthly allottment of day time minutes when my father was in the hospital in critical condition those last few days before he died and during that week after he died. I used 485 out of 500 minutes that month. My usual average is maybe 30 minutes for the month.

However, I use the heck out of the unlimited night and weekend calling deal.
Like you said NoClueBoy I’m paying for it and being your basic cheap bastard, I’m gonna work that deal for all it’s worth. :smiley:

4

I like to go to a baseball game and call a friend in another part of the stadium. Then, I stand there jumping up and down waving my free hand over my head until he says he sees me. Then, I sit back down, and go, “baseball’s sooo boring. When is the sixth inning, so I can leave?”

5

I don’t have a land line. I use my cell phone for all calls when I’m not in the office. It is always charged. I have never had it die on me. I have caller ID, voice-mail, text messaging, unlimited nights & weekends, and no additional charges for long distance. I don’t answer it while I’m driving, at the movies, at dinner, with friends (unless we’re waiting for someone & it’s them calling), or on dates.

I think they should hand out etiquite pamphlets with each cell phone contract.

6

I don’t have one. I’m so “1980”!

My wife has one. It sits on the table next to the “real phone”. When I really need to get in touch with her, I see it sitting there and it pisses me off. When she does remember to take it with her in the car, the battery will undoubtably be dead and the power cord is in whatever car she is not in, and it pisses me off. And yet I pay a nice charge for it each and every month. Total waste of money.

Hitler said it best: “Ack! Der cell phone is der nuisance phone!”

7

I love my cell phone. It is always on, and I mainly use it to make totally unnecessary calls to my friends, ensuring that they know my every move, and are aware of my every passing thought. When I’m bored I text amusing people who will entertain me. Luckily all my friends use their phones in an equally frivolous manner.

8

I have used my cell phone less than 20 times since I got it last October. In all cases it was to tell my parents that I would be at school late, or that I was going home with someone else and they didn’t need to pick me up.

Most of the time my phone stays in my backpack, turned off.

9

Use it primarily to coordinate things with my wife and my family. “I’ll pick up our son, you can go get the groceries”-type stuff. I leave it on whenever I’m out of the house, though, so I can be reached in case of an emergency.

10

Long Distance. When we move, we might not have a land line at all.

In Touch. If Wolfie eats a greenbean, I want day care to call me, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Coordination. The Hub and I carpool, and if I’m off in a meeting, it’s easier to coordinate. Same for travelling, etc.

Privacy. Right now cell numbers aren’t listed with directory services. As that changes, I will shift my phone to a mail box service for billing.

Running late. Highway gets shut down for act of frog, I call daycare or a backup care giver for Wolfie.

11

I’m lucky to use mine 10 minutes per month. The phone and all its airtime are from work, so it costs me nothing, as long as I stay under 600 minutes a month and don’t do text messaging. I just don’t like cell phones.

12

Barely use it. But two things I love about my phone.

  • Polyphonic Ringtones. Yes, they can be annoying. So it’s on silent most of the time. But when I put it on normal mode…fun! I just got “Summertime” by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. That’s my ringtone. And I rotate it with the themes from Mission Impossible, The A-Team, and the James Bond theme.

  • Wireless Internet. Just to check sports scores. And other things too.

Otherwise, it’s more of convenience. I try not to let it control my life, and it’s now second nature to turn it off in a movie theater, etc.

13

We have the Verizon family plan, unlimited minutes between the four of us. Dad, Mom, Teen and the single gramma that lives in another part of the state. We haven’t ever gone over on the allotted minutes for our plan, though we do get a little bit of roaming when gramma uses her cel to make calls other than to the other three of us as she lives just over four hours away from us. She rarely does this so we don’t fret about it.

We discontinued the land line, so the cost is a wash. The four of us have cels for what the line at the house was costing.

14

My cell is charged and on at all times. It’s typically with my Epi-Pen - so I can use one hand to call 911 and one to jam the injector into my leg. The only people who call are typically family or doctors offices.

DeHusband has a bag phone in the car - only used in calling 911, Dominoes, or me “I’m turning into your office - meet me outside”. He’s so romantic.

We’re getting DeHusband a pocket phone soon. He recently spent 15 hours incommunicado in Dallas with several thousand other flyers. Not good when you have an 85 year old mother who worries. (And when she can’t find him, she worries me. He is SO getting a phone.)

It’s getting so we rarely use the land line. If we move, we probably won’t take it with us.

15

:smiley:

That’s funny!
A friend of mine was on a business trip and the client took him to the MNF game. Lucky bastard. It was a blowout and the camears were constantly picking out people in the audience. It would show on the Jumbotron (or whatever you call it) and on the TV. I was watching the game with his wife and he called. While they were talking, the camera picked him up. He waved and said, “Can you see me?” in the cell phone. talk about bizzaar.

16

I meant to add that of the four of us, I am the worst one about “forgetting” the phone and the most likely to leave it at home when I am out. You’d think I wouldn’t do it as it ends up leaving me stranded at the park and ride until they realize: “It’s getting late, has anyone heard from mom?” and then look around and see my phone there on the counter. :smack: This does not please the male members of the house.

17

I have an older Samsung cell, kinda heavy, doesn’t stay charged for long…but that’s all right because very few people have the number. I use it in a pinch or when traveling, but most of the time it just hides in my purse.

My home cordless phone has been very staticky lately. I’m trying leaving the handset off the base for a while because it may have lost some of its ability to charge properly. It does get tied up while I’m online, but there is another number/line in the house. If there are ever phone problems here, my brother fixes 'em; he does inside wiring for a phone company. He’s also fixing the wires for the automatic sprinklers. How did I get on this rambling thing? Because NoClueBoy started this thread and he often has that effect on me.
:smiley:

18

My cell phone is eight years old and therefore a bit chunky. It still fits in a small purse, which is good. It is almost always turned off, as I rarely (if ever) receive calls. I keep it charged and carry it with me for real emergencies (that is, car breakdowns, accidents, etc.). It does give me some comfort as I am female and I often drive alone.

19

I have a cell and a driver’s license, but I only have a car on the days when my parents don’t need it. So I call after school to ask them to come and pick me up. I also call them if I’m out with friends or something for more than a couple hours or so, just to “check in.” I rarely use it for calling friends, and don’t usually have it on.

20

I don’t have a land line, so I use my cell phone for all my calling needs. It is always charged, always on (except at the movies), and always with me. I have free long distance and nationwide roaming, so I travel with it too.