Nokia here, I use it all the time - most of my friends have mobiles rather than land-lines, and it’s cheaper here in South Africa to call mobile-to-mobile than land-line to mobile, so I use it for that.
I also use it for banking (bank sends SMS to confirm deposits & transfers).
Make a lot of what the OP calls “opinion calls” to the wife, too.
I don’t drive, wife does, so I make a few “Pick me up” calls a month…
Quite a bit of SMS to organise nights out, meeting times for movies etc.
A few emergency calls when out in the middle of the desert and car breaks down, but none of those this last year.
My wife uses hers regularly to keep in touch with friends in the UK via SMS
I’ve noticed that Americans are way behind the rest of us (SA, Europe & East, esp.) when it comes to mobile use - maybe because local landlines are cheaper and better-serviced? Or because you’re not all on the GSM standard countrywide?
I do know SA has something like 14 million cellphone subscribers in a country of ~40 million people.
I’ve just got a Treo 600 which I now use for everything - phone, diary, web, games, writing, taking snaps(OK, it is only webcam resolution, but the pictures aren’t bad), recording video clips, voice memos, listening to MP3s…
I have a company phone (one of the perks of working for a cell phone company) and even though I have unlimited time for free, I barely use my cell. My usage averages 300 minutes a month or less!
I do pay for my GF’s cell (via a company discount) and she uses the phone more. Mostly we use it to talk while I’m driving home (and she on the bus/subway). We also use it when we hit the mall, me and my male friends hit the computer/videogame stores while my GF and her female friends hit the clothing shops
Emergencies are few and far between. I normally keep my cell on and don’t accept blocked/unknown callers (I let voice mail pick up). I also screen my calls because I hate talking on my cell while I’m doing something else.
Because I have unlimted data minutes as well I end up using my mobile browser when I’m on the can Good way to spend the time.
I have a Samsung something little flip phone. Hardly use, rarely even turn it on. I don’t like talking on the phone at home either! I sometimes will call a friend when shopping to ask about shoe sizes , etc., for the kids, and I have blessed it when I had a dead battery and a flat tire. It’s a security blanket that I tote around.
I use mine for just about everything. The only reason we still have a land line is to make calls to friends and family in Australia. I use my cell phone for very silly things, such as becoming separated from my party while out shopping and phoning one of them to find out where they are. Or while out buying groceries, finding out they don’t have X (which a family member requested) and calling home to find out if Y or Z would do instead.
MrDibble, I think it’s a combo of all you listed that’s keeping mobile down (compared to other countries) here. It’s changing tho. Also, I’ve noticed almost all the younger people I know (20s and under) view mobiles as an extension of themselves. With us older ones, it seems to be those hooked on tech in the first place that use them in a similar way.
Of course, I’m still waiting for TNG style comm badges!
The price and quality of landlines is definitely a factor. Local and incoming calls are free, and it doesn’t matter whether you call a cell phone or another landline.
The technology… not really a factor, IMO. If you get a CDMA or TDMA phone, it’ll work just about anywhere in the country, even if it has to fall back to analog in some remote areas. You can still make calls and send text messages to phones that use different technology. The only people who lose are the ones with GSM phones, which can’t fall back to analog, but now that Cingular has bought AT&T Wireless, even GSM service is pretty widespread.
