Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Cell Phones are the Devil

My brother in law is a classic example of a guy who wants access to people when he wants access to people. Now that the technology exists for the to be a 24/7 possibility, I somehow have an obligation to him (and everyone else) to make myself completely accessible at every waking moment.

He finally gets a hold of me...
Why isn't your cell phone on?


He knows why. We have had this discussion before. He represents the group think that is pulling me to think just like him. Apparently, our society is evolving into people that believe a lack of always-available connectivity is my signal that I don't care about people who know my cell number.

Can I have a cell and not be owned by it?
How can I use emerging technologies and not be owned by them?
Text-enabling my phone frightens me because I think it will own me.
I'm flirting with twitter, but I think it is the bogey man to my obsessive personality type.

So what do I do to work this stuff out?
I start my first blog.
In a few years and a few posts, who knows who will own me?

6 comments:

  1. I absolutely agree with thought that owning a cell phone doesn't mean we should be owned by it! I love my iphone and love technology (twitter, facebook, etc.) and enjoy the uses of them all. But that doesn't mean i have to answer every call, or respond to every message that comes my way. Sometimes i just need to be completely where i am. If that's being alone or in a quality time with a friend i should not be slave to my technology. It is there to serve me.

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  2. I ditched my cell phone at age 34... it was a great move for me. I feel more local now... quieter... less pressured to be available, less interrupted time (checking who is calling and ignoring them).

    It's not the use of the cell phone, but the psychology, the awareness that it is there, like a gremlin waiting to chirp, then grab your ear and eat it...

    I won't even try twitter... I think facebook is weird too, though I have 600 friends.

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  3. Since you talked about your brother in this post, I'm going to talk about my brother again...
    Sometimes I hate having a cell phone for the exact reasons that you just shared--people think you're rude if you are not actively responding to every voicemail, text, and phone call. When my brother wants to get in touch with me, he calls me over and over. Most times, I'm not even aware that my phone is ringing. This ticks him off.
    Then, when I need to get in touch with him, he never answers his phone. I don't get upset about it. I just think, "Oh, he must be doing something."
    That's the funny thing to me--that it doesn't always go both ways.

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  4. From what you all are saying...
    Emily Post would be pulling her hair out to keep up these days.

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  5. how can i devil dial my ex boyfriends calls and texts messgages and send them to my email? Please contact me as soon a.s.a.p. I wany my ex boyfriend to go what i am going through because he needs to know what it feels like because he is an asshole to me... he should have never done that to me ...... please write me back asap......

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  6. PLEASE SOMEONE EMAIL ME BACK ABOUT HOW TO GET INTO MY SO CALLED BOYFRIENDS DEVIL DIALER??? PLEASE RESPOND TO ME QUICKLY.......THANKS ALOT... THIS IS CRYSTAL RIDDELL

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