Teddy Bear/Blankey/SmartPhone??

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Have any of you noticed how you rarely see anyone under 30 without their phone in their hand? Even sitting in a restaurant, there can be 6 people at a table and most of them are staring at their phone. Bus stop....staring at a phone. Walking down the street..staring at their phone. Is the need to be connected so strong? What could you possibly miss by not staring at that thing 24 hrs a day???

And no, I don't have a smart phone. 

[chris]

you know, it's funny. it wasn't all that long ago i thought...i don't need a cell phone...i don't want to be reached anywhere i go. but that has changed. i have had a blackberry for a few years now. phone works well. has the internet to read papers (sports, usually) or music forums.

the bigger issue is proper ettiquite to society. if i am having a meal with you, don't spend all of your time looking down at your phone texting. look me in the damned eye. it's disrespectful to everyone around you if you ignore everything except your phone. i never thought i would be the guy that always said...y'know, back in the day...but i was taught to look someone in the eye when i spoke to them. to listen what they had to say (just never know when you are going to hear something clever or helpful to you). to be part of a conversation. but if i had a cell phone back in the day and all i did was text all day long, someone would surely have knocked it out of my hands and crushed it with their boot...and they probably would have been applauded for it.

[mervap]

We here have a rule: No phones at the table...it's only about 15 minutes, really. I am of the opinion that that is not too much to ask, no matter where the table is.

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On a similar topic...I've been working in Toronto the last few months, and this place is nuts to drive in...so I purchased a new GPS....figuring, the updated maps would help me get around. WRONG! My 6 year old unit has more sense that this danged thing. Thank you for adding and hour to my trip Mr Garmin. I did enjoy the tour through the seedy/scary area of the big smoke. Hopefully I can find my bumpers in a hock shop in the morning. Grrrr.

[Greg]

Yes I do notice it.  I can't put my finger on it, but I'm sure someone has.  To be staring down at who is texting you all the time just seems like a bad idea.
We all need to be walking around with phones?

...and email.  I get 20 emails a day that I have to deal with during the school year.  Just stop.  Stop.  It's so easy to send out these emails about a bunch of crap.  Stop sending me emails that I don't need.  How did we get anything done when we didn't have email?  (sarcastic)

Talking loudly on the cell phone.  Number f****** one worst thing about it all.  I will be somewhere very nice...only to hear a person shouting in the phone about some useless...

Out.

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  I just saw on the news that 7 million cell phones are dropped in the toilet every year! 

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Today I'm driving back home from the grocery store and I notice 3 little kids standing on the curb. By little I mean, 3 or 4 years old.  I slowed right down thinking, what the heck are they doing there..and where is the adult that should be looking after them. Sure enough, there's Mom furiously texting standing on the side walk. Hey idiot! Watch your kids instead of your fricking phone.



And yes, I did yell at them to stay off my lawn. 

[lampie1970]

I have dropped my phone in the toilet before. it was *before* activity so i reached in after it. Had to have it replaced though, cause even after it dried out and "worked" again it was a little wonky. lol

I have a BlackBerry. I love my BlackBerry. BUT i have a rule that i get off the phone when going through the checkout line at the store, or the drive thru at the fast food place, or when i approach a hostess station at a restaurant...etc...i will say to the person: I am checking out, let me call you right back. I feel like it is important for me to interact with those people that are doing me a service. I think i am like that cause i used to be a hostess at Olive Garden and it would aggravate me for people to be trying to talk to me and whomever at the same time. So, i kind of pay it forward....

[oldasSoul]

My phone is really basic, so I can't do any of that "fancy" stuff. Not that I would anyway. I was in Maui recently and was amazed at the number of people around the pool on their phones/iPads! You've spent all this money to get away for a while, and here you are texting, talking, updating your status, or whatever.

We went to a luau one night that had fire dancers. The lights from the flaming batons were almost overwhelmed by the blue lights from everyone's digital devices!

I'm still confused by people yelling while on the phone. And so few of them have anything interesting to say, "Well, the bread was sliced so thinly that I...." Or you get the TMI conversation, usually while you're on the bus/subway and have no choice but to listen until your stop, "Yeah, the prostate exam was something else! The guy must have been using his FIST..."   

[mervap]

while you're on the bus/subway and have no choice but to listen until your stop, "Yeah, the prostate exam was something else! The guy must have been using his FIST..."

I recall hearing a lady having a conversation like this in a restaurant once....I just stared at her until she glared at me and said, "THIS is a PRIVATE conversation!!"...I looked around me at all the people within easy earshot and said, "No, it's not."

[chris]

i got a new droid (was holding out for an iphone, but t-mobile was too small a provider, i guess) and it is awesome. it can keep me entertained for hours/days. i am in the process of ripping hundreds of my cd's on the pc...then onto a micro memory card...for days of musical pleasure. i don't plan on going out ever again...

by blackberry served me well for a long time. but i've graduated. on to bigger and better, as they say...