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WhiteSteve · Accepted Answer

That’s awesome, haha

I definitely agree. There is nothing I dislike more about the era of mobile phones than this “expectation of perpetual availability.” I miss leaving the house, and that was it. You either had another number to reach me at, or I was in the wind. I’ll hit you back in 12-72 hours when I get home and check my answering machine. Even better…no answering machine. You get me if you get me. Whatever is going on that’s so urgent…. i just don’t share in your urgency, I’m sorry.

I’m definitely not in existence to be on-call for other humans, so I very much resent being put in a position where I’m expected to be. I managed to hold out until 2006, then it started interfering with getting laid, lmao, that’s the only way to get to me😂 Once I could no longer give a landline number to a girl without her looking at me sideways, it was over. That’s how they get us, lmao. But I miss those days.

If I get back working again at some point, I think I’ll play things differently. I think I’d pay for a landline just to give for “business”, and maybe I’d still keep a cellphone, but that will not be a means of communication provided to anyone outside of personal relationships. As far as the job and the bosses would be concerned: “I only have a landline at home”, and there’s no other way besides email to reach me. Tell them I have some sort of fear of a brain tumor from the radio waves or something, lmao. Love it or kick rocks.

That kind of sparks a litigious part of my brain now, and I wonder if you could successfully sue to NOT have a cellphone for a job🤔 Like can an employer FORCE you to have a cellphone? Probably depends on the job, but I feel like any office job or stationary location job, that shouldn’t be a necessity. I kind of want to try it, just for the cultural precedent, not money, haha.

Keyboardkat · Accepted Answer

We have reached the point where people have become slaves to their phones. Couples go out on a date and each one is focused on his/her phone. No wonder there is no chemistry. People go to a concert or a play and miss the whole thing because they are on their phones. Students are on their phones rather then listen to the teacher. And at the bottom of all of this, it is just plain RUDE!!! If someone is speaking to you, they deserve your undivided attention! To say nothing of the fact that people hardly interact with each other anymore! I think it would be a great idea to have a moratorium on cellphones, and make it so that people actually talk to each other again! It would be a breath of fresh air!

Screenwriter · Accepted Answer

Well, I get the point... However, being able to have a small computer in your hand has its advantages.

The oddest thing about cell phones is people seem to be talking on them ALL THE TIME: during work, during workouts, on walks... Loads of people can't seem to tolerate the quiet of an inner life..

I see people crossing the street looking down at their phones, and not at the traffic. True, they're in a crosswalk, but didn't their moms and dads tell them to look before they crossed?

I don't take my phone with me to exercise on my bicycle, I take my driver's license. I like hearing birds, the sounds around me, being aware of my surroundings. I don't take my phone to workouts. I lock it in my trunk. Same with walks. License only. When I garden, the phone's inside while I'm doing my outside chores.

I cannot multitask, and have always thought such an idea is ridiculous. I need to focus on the task I'm doing. I cannot walk and chew gum, or bike and chat and I don't want interruptions that water down my focus.

I'm unsure of what value constant chatter is. I need mental solitude for clarity.

IslaTheWitch · Accepted Answer

not really... when I want to be alone, I put my phone in plane mode :D

but if I need to reach Drama Queen or just make an urgent call when I'm in the middle of nowhere... it's useful to have not wired phone :D

OlderAndWiser · Answer

You and I are both old enough to REALLY understand what this means!

Curmudgeon · Answer

While I DO miss the days when an area code and a prefix meant you knew from where a call was coming, give or take a mile or two, the reality is that even with landlines the technology changed:

1. Touchtone was a fairly recent event, and phones used to be rotary dial. The ability to press 1, 2, 3, etc., only dates from about 1980 forward.

2. Long distance calls were too cost prohibitive until the 1970's for many people.

3. At least one individual phone line per household was not common in poorer times, when whole neighborhoods would share a "party line" for cost savings (local calls, mind you), and you had to make sure someone else was not already on the line when you picked up.

The point is, the genie is out of the proverbial bottle, Pandora's Box has been opened, and it's not going back to the old days.

Daniela1982 · Answer

No, because they had to hang around home for a call. Wireless means not having to wait for a call at home.

Unit1 · Answer

Even me, a millennial remembers these. and the slow ass ''analog'' phone line modems.

This statement holds truth as i saw 4 boys waiting for their kebab at the table and all 4 of them were glued to their phones.

It's how we use it. I take mine with me and use it on necessity mostly e. g. calculating something, taking photos of interesting things, converting units, navigation, these type of things. I'm not missing anything until i get home and do not risk missed calls.

Anonymous · Answer

I like when people would call during dinner you could say, "I'm sorry we're eating dinner. I'll call you back afterwards". Now everyone thinks they deserve instant access to you at all hrs. Just because.

So yeah I can sort of agree with this.

bolverk · Answer

Yes I agree with it, until the late 90's is my boss wanted to talk to me it would have to be at work or after I got home, once I was issued with a mobile thing really hit the crapper with him calling at all hours, until I put a stop to it by leaving the phone at work for a couple of months.

andreasderjuengere · Answer

I define my ''freedom'' on my own.

So the phone does not matter.

During times of ''wired'' phones we had the cold war, consumerism gained control, kids were glued to a TV instead, a neighbour's (narrow minded) opinion about us mattered. Politicians lied to us.

That wasn't more ''free''

rachel776 · Answer

When books were smoke signals humans were free also

People misunderstand the importance of smart phones and social media to the next generation

Parents grab screens out of their kids' hands not realizing it's their entire future

https://www.youtube.com/embed/c6ROW_u7Zyo

Anonymous · Answer

Free to wait by the phone, at home, anytime they were expecting a call. When getting online cut the phone call. When dialup took 30 minutes and loading anything took a few minutes. When you couldn't call for help if you got stranded.

midnightmoon05 · Answer

Yes yes and yes lol… I used to just meet up with my friends by the big tree jk well the playground.  now… they make me use my personal phone for work… I hate it.

Kelley1 · Answer

We may not have been free, but with the government involved in every aspect of our lives, we are 20 times more free. The slaves of the early 1800s had more freedom than people do now.

goaded · Answer

In that you weren't expected to be available to everyone 24/7, yes. There's a management book, Peopleware, that talks about the importance of being able to ignore interruptions when working.

Nikki1989 · Answer

Yes, people actually had to talk to each other and at selective times. Nowadays, people want to send annoying texts 24 hours a day.

Massageman · Answer

Looks like a Bakelite (R) Stromberg Carlson from the late 1930's- early 1940's. Very similar to the widely used Western Electric F-1 series, except the shaping around the earpiece and mouthpiece are a bit more bulgy than the F-1's. Regardless, they were all hard-wired/tip-and-ring. You were anchored only by the wire length from the wall connection. (yes - I am ex-Bell-System clerical/tech/mgmt).

malarkey · Answer

You were still monitored by the government, it was just harder than with mobile tacking devices that include cameras, microphones, fingerprint readers, facial recognition software, key loggers, etc.

AviatorTom · Answer

You betcha. In pre-cellphone/social media days, people actually interacted with each other... in person.

FreyaRed · Answer

Freedom comes from many things like wealth, health, ability to leave habits or to take calculated risks... etc. Freedom doesn't come from limiting your contact possibilities.

exitseven · Answer

Yes, it was good to not be accessible 24/7/ . It would be easy to go back.

molonski2 · Answer

I always was able to see the negatives the moment mobile phones became common place , now.. it's simply ludicrous. Yes 100 % I agree , and I feel for those too young to know no different.

mobiusforniner · Answer

No. It meant being tied to the wall talking to relatives on the weekends. Or listening to dad complain we were using the internet and how he couldn’t make a call.

NathanDavis · Answer

not that free when they had you waiting on hold for a lifetime... lmao

KostasKouvalis · Answer

I don't get it. Do you mean "free" as in you didn't have to pay money for them? Or "free" as in, they weren't too busy to talk?

DryGermanGuy · Answer

Not when you were stuck behind the Iron Curtain or in a religious theocracy.

WindAtMyBack · Answer

When phones were tied to a wire, you didn't hear the other person flushing the toilet.

OzzieOwens · Answer

Nothing was freeing about rotary dial telephones. Hated those things. Instruments of the devil.

Anonymous · Answer

Then get rid of your cell phone and get a corded one just for your house

Crazzyyworld · Answer

Yes we used the 6th sense much more back then

Knightwatch27 · Answer

There's some truth to it. It's somewhat hyperbolic but still, there's a point.

Showerg311 · Answer

Yep. The government wasn't controlling their mind back then.

Staximus · Answer

We're still free, we're just stupid

Dongie · Answer

Yep!

PepperJackson · Answer

99.999% of my calls are from robots.

Awantika03 · Answer

It is truth

NicholasRedone · Answer

Hell no 👎🏻

DrPepper12 · Answer

Kinda yeah

dean53AU · Answer

Spot on

Anonymous · Answer

I agree 100% 👍

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