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Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
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IpsoFacto
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
I think that once you have a cell phone, you realize how awesome and convenient it is that you can't imagine ever going back. How many people get rid of their cell phones? it's much easier to refuse to try something and bitch about all the stuff you think you will hate about it than give it up after you have gotten used to having it. Most people I know who still wont get a cell phone are cheap fucks who know they can sponge off all their friends whenever they need to make a call. Or they really cant afford it. #cellphones
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Trai_Dep
10/23/09

@IpsoFacto: Or terrorists. (omg!) #cellphones
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nandoodles
10/24/09

@IpsoFacto: I disagree. I relied on my cell phone for years (like everyone else), then did 6 months abroad where I didn't have the option to whimsically call or text my friends whenever I felt like it. Now that I'm back in the States, I still have a phone and friends, but got rid of the text plan and value keeping my thoughts to myself and waiting to see my friends in person to communicate with them-- without these bruthish neanderthal text messages.
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IpsoFacto
10/27/09

@nandoodles: Yes, texting is the worst. But giving up a cell when out of the country is the norm for non-rich people and you say you still have your phone. I guess my point was kind of on the aspects other than purely social. Its not about being able to text idiotic minutiae to your friends or have long-winded conversations in public places. I think the thing that keeps many people so attached to their phones is more mundane stuff like calling ahead if traffic is bad, being able to find someone you are meeting in a crowd, emergencies of all shapes and sizes, etc etc. #cellphones
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Smitros
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
I'm #1! I'm number 1! #cellphones
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TillieHarper: Negress in Sheep's Clothing
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
I've found that cell phones are like someone just walking up and touching you. You're just living your life and then someone just reaches out and puts there hand on you. They're not trying to get your attention, don't want anything from you, they don't need anything, they're just walking around a store and then...they're just randomly touching you. Cell phones are not like a house phone (I don't have one of those either and I know I will probably die in a horrible accident because of it). With a house phone people call you because they want to talk, have some interesting news, they're checking to see how you are or maybe it's a heavily accented woman who dialed the wrong number, but there's a real reason to reach out and touch you.

And cell phones aren't just calls. They're texts too. I HATE(d) texts. I don't understand them. What are they for? And I hate your LOLs. They make me physically ill, but that's another story.

I'm 30.
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SidAndFinancy promoted this comment Edited by TillieHarper: Negress in Sheep's Clothing at 10/23/09 12:11 PM

SidAndFinancy
10/23/09

@TillieHarper: Negress in Sheep's Clothing: #cellphones
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TillieHarper: Negress in Sheep's Clothing
10/23/09

@SidAndFinancy: Yes, I can still hear his low voice echoing in my head...but my point stands.
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Edited by TillieHarper: Negress in Sheep's Clothing at 10/23/09 12:31 PM

nirreskeya
10/23/09

@TillieHarper: Negress in Sheep's Clothing: I think you can disable incoming texts through the carrier, but I've always been too lazy to do so, as I only get one or two a month. If it increases, I'll investigate. I'm slightly 30 . #cellphones
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MincnglyWhrdL'mer
10/23/09

@TillieHarper: Negress in Sheep's Clothing: point? #cellphones
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FrankieButtons
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
What about the poors? I would guess about 15 percent of Americans live below the poverty line, and cell phones might not be a priority. #cellphones
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SidAndFinancy
10/23/09

@FrankieButtons: Neither is reading comprehension a priority for many. #cellphones
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FrankieButtons
10/23/09

@SidAndFinancy: That's what I get for skimming. #cellphones
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hurleysusan
10/23/09

@FrankieButtons: Or writing comprehension. "The poors"? Who says that.
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Conchie Birdie
10/23/09

@hurleysusan: First time here? #cellphones
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DTurkin
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
I got one because it seemed like a good idea, but I hardly ever use it (I just don't like the things). I guess I fall into the unimportant category. #cellphones
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AppleBrownBettyComingThrough
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
Ah, but there is one thing that trumps all these categories: having a kid. There's not one person I know who has a kid of a certain age who doesn't have a cell phone.

May I point out that all other "luxuries and freedoms" are blown out of the water as well with the arrival of one's precious darlings. #cellphones
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Meiyou Wenti
10/23/09

@AppleBrownBettyComingThrough: All the more reason to not have a kid. #cellphones
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sparky
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
I work 8-10 hours a day in an office with a phone, and I'm home and awake on average another 4 hours in my apartment, which has a land line. A person who wants to reach me has at least a 14-hour/day window. If you need me only during the time I'm on the subway or at dinner or at a movie, then actually you don't know me and wouldn't be calling me anyway.

I do not demand that everyone have one while I do not. However, if you are the kind of person who cannot make a plan to meet someone and stick to it, then yes the burden is on you to be accessible.

I actually hate it when I have to call someone on a cell. First, your voice mail is always full. Second, you're always in some noisy street, restaurant, park, and usually you're also having a conversation with a person who is with you. Sound is muffled. I hear only two out of three words. Street noise is louder than you are. You're not actually paying attention or even talking to me. Third: I find out after 15 minutes that you're with your child, who is whining and misbehaving because you are on the phone. Get off the phone! Or I find out after 15 minutes that you're actually driving your car. Get off the phone! Or you're at dinner. Why are you on the phone when you've got someone right there in person to talk to?

Obviously I've been thinking about this for a while. Thanks for listening. #cellphones
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Trai_Dep
10/23/09

@sparky: I've had work people call my cell phone and I'd pointedly told them not to burn my minutes - call me tomorrow unless the building is burning and there's more than five pints of blood staining the floors.
My boss called me on it and I replied, "Buy me an iPhone and we'll continue this conversation then."
Thankfully, he hasn't called my bluff. #cellphones
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sparky
10/23/09

@Trai_Dep: @LvV: It's unanimous, then: cartoon figures united! #cellphones
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Niko Bellic
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
If you don't want anyone to call you, just get an iPhone. My calls get dropped so often, people got tired of taking to me. Or maybe, they get tired of talking to me, so they hang up and blame it on my phone. I don't care though, as long as I can check Gawker every fifteen minutes.
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Edited by Niko Bellic at 10/23/09 10:11 AM Niko Bellic was starred Niko Bellic was unstarred

nirreskeya
10/23/09

@Niko Bellic: I think this goes for any phone on the AT&T network. #cellphones
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IpsoFacto
10/23/09

@nirreskeya: Besides the iphone exclusivity, why the f does anyone even have at&t? EVERYONE i know on that carrier complains about the horrible service. #cellphones
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pufflehuff
10/25/09

@Niko Bellic: It's not just o2! UK iPhones do exactly this thing too. Exasperating. People have been calling me more often, though, not less. #cellphones
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nirreskeya
10/27/09

@IpsoFacto: My only previous experience was with Verizon, and I think it was a grass-must-be-greener syndrome. I do really like the rollover minutes, so that in the rare months when I'm actually using my phone (usually during travel) I don't have to worry about suddenly drifting into $0.45/min territory. #cellphones
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thucyditron
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study

Even the homeless have cell phones. #cellphones
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easternsike
10/23/09

@thucyditron: they also eat mushroom risotto #cellphones
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SidAndFinancy
10/23/09

@easternsike: I think that's bathroom risotto. #cellphones
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Trixie from Toronto
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
We call my brother "the Unabomber." He has no cellphone. There you go. #cellphones
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Oy Veh (Informality Reigns)
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
So the guy in the Brooklyn walk-up has neither a cell phone nor a house phone? #cellphones
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Oy Veh (Informality Reigns)
10/23/09

@Oy Veh (Informality Reigns): I mean seriously--is he Amish or something? #cellphones
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bytememehard
10/23/09

@Oy Veh (Informality Reigns): No, it's the the tool who is doing the visiting and annoying the dog who doesn't have a cell phone. #cellphones
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DahlELama
10/23/09

@bytememehard: Ah, thank you; I didn't get that either. What an asshole. #cellphones
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Oryx Hearts Crake
10/23/09

@DahlELama:

Not always. A lot of walkups in Bed Stuy (where I live) don't have working buzzers. And a lot of my friends in those walkups are so totally broke they don't have cellphones or landlines. #cellphones
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DahlELama
10/23/09

@Oryx Hearts Crake: In the time before cell phones, I still would have considered it an asshole move to disturb dogs belonging to someone else in order to get your friend's attention. Say you'll be there at 10:30, and show up at 10:30; that's how we used to do it in the olden days. #cellphones
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TheUptightMidwesterner
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
I made my SO get one this year. He actually needs one, because his friends and coworkers would call my cell trying to track him down.
He tried the "I hate people being able to reach me anytime" routine, too.
I have since found out that he just resents something else to keep track of along with his keys, wallet, glasses and child. #cellphones
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bytememehard
10/23/09

@TheUptightMidwesterner: I'm betting by "people" he means you. #cellphones
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yourfriendandneighbor
10/23/09

@bytememehard: ouch #cellphones
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goetz
10/23/09

@bytememehard: Totally hearted. #cellphones
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Trai_Dep
10/23/09

@TheUptightMidwesterner: Velcro or SuperGlue can fix the "misplaced the kid... AGAIN!" thing in two seconds. #cellphones
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squeakel
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
I just found out that a (new) friend of mine doesn't have a cell phone. I'm reconsidering our friendship.

She says she doesn't want people to be able to reach her at anytime. You screen! My God. #cellphones
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autoclavicle
10/23/09

@squeakel: If someone thinks having a cell phone makes them more accessible, they're unimaginative. Before Google Voice, I didn't even listen to voice mail messages until after a few days went by because if someone is leaving me a message and not just texting me, they're probably someone I don't want to talk to or have news I don't want to hear. #cellphones
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yourfriendandneighbor
10/23/09

@autoclavicle: i have a fear of checking voicemail along with reading mail. i seriously put it off for days. (voicemail) and weeks (snail mail.) email i'm pretty okay with, though. weird. #cellphones
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Swordfish
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
Isn't David Sedaris famously cellphone free?
Peter Beard is too, but his assistant has one, and Peter gives out the assistant's number to anyone who asks. #cellphones
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cmd
10/23/09

@Swordfish: My boss is like that with email - refuses to have one herself but certainly pimps out her assistant's address. Assistant then has to print out emails for boss to eventually read. #cellphones
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yourfriendandneighbor
10/23/09

@Swordfish: and probably to any female who walks into his gallery. #cellphones
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sarrible
10/23/09

@Swordfish: I worked with a writer once who didn't have email. He wrote exclusively on a typewriter, and then faxed the columns to the magazines. I retyped them every month into CopyDesk. It was kind of cute. #cellphones
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baabwajones
10/23/09

In reply to Cellphone Non-Users: An Ethnographic Study
I don't have a cell phone because I hate the idea of being reachable at all times. That is what my pager isfor, and it has killed any desire that I may have ever had to be slave to a shrill electronic device. And no, I am not a cheap bastard.
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bytememehard
10/23/09

@baabwajones: There is something called "screening" -- you are not reachable if you don't answer it. So I'm not buying your excuse. #cellphones
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moodyonceamonth
10/23/09

@baabwajones: Dude, seriously? You still have a pager? Did I somehow wake up in 1994 this morning? #cellphones
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katekate is squared
10/23/09

@baabwajones: I'm not reachable at all times. Sometimes I don't answer the phone, or I turn it off. #cellphones
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