Nomophobia is on the rise!

[oggbashan]

What's the opposite of that? The only time I take my cell phone out is to recharge it before going on a road trip to have it in my luggage in case I need to call AAA.

I am exactly the same. Mine lives in my car.

I bought one for my wife so she could call the AA (only two 'A's in the UK) if she has a breakdown. She has had it two years and hasn't opened the packaging yet.

The battery on her last one died because she hadn't used it for five years. She was annoyed that she had lost her credit on her Pay-As-You-Go account because she hadn't 'gone' anywhere, nor switched her phone on. The network thought that her phone and SIM card had been lost.

 

[Mara12]

devil's advocate

It took a long time for me to adopt and adapt to cell phones, but now... I probably qualify as a Nomophobe:

- I use it to settle dinner arguments with my partner on word meanings, spellings, people, facts, etc
- buy erotica (and other books, but who cares?) on Amazon/iBooks/Smashwords/whatever ;-)
- use my iPhone as a flashlight, calculator, camera (good enough for nonprofessional use), learn Spanish (Duolingo is great!), check movie times and reviews on the run
- find directions, bus/train/flight times, currency exchanges - pretty much anywhere in the world
- figure out alternate flights when airlines drop the ball
- for those of us with little kids - keep them entertained at awkward times, and no, she's not turning into a digital zombie (and yes, education apps and games are absofuckinglutely amazing!)
---and of course listen to music & news on the run (literally and figuratively)

sooooo - try it, you might like it; or not

And social Darwinism is a great thing - keeps the population under control (sorta).

 

[3113]

I often wonder why everyone hates when other people speak on cell phones. I do too, but it confuses me. If two people are standing next to me talking, that's alright. But if one person is on a cell phone, wtf? If you see two people in a car having a conversation, that's fine. (And I can't believe how many drivers keep turning toward the passenger during the conversation.) But put someone on a cell phone, even using Bluetooth, and all hell breaks loose.

I wonder if this is true with those who have grown up with cell phones. Are they equally annoyed? The issue may be with us who didn't grow up with mobile phones, and so we feel a real disconnect to see someone, essentially, talking to themselves. In our experience, it usually meant you were crazy And no one wanted to be anywhere near that unpredictable crazy person talking to themselves.

And we who grew up without mobile phones also have a certain view about phone etiquette; out of necessity, people excused themselves to take or make a phone call. So phone conversations, especially between strangers, were viewed as something private. Remember phone booths to keep conversations quiet and private and protected? No one in the pre-mobile phone days talked to another in the middle of a crowd. And the idea of eavesdropping on a call was considered rude, even sinister if you consider how much we feared wiretapping.

So, someone forcing us to listen to their conversation is forcing us to be rude eavesdroppers. Speaking of which, you might want to watch the movie "Topsy-Turvy" which has a wonderful scene of a man yelling into one of the first phones and his elderly father gawking at him as if he's crazy ("You might as well be shouting into the streets!" dad snaps with distaste). I imagine the early adopters of the telephone disturbed those who watched them talk on it as much as we who were not raised with cellphones are disturbed by those talking on them.

 

[Hypoxia]

- I use it to settle dinner arguments with my partner on word meanings, spellings, people, facts, etc
- buy erotica (and other books, but who cares?) on Amazon/iBooks/Smashwords/whatever ;-)
- use my iPhone as a flashlight, calculator, camera (good enough for nonprofessional use), learn Spanish (Duolingo is great!), check movie times and reviews on the run
- find directions, bus/train/flight times, currency exchanges - pretty much anywhere in the world
- figure out alternate flights when airlines drop the ball
- for those of us with little kids - keep them entertained at awkward times, and no, she's not turning into a digital zombie (and yes, education apps and games are absofuckinglutely amazing!)
---and of course listen to music & news on the run (literally and figuratively)

But do you use it to talk to people?

 

[Handley_Page]

Are you a Nomophobe?

There's a plot bunny in this somewhere....

I am definitely not a nomophobe. The use of a cell phone in the library is frequently very disturbing to the other patrons. Worse yet, there's some ticky-tacky local law against killing inconsiderate cell phone users.

You know, we have a similar problematic Law over here.

The fact that we survived without that ability is a moot point.

I often wonder why everyone hates when other people speak on cell phones.
But put someone on a cell phone, even using Bluetooth, and all hell breaks loose.

I really hate it when I'm behind some idiot in the shop and he/she is talking on their mobile phone (ie., a cell phone). It leaves two problems; [1] the delay of everyone behind him/her, and [2], we don't all want to listen to what he said/she said or when the next meeting is due.
It makes me want to scream "If you wanna talk to them, DO IT OUTSIDE"
As an aside, it's even worse on Public Transport or a train.

And the local teenagers that I know don't want to be separated from their phones for more than a few moments.

 

[Swilly]

You know, we have a similar problematic Law over here.



I really hate it when I'm behind some idiot in the shop and he/she is talking on their mobile phone (ie., a cell phone). It leaves two problems; [1] the delay of everyone behind him/her, and [2], we don't all want to listen to what he said/she said or when the next meeting is due.
It makes me want to scream "If you wanna talk to them, DO IT OUTSIDE"
As an aside, it's even worse on Public Transport or a train.

And the local teenagers that I know don't want to be separated from their phones for more than a few moments.

But like I said...if two people were standing there on line talking to each other, then it would be fine.

I get it...it bothers me too. I just think it's funny that one is acceptable but the other isn't.

The new thing on the subway is people listening to music or playing games on their phones with no headphones and the sound turned up.

 

[slyc_willie]

But do you use it to talk to people?

That's not what phones are for, anymore.

They should really just stop calling them "phones." They're personal data transfer devices, recorders, music players, computer hotspots, game consoles, cameras, instant messaging devices, navigation aids, flashlights, occasional masturbation devices . . . which are now and then used to make phone calls.

 

[R. Richard]

They should really just stop calling them "phones." They're personal data transfer devices, recorders, music players, computer hotspots, game consoles, cameras, instant messaging devices, navigation aids, flashlights, occasional masturbation devices . . . which are now and then used to make phone calls.

Yes, very useful.

 

[DeeZire]

..
And we just have cheap dumb TracFones. ...

+1 on the TracFone. $12 per month, and I've got over 5,000 minutes banked because I only use it when I'm out on a gig.

Funny thing about cellphones - and cable TV/internet. The average American pays probably over $200 per month for both, and then wonders why they can't make ends meet. Remember when all we had was rabbit ears and a phone bill that averaged under $20 a month? That would have been back when single-earner households were the norm. Could there be a correlation? Naa...

 

[Mara12]

But do you use it to talk to people?

Not so much, I much prefer sending emails to talking on phones.


Plus, there's nothing more annoying than phones (including my own) going off in class, movies, etc. and I agree with R_Percival_Shackleford - an offense punishable by flogging?

 

[Swilly]

Not so much, I much prefer sending emails to talking on phones.


Plus, there's nothing more annoying than phones (including my own) going off in class, movies, etc. and I agree with R_Percival_Shackleford - an offense punishable by flogging?

Originally, email was supposed to have made us more efficient. When I started working, you would call someone or drop by their office and get an immediate answer to something. Now, we feel like we've accomplished something by sending an electronic request that we can use to cover our asses with when someone doesn't respond.

I'm not saying email isn't useful but it sure is overused.

 

[R. Richard]

Originally, email was supposed to have made us more efficient. When I started working, you would call someone or drop by their office and get an immediate answer to something. Now, we feel like we've accomplished something by sending an electronic request that we can use to cover our asses with when someone doesn't respond.

Ummm, has it occurred to you that your immediate response came out of someone else's work time? Not only is it an interruption of someone else's work time, by staying on the phone, you can beat out of a worker things that you want, simply by refusing to let them work. You can't do that with e-mail.

 

[Swilly]

Ummm, has it occurred to you that your immediate response came out of someone else's work time? Not only is it an interruption of someone else's work time, by staying on the phone, you can beat out of a worker things that you want, simply by refusing to let them work. You can't do that with e-mail.

How do you know I'm not sitting at home in my boxers?

 

[Hypoxia]

How do you know I'm not sitting at home in my boxers?

On the forums, nobody knows you're a poodle.

 

[Handley_Page]

Not so much, I much prefer sending emails to talking on phones.
Plus, there's nothing more annoying than phones (including my own) going off in class, movies, etc. and I agree with R_Percival_Shackleford - an offense punishable by flogging?

A London theatre was brought to a complete stop one night when several mobile phones sounded off in the Audience. After the second or third such interruption, the lead actor stopped, walked to the front of the stage and berated those responsible in no uncertain manner, calling them all manner of undesirable things.

 

[Blind_Justice]

As a blind, my biggest problem with cell users is their absent-mindedness. I've had two of my canes bent to uselessness because some person was looking at their phone instead of where they were walking.

How do I know? Because on one occasion, the phone sailed out of their hand and shattered on the subway platform this person just stranded me on. See, we blind people don''t use our canes for show, they are our early-warning system for obstacles, meant to feel the area where our next step is going to land in. Imagine doing that with something bent like hockey stick. And I get yelled at for wrecking his 500 Euro iCrap? I can't pay attention for every iPerson doing a trillion other things besides walking, since for me, the simple business of getting from A to B in one piece, without getting lost or killed is tough enough already.

Why can't people just WAIT until they're out of traffic to check their bloody mails? I resigned regarding the "talking, pushing everybody aside jerks", because these guys you can hear coming and evade accordingly, but I find them super rude nonetheless. And most of the time, all you hear is "yeah, trying to get the train, I should see you... Oh hi!"

OK, I may be a bit oldfashioned, but to me, a portable phone is a tool. I use my feature phone only to call cabs or, if I really fuck up, to tell my wife that I got lost and she need not panic if I'm an hour late. But even then I try to stay out of traffic, maybe retreat into a doorway. Only when the call is over dare I brave tbe current on the sidewalk.I don't need to tell my wife that I'm buying groceries while doing so. But then, I don't use Facebook. My life would be too boring to share anyway. Well, except when some zombie trips over my cane and wrecks his phone...

 

[tolyk]

As a blind, my biggest problem with cell users is their absent-mindedness. I've had two of my canes bent to uselessness because some person was looking at their phone instead of where they were walking.

How do I know? Because on one occasion, the phone sailed out of their hand and shattered on the subway platform this person just stranded me on. See, we blind people don''t use our canes for show, they are our early-warning system for obstacles, meant to feel the area where our next step is going to land in. Imagine doing that with something bent like hockey stick. And I get yelled at for wrecking his 500 Euro iCrap? I can't pay attention for every iPerson doing a trillion other things besides walking, since for me, the simple business of getting from A to B in one piece, without getting lost or killed is tough enough already.

Why can't people just WAIT until they're out of traffic to check their bloody mails? I resigned regarding the "talking, pushing everybody aside jerks", because these guys you can hear coming and evade accordingly, but I find them super rude nonetheless. And most of the time, all you hear is "yeah, trying to get the train, I should see you... Oh hi!"

OK, I may be a bit oldfashioned, but to me, a portable phone is a tool. I use my feature phone only to call cabs or, if I really fuck up, to tell my wife that I got lost and she need not panic if I'm an hour late. But even then I try to stay out of traffic, maybe retreat into a doorway. Only when the call is over dare I brave tbe current on the sidewalk.I don't need to tell my wife that I'm buying groceries while doing so. But then, I don't use Facebook. My life would be too boring to share anyway. Well, except when some zombie trips over my cane and wrecks his phone...

Zombie tripping.. sounds like a fun game actually.

 

[tolyk]

+1 on the TracFone. $12 per month, and I've got over 5,000 minutes banked because I only use it when I'm out on a gig.

Funny thing about cellphones - and cable TV/internet. The average American pays probably over $200 per month for both, and then wonders why they can't make ends meet. Remember when all we had was rabbit ears and a phone bill that averaged under $20 a month? That would have been back when single-earner households were the norm. Could there be a correlation? Naa...

People live beyond their means too. I have a cell phone, that I use as a tool for work, and as my location scouting camera. I would not be remiss if I left mine at home for the day. I'd probably have a lot of messages to wade through by the time I got to it, but that's fine.

I hate how cell phones have turned us into an impatient mob. I work in a fast paced retail environment. People want answers to their emails/texts/social media messages immediately. I don't get it. I grew up with all this technology. We had a personal computer from the time I was in grade 3 or so. I'm still patient. I can wait for a few days before someone gets back to me, that's fine.

As for the correlation between cell phones & cable to single household earners. You're probably right. My cell phone bill is reasonable. My wife's, not so much. I could live without cable. My wife... yeah, she signed a nice long contract. I have a better package for my cell phone than my wife does, and my bill is half of hers. I'm not on a major network, and I don't care if I have some spots where my phone doesn't work perfectly. I don't need it 100% of the time. I don't depend on it with my life. It's a tool that's supposed to make life simpler, not to replace our brains or become a crutch.

 

[JustaSCOUNDREL]

I know I'll get jumped on for this, but I think it is mostly a female thing. That is not to say guys do not suffer from it just that in my experience it seems to mostly be women who have the cell phone addiction.

Last Sat. some friends and myself went out to breakfast, while we were eating the 4 women all had their phones on at one time or another and one never turned hers off. Of the four guys in the group not one of them looked at his phone.

Mike

 

[Blind_Justice]

Thankfully, some subway securities showed up once he started shouting at me. The guy was raging... until the cops subtly reminded him that I wasn't at fault. Carrying a cane is sufficient warning (no need for those horrid yellow armbands with three dots) and that he would probably have to pay for a replacement cane. At about a hundred Euros apiece, they don't come cheap. Thankfully, health care covers one cane replacement per year, so I let him walk. This year it's a different story. I'm on my third cane already. One got driven over by a Prius I didn't hear coming, sports a nifty 90 degree bend now and another iZombie fell over number 2. The canes are made from hollow aluminum tubes held together by a rubber cord going through the whole thing, so you can fold it up when you don't need it. Under normal circumstances, they're both light and sturdy, but thanks to their construction, they take bending very badly and don't get completely straight again, even when bent back again. I once tried a car mechanic, but after using some machine on it, the cane still had a bend and it caused me to get dragged sideways, like a car with badly tuned steering.

Sorry for rambling.

To get this discussion back on track, here's a question. How do you call it when someone gets angry at cell users? Xenophobia is for unknown things or people, technophobia is fear of technology...

 

[Cruel2BKind]

I know I'll get jumped on for this, but I think it is mostly a female thing. That is not to say guys do not suffer from it just that in my experience it seems to mostly be women who have the cell phone addiction.

Last Sat. some friends and myself went out to breakfast, while we were eating the 4 women all had their phones on at one time or another and one never turned hers off. Of the four guys in the group not one of them looked at his phone.

Mike

The three people I know who are most addicted to their phones, a man, a woman, and a trans woman.

So I don't know where that leaves us.

I think the one way in which you MIGHT have a point, is that women are more comfortable and encouraged to take a lot of selfies. If a guy takes a lot of pictures of just himself to make him appear attractive, he gets attacked as vain, weird, gay, or all three.

So women might take out their phones 4 or 5 times a day to take a quick selfie in a bathroom, or after a shower, or after getting on a nice outfit. Guys do not take as many selfies, so they don't take their phones out as much.

And after pulling it out to take a picture, you might as well check tumblr, see if there are any more comments on your lit story you just posted, make a note to buy more mascara, etc. And you get more use out of your phone.

I still have an ancient flip-phone. I don't use it for internet, or for pictures of myself. I don't even text much, but when I lose it I get pretty anxious. Mostly because I don't have a fallback anymore.

It used to be people had cell phones AND landlines, but if I lost my cellphone, I would have to borrow other people's cell phones. We have a SINGLE pay phone on the entire campus, and I have never seen anyone use it.

Thankfully, some subway securities showed up once he started shouting at me. The guy was raging... until the cops subtly reminded him that I wasn't at fault. Carrying a cane is sufficient warning (no need for those horrid yellow armbands with three dots) and that he would probably have to pay for a replacement cane. At about a hundred Euros apiece, they don't come cheap. Thankfully, health care covers one cane replacement per year, so I let him walk. This year it's a different story. I'm on my third cane already. One got driven over by a Prius I didn't hear coming, sports a nifty 90 degree bend now and another iZombie fell over number 2. The canes are made from hollow aluminum tubes held together by a rubber cord going through the whole thing, so you can fold it up when you don't need it. Under normal circumstances, they're both light and sturdy, but thanks to their construction, they take bending very badly and don't get completely straight again, even when bent back again. I once tried a car mechanic, but after using some machine on it, the cane still had a bend and it caused me to get dragged sideways, like a car with badly tuned steering.

Sorry for rambling.

To get this discussion back on track, here's a question. How do you call it when someone gets angry at cell users? Xenophobia is for unknown things or people, technophobia is fear of technology...

Luddites?

 

[observer7]

I know I'll get jumped on for this, but I think it is mostly a female thing. That is not to say guys do not suffer from it just that in my experience it seems to mostly be women who have the cell phone addiction.

Last Sat. some friends and myself went out to breakfast, while we were eating the 4 women all had their phones on at one time or another and one never turned hers off. Of the four guys in the group not one of them looked at his phone.

Mike

LOL! If you know it, are you inviting it? *JUMP*

Sorry, bub, I work around 18-25 year olds all day, every day. Both males and female bump into me, hold up the line because they aren't paying attention, whip it out (the computer that makes phone calls sometimes) to check texts, email, Facebook, Twitter and anything else immediately after they've asked me a question for help and ignore the answer I give them, smirk at whatever feeds their addiction, then blink and me and say, "What'd you say?"

You must not be around a variety of younger people to think it's more a "female thing" like a period, or something. But that's okay, you knew you were making an inaccurate generalization at the beginning, that's why you braced yourself.