# Cell Phone Rant



## Drac (Apr 13, 2010)

All I want is a basic cell phone,something small that I can stuff in my pocket....I dont need a camera or a keyboard ( I dont text)..I dont need a plan that offers a bizillion minutes a month, I dont talk to ANYONE that much..When I went to the AT&T store and showed them my current phone I got the " WOW, that's an old phone", I felt like I was showing them my families first rotory phone..I just wanted to share this rant..


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## Bob Hubbard (Apr 13, 2010)

Finding a phone that's just a phone is a royal PITA.  Verizon had one available, but you really have to dig for it.


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## OnlyAnEgg (Apr 13, 2010)

I've opted to not have a cell.  Added years to my life and gave me great hair!


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 13, 2010)

Drac said:


> All I want is a basic cell phone,something small that I can stuff in my pocket....I dont need a camera or a keyboard ( I dont text)..I dont need plan that offers a bizillion minutes a month, I dont talk to ANYONE that much..When I went to the AT&T store and showed them my current phone I got the " WOW, that's an old phone", I felt like I was showing them my families first rotory phone..I just wanted to share this rant..



I'm with you.  I don't want a ringtone other than 'ring' and I don't need a color screen, or MP3 playing, or video playing, or photo-taking, or text-twitter-facebooking.  No all-singing, all-dancing uber-expensive chunk of two-years-and-done garbage please.  Just a phone.  A simple freaking phone.  Is that so much to ask for?

OK, Bluetooth is nice, but OTHER THAN THAT...


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## CoryKS (Apr 13, 2010)

Have you looked into getting a Tracfone?  We bought one for our son last year when he went to space camp.  Just a real basic cell phone and you buy prepaid minutes for it.


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## Sukerkin (Apr 13, 2010)

Glad to know I'm not the only person on the planet that thinks this way .


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## Brian R. VanCise (Apr 13, 2010)

Not only just a phone but a phone that actually works well and you can hear the people you are talking to.


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## Xue Sheng (Apr 13, 2010)

I...hate...CELL PHONES... but then I don't like regular phones much either

But job a family force me to carry one.

Got a new one a while back and it is loaded with all sorts of giz-wizzies I will never use... so I am going to go back to using my old one.

I'm with you Drac...just give me a basic damn phone.


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## Ken Morgan (Apr 13, 2010)

I've got an old sony phone with just the basics, my kids, and my friends laugh at me when they see it, but i"m the same way as you guys, I just want a plain phone. Oh and for a ring tone, I use the traditional ring tone, sound like the ring tone from our old rotary phones from the 70's.


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## Blindside (Apr 13, 2010)

Drac said:


> All I want is a basic cell phone,something small that I can stuff in my pocket....I dont need a camera or a keyboard ( I dont text)..I dont need plan that offers a bizillion minutes a month, I dont talk to ANYONE that much..When I went to the AT&T store and showed them my current phone I got the " WOW, that's an old phone", I felt like I was showing them my families first rotory phone..I just wanted to share this rant..


 
Buy a tracfone, the cheapest model is exactly what you want, it costs $10, and then pay $10/month to stay connected for a year.


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## granfire (Apr 13, 2010)

tracfone is the way to go and at that price you won't lose sleep if you lose the dang thing...

atm I have 5 floating around the house, all had been lost at some point in time, 2 more are AWOL...

I hate cell phones. 95% of all people don't need them, texting is beyond stupid, why not talk on the phone or email...just another step to lose contact to your fellow human being.

I do like to have one around for emergencies though. Beats walking along the side of the road in the dead of night!


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## Rich Parsons (Apr 13, 2010)

Drac said:


> All I want is a basic cell phone,something small that I can stuff in my pocket....I dont need a camera or a keyboard ( I dont text)..I dont need plan that offers a bizillion minutes a month, I dont talk to ANYONE that much..When I went to the AT&T store and showed them my current phone I got the " WOW, that's an old phone", I felt like I was showing them my families first rotory phone..I just wanted to share this rant..


 
Drac,

Go to the larger service centers. Explain to them that you do work for a corporation that does not allow cameras. They may still have some Corporate options out there. But even places liek where I work have given into the newer phones with cameras and requireing a sticker over the lense. 

I know how you feel as I am the same way. 

Peace


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## Flying Crane (Apr 13, 2010)

do what I do:  don't have one.


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## Bill Mattocks (Apr 13, 2010)

Rich Parsons said:


> Go to the larger service centers. Explain to them that you do work for a corporation that does not allow cameras.



I actually sit near the lady whose job it is to provide the phones for all employees at a large corporation; a big part of her day was to punch the lens out of the new cell phones with an ice pick.

Not joking.

The only cell phone I have is the one my company provides for me, and I only have that because I am on call 24/7 to provide sustain services.


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## Andy Moynihan (Apr 13, 2010)

Mine is set to vibrate only, I don't need a ring tone at ALL.

But---aside forom emergency uses, a cellphone is just like pepper spray--you wanna carry a sidearm, you HAVE to carry both of those. It's not the law, but it's such good common sense it may as well be.


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## blink13 (Apr 13, 2010)




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## Blindside (Apr 13, 2010)

I think he wanted a phone, not a fistload, that is a different thread.


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## David43515 (Apr 13, 2010)

You`d never last here in Japan. My daughters get new cells at least twice a year because they`re so much more than a phone here. They`re a subway/rail pass. They`re faster checkout at the convenience store (just wave your cell over the reader and it`s paid....never worry about being short-changed again.) They`re a pocketful of quarters for vending machines (the ones with readers on them). My neighbor is in construction, and he never carries blueprints to meetings anymore. Why should he? He can scan blueprints for a half dozen projects into his phone and pull them up for himself or download them into an on site PC. And at least here, texting is much much cheaper than talking.

I grew up with a black rotary phone with a 3 foot cord. I liked it. I use a six yr old cell with a cracked hinge and a burned out light. I carry a cell because my job requires it. But the days of just a phone are gone. We`re in the age of "Oh, and it has a phone too."


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## jks9199 (Apr 13, 2010)

Brian R. VanCise said:


> Not only just a phone but a phone that actually works well and you can hear the people you are talking to.


What's next?  Wanting to actually be able to use your cell phone INSIDE, of all the crazy ideas?!  Yep, I can't use my work phone in my house.  It's not that the wife, dog, or kid will overhear stuff...  It's that the person I'm talking to WON'T hear me!  Unless I stand in just the right place, leaning at 23.45 degrees in the proper direction.  And don't breath because that'll shift me out of the magic spot.

I only wish I was joking or exaggerating.


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## jks9199 (Apr 13, 2010)

Rich Parsons said:


> Drac,
> 
> Go to the larger service centers. Explain to them that you do work for a corporation that does not allow cameras. They may still have some Corporate options out there. But even places liek where I work have given into the newer phones with cameras and requireing a sticker over the lense.
> 
> ...


Blackberry actually makes a special model for the FBI and other feds who can't carry picture phones into their workspaces.

It only costs 'em something like 1/3 over the basic cost...


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## Sukerkin (Apr 14, 2010)

I have to reluctantly admit that I agree with Andy's point above i.e. that a mobile phone *is* a useful emergency tool.  I carry one as my missus feels better knowing that if I break my leg, or whatever, whilst out walking I can get help.


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## Drac (Apr 14, 2010)

Wow, thanks everybody.I thought I was alone.I posted this rant on Facebook and one of my old cop buddies told me to "Check e-Bay under Stone Age"..Others tell me to embrace this new technology, NFW...I want to make calls and want to recieve calls.*THAT'S IT*..Now I do download ringtones from PhoneZoo because they are *FREE *and the free ones provided by the carrier are strange..


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## David43515 (Apr 14, 2010)

jks9199 said:


> Blackberry actually makes a special model for the FBI and other feds who can't carry picture phones into their workspaces.
> 
> It only costs 'em something like 1/3 over the basic cost...


 
So it costs _extra _to get one with less features? That`s so wrong.


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## jks9199 (Apr 14, 2010)

David43515 said:


> So it costs _extra _to get one with less features? That`s so wrong.


Sadly, it makes sense.  To make 'em with less on it, they have to change a manufacturing line.  Since "most" people want cameras, that's how the lines are set up.  Eliminate the camera, and they have to change several manufacturing lines (the ones for the guts of the phone, for the back of the phone, and the overall assembly at a bare minimum)...  which costs money.  Same thing happens with car lines, and lots of other stuff.


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## Darksoul (Apr 15, 2010)

-I have a Verizon V-Cast, and have had it for several years now. I use it to talk, text, and occasionally take a video of the dachsund/chihuahua my girlfriend has when she is zooming around the living room. The dog, not my girlfriend. Thats it, that is all I use my phone for. Internet? I have a computer at home, I can wait til I get home, I don't need to know that very instant something pops into my head! Applications? Bells and whistles I don't need! I also found, when I moved out of my parent's house, that it was cheaper and more convenient to have a cell than a landline in an apartment. I also moved from NY to CO, so again, convenient. Kept the same number. Plus its good to have a work in case the work cell phone screws up, as I occasionally get calls for alarms.

-Necessary evil for me. My phone isn't anything fancy by todays' standards. And thats just fine with me. People can always reach me. I don't always have to answer;-)

Andrew


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## Andy Moynihan (Apr 15, 2010)

"Check out THIS application".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc_i...FECB431E&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=10


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## Drac (Apr 15, 2010)

The AT& T Wireless site is pretty good and offers more than their own outlet stores have..


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## blindsage (Apr 15, 2010)

This is an old people's thread.


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## CoryKS (Apr 15, 2010)

blindsage said:


> This is an old people's thread.


 
Get off my lawn.


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## Drac (Apr 18, 2010)

blindsage said:


> This is an old people's thread.


 


CoryKS said:


> Get off my lawn.


 
Ya young whippersnapper...


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## Steve (Apr 18, 2010)

While I'm not a fan of kids texting each other constantly, texting as a means of communicating is extremely convenient.  I routinely text my wife and kids to send short messages or ask questions.  It's also very handy if I need a shopping list.  If I'm on my way home, I will often have my daughter text me a grocery list.  Texting is also great for reminders.  If there's something I want to remember, I'll text myself (or have someone else text me) a short note.


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## Rich Parsons (Apr 18, 2010)

blindsage said:


> This is an old people's thread.


 


CoryKS said:


> Get off my lawn.


 


Drac said:


> Ya young whippersnapper...


 

Or I will go inside the house and call the police. I knnow it used to be Charlie-4567 now it is that car number. 

* Dialing *
* Click-Click-Click-Click-Click-Click-Click-Click-Click *
* Click *
* Click *

I like the sound of rotary phones. Nice and relaxing.


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