Aah, cell phones–good, bad or ugly? We baby boomers remember the good old days. You could spend whole days at home with peace and quiet, no phone ringing to interrupt your life at a moment’s notice. Heck, Rory and I didn’t even have a phone when we were first married—who could afford one! In those days, you rented the phone from the phone company and it was either rotary—or, even better—the Princess phone! The sleek design and revolutionary new push buttons were the ultimate in modernity.
Then later in our marriage, after having children necessitated our also having contact with the outside world (and grandparents), we were thrilled beyond belief with the new cordless phones! Imagine being able to take your phone outside into the yard and not being attached to the wall or a table. Of course, these were big clunky phones with limited range and battery life…..so when these phones morphed into cell phones—well, wow! We carried them with us in case of emergency, but usually did not have them turned on to conserve power.
Which leads us to today’s smart cell phones—I will be the first to say I love and hate my phone all at once. Let’s count the ways:
The Good
- People can get in touch with you at anytime, no matter what you are doing or where you are! Handy for families to keep in touch, and imperative in case of emergency.
- The ability to look up information, read books, surf the web—all keeps us from being bored. I once read half of a book on my phone while spending time in the ER.
- Maps and GPS—need I say more?
- Photography—today’s cell phones take amazing pictures and the ability to take a picture whenever we want is a plus.
- The many, many handy apps: flashlight, notepad, calculator, calendar, ruler, etc.
The Bad
- People can get in touch with you anywhere, anytime. In my family (yes, even with my grown children) that usually means calling me as I am attempting to check out at the grocery store.
- The ability to look up information, surf the web, text—unfortunately, too many people consider this an ok activity they should be doing while driving their 2,000 pound cars!
- Maps and GPS—I won’t even go into how many people have found themselves in the middle of nowhere following their cell phone map.
- Photography—just because you can take a picture, doesn’t mean you should take a picture—enough said.
- The many, many games you can waste your life playing!
The Ugly
- Unfortunately, spam and sales calls are increasing on our cell phones, and that is an annoyance we don’t need at all!
- Everyone is into photographing and recording everyone, including complete strangers whom you may have no right to be recording/photographing. More than one life has been ruined from this.
- Online bullying is easier when you can do it all day and into the night right on the one item you know the victim will have with them always. This is despicable.
- Loud, sometimes profane conversations that everyone around you don’t want to hear.
As I said before—it is a love/hate relationship between me and my phone. How about yours? Any other insights about your cell phone relationship?