No phone has not been has bad lately.
I've been pretty occupied and have other ways to tell time, albeit as archaic as they are.
I'm not as stressed out as I was at first. There is tons of pay-phones around and i've been able to plan my day better because I don't have the convenience once awared to me with a phone.
So overall its aight!!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
I feel like that guy...
So last night... I wanted to call home for a ride. I`ve always felt uncomfortable asking people for something but I didn`t want to walk this particular night. So I asked people if I could use their phone... and gawd people really need to charge their phones. Everyones phones were dying, weird how that happens.
Which started me thinking. We as a society are very intimate with our phones we feel lost and stressed without them and we will only lend it out to very close friends.
Still this no phone thing sucks - I'm close to stopping my challenge.
Which started me thinking. We as a society are very intimate with our phones we feel lost and stressed without them and we will only lend it out to very close friends.
Still this no phone thing sucks - I'm close to stopping my challenge.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Day 3
Wow... The day my phone stopped working I started to worry, what am I missing, what will I miss, everyone likes to make last minute plans. I felt like I do before I go up to do a presentation, my stomach felt sick. I'm anxious. I don't know what awaits me or how to cope with it.
But like all presentations once your two feet in, it starts to feel better. Now on day 3 I still feel a little nervous. Last night I walked home because I couldn't call for a ride. The practicality of cell-phones are more obvious to me than ever before. However, i've become more aware of people "plugging in" on the sky-train, the bus, walking, anywhere really. People are dialing in to phones, or rocking out to ipods or some type of gadget that is effectively reducing direct human interaction.
What we have made up for efficiency - the ability to talk to a greater number of people at once. We are losing on quality of interaction. For example, when I text or email someone they are only receiving a very small percentage of what i'm actually sending. They are missing out of my voice tone and fluctuations, my body language. Also, they way someone receives an e-mail could be affected by the mood they're in. Face to Face is essential and i'm a fond believer in that, now more than ever before. Time is valuable and and giving people face to face time shows them that they're important.
Still... no phone sucks.
But like all presentations once your two feet in, it starts to feel better. Now on day 3 I still feel a little nervous. Last night I walked home because I couldn't call for a ride. The practicality of cell-phones are more obvious to me than ever before. However, i've become more aware of people "plugging in" on the sky-train, the bus, walking, anywhere really. People are dialing in to phones, or rocking out to ipods or some type of gadget that is effectively reducing direct human interaction.
What we have made up for efficiency - the ability to talk to a greater number of people at once. We are losing on quality of interaction. For example, when I text or email someone they are only receiving a very small percentage of what i'm actually sending. They are missing out of my voice tone and fluctuations, my body language. Also, they way someone receives an e-mail could be affected by the mood they're in. Face to Face is essential and i'm a fond believer in that, now more than ever before. Time is valuable and and giving people face to face time shows them that they're important.
Still... no phone sucks.
Monday, August 30, 2010
The beginning...
My 2 and a half year old Motoralla Crazer has gone through alot - throwing, falling... It had a good life and until yesterday almost everything worked. My Crazer screen decided to stop showing images and being a good opportunist, I thought it would be a good time to upgrade.
This is where my dilemma begins. I cancelled with Koodo to go with a smart phone provider, until I realized how much bullshit new phone users have to go through. They want me to pay $35 to purchase from some store and then I'm going to be billed another $35 for start-up costs. Naturally, I haggle. But i'm afraid the store workers don't really have much flexibility.
After everything is said and done the best deal i'm going to get is a $79.99 HTC Desire with a $50 rebate on a 3 year plan + the $70 start-up fees + the $100 extended warranty. I go there expecting to walk out happy with a new phone, but I end up getting pissed off at the amount of bullshit I have to go through. To top it off, if I declined to get the warranty I would be paying $35 extra in shipping fees if it broke of natural causes in the first year. Then batteries cost more than what I would be paying for the phone, no battery is going to stay strong for 3 years so i'll probably be needing 2 batteries at about 100 bucks a pop.
We have one of the highest prices for cell-phone plans in world. I feel like the lack of competition in the Canadian market is allowing 4 or 5 carriers to come to a business agreement and reducing the kind of innovation or competitive pricing that is needed in the telecommunications market.
This is when I started thinking. What will life be like for one month without a mobile phone. People have thrived for Millennia without them, so why can't I. Yes, we are a connected world, even the homeless guy who hangs outside superstore carries a cell-phone. Mind you he's probably cooler than me.
Are we lazier in the sense that we're moving away from real conversations to texting and social media?
Are people flakier because cell-phones have made it more convenient to cancel an engagement?
For the amount of talking we do, what are we losing out on in quality of conversation?
One thing that has always bugged me is people who answer text-messages or cell-phones in the middle of conversation. Something I admit i'm guilt of myself.
What do you think? What are we gaining with cell-phones? What are we losing?
I'm definitely pro-cellphone and this will be a difficult challenge for me, but I'm interested in learning how well I can adapt. While trying to decide which cell-phone carrier and plan to go with a month from now.
This is where my dilemma begins. I cancelled with Koodo to go with a smart phone provider, until I realized how much bullshit new phone users have to go through. They want me to pay $35 to purchase from some store and then I'm going to be billed another $35 for start-up costs. Naturally, I haggle. But i'm afraid the store workers don't really have much flexibility.
After everything is said and done the best deal i'm going to get is a $79.99 HTC Desire with a $50 rebate on a 3 year plan + the $70 start-up fees + the $100 extended warranty. I go there expecting to walk out happy with a new phone, but I end up getting pissed off at the amount of bullshit I have to go through. To top it off, if I declined to get the warranty I would be paying $35 extra in shipping fees if it broke of natural causes in the first year. Then batteries cost more than what I would be paying for the phone, no battery is going to stay strong for 3 years so i'll probably be needing 2 batteries at about 100 bucks a pop.
We have one of the highest prices for cell-phone plans in world. I feel like the lack of competition in the Canadian market is allowing 4 or 5 carriers to come to a business agreement and reducing the kind of innovation or competitive pricing that is needed in the telecommunications market.
This is when I started thinking. What will life be like for one month without a mobile phone. People have thrived for Millennia without them, so why can't I. Yes, we are a connected world, even the homeless guy who hangs outside superstore carries a cell-phone. Mind you he's probably cooler than me.
Are we lazier in the sense that we're moving away from real conversations to texting and social media?
Are people flakier because cell-phones have made it more convenient to cancel an engagement?
For the amount of talking we do, what are we losing out on in quality of conversation?
One thing that has always bugged me is people who answer text-messages or cell-phones in the middle of conversation. Something I admit i'm guilt of myself.
What do you think? What are we gaining with cell-phones? What are we losing?
I'm definitely pro-cellphone and this will be a difficult challenge for me, but I'm interested in learning how well I can adapt. While trying to decide which cell-phone carrier and plan to go with a month from now.
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