What is Digg?313 Comments
- firefox15, on 10/10/2007, -39/+179This article is total *****.
1) "It makes your life more complicated" - As do computers. Would you throw away your computer?
2) "It's horribly expensive" - Most companies will pay a portion of your cell phone bill if you have a ligitimate need for it. Even if they don't, cheaper pay-per-use providers are available.
3) "It enslaves you to a one-sided contract" - So do Microsoft, your cable company, and AT&T.
4) "It makes you perpetually available" - Umm...that's the point.
5) "It is boring" - What the hell? Are we still in elementary school? Not everything needs to be entertaining.
6) "It must constantly be recharged" - So do portable game systems and your car.
7) "It knows where you are" - So? It doesn't tell the government where you are. It only is so 911 can locate you if you call in.
8) "It encourages stupid people to become a public menace" - So I should stop using my phone because others might do it too?
9) "Ubiquitous pleather accessory shops" - Now accessory shops are annoying? Or, as the article says, "an offense to nature"? Wow. Just deal with them.
10) "It turns you into a public annoyance" - My phone's always on vibrate. It never pisses anyone off. - omnithought, on 10/10/2007, -1/+53Why make excuses? Just don't answer it if you don't want to. It's your phone and your life.
- theblooms, on 10/10/2007, -10/+59I hate my ***** cell phone. I hate it with a gaddam passion. Hell, I hate the phone in my house. E-mail is by far my preferred means of communication. If I didn't have a Special Needs child (my oldest son is autistic), I wouldn't have one. Of that you can be assured.
- FulcrumVitesse, on 10/10/2007, -4/+50"It makes you perpetually available". Yep, that's my major qualm with cellphones too. But you can turn it off.
- allaboutdatiki, on 10/10/2007, -9/+53I cast off my cell phone shackles nearly two years ago and have happily lived to tell the tale.
In a moment of weakness, I picked up a disposable Tracfone to use on road trips, but I rarely use it.
Come to think of it, I don't even know where the Tracfone is at the moment ... buried in some drawer, no doubt.
I've saved well over a thousand bucks over this time and it has helped greatly with the de-stressing process. I highly recommend it to all that can make the leap back in time. We don't need to be available 24/7. - tyywebb, on 10/10/2007, -16/+49Buried for being retarded.
- tocomeunglued, on 10/10/2007, -2/+35get rid of my cellphone... HA!
if anything I'm getting rid of my home phone, why the hell do i need two different numbers and bills for the same thing... - DeskFlyer, on 10/10/2007, -6/+33I couldn't have said it any better than that. It's like the author doesn't understand why cell phones exist or something...
- Rodman930, on 10/10/2007, -10/+35Agreed. Not having a cellphone is the best way to not have a girl friend. With being a Digger in close second.
- shrimp199, on 10/10/2007, -2/+25one reason to keep your cell phone....
emergencies - Lopaka1998, on 10/10/2007, -2/+25I can see both sides to this arguement / statement. I myself do not have a cell phone (nor have ever had one) and I can say that the times people use cell phones can sometimes be inappropriate. There are also good sides to cell phones - emergency 911, help finding a new location (no more getting lost!), etc.
What bothers me is not so much that people have and use cell phones. The fact that people do not consider where they use their phone or the consequences of such are what bother me. It is not so much the technology - but the (pardon me for saying this) inconsiderate and stupid people using them that ruin it for the rest of us (cell phone and non-cell phone users) alike.
I was watching CNN a few days ago - and heard about some young women who were driving. The driver was texting on her cell phone. She got into an accident and at least two of the four girls died. This of course was totally avoidable.
Technology is always a double-edged sword. The thing to remember is to use the technology responsibly and for the good of all. Being considerate and responsible should never go out of fashion. - NJPENSO, on 10/10/2007, -5/+26What if I want to find my friends and I'm not at home?
Or does this article only apply to people with no friends or family they need to be in touch with..? - mesmeriffic, on 10/10/2007, -10/+29Phones are useful for social lives.
- LowRentDiggs, on 10/10/2007, -8/+26People had girlfriends before cellphones, believe it or not.
- Livewired, on 10/10/2007, -5/+22greatest article you've ever read? You need to get out more.
- marx2k, on 10/10/2007, -1/+17This is like trying to tell adults that families of 3 or more were actually able to survive BEFORE SUVs
- peterjmag, on 10/10/2007, -1/+17Phone sex just isn't the same via email, though.
- timusca, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16This is all very simple...
Now that pay phones aren't on every corner, they ARE necessary. It used to be that if you had a quarter, stop anywhere, and use a pay phone. Now, they're few and far between, and cost a lot more than a quarter. - LowRentDiggs, on 10/10/2007, -7/+22People had social lives before cellphones, believe it or not.
- satx, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16And you're a dork.
- LowRentDiggs, on 10/10/2007, -5/+20They aren't necessary for adults, you've just tricked yourself into believing they are. I was in the workforce before many people had cellphones and we actually survived without them. After having a cellphone for 10 years I finally cancelled mine and haven't missed it at all. I got a cheap T-Mobile prepaid phone for when I absolutely must make a call on the road but few people have that number.
If you're not in charge of saving lives or mission critical systems, you don't need to be on call 24/7. - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -4/+18Oh what irony Mu. Mr 8 Gig. iPhone man!! I can't believe you posted this :)
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14I don't have a land line. Frankly, I just like the convenience of being able to call from anywhere, or being able to be called anywhere (if I don't want to be called, I can turn the damn thing off).
- Murdats, on 10/10/2007, -2/+16"I was in the workforce before many people had cellphones and we actually survived without them."
yes and people survived before email, and computers, and a postal service.
see my point, yes you were able to work before everyone had cellphones, however now they do, the work environment has adapted to take this into consideration and as such it is now very difficult to cope without one. - TechBharat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13There is always a "Switch Off" button. You need privacy - switch off. Why he insist on throwing it away?!
- merlingen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12Trow away my cell phone? How am I supposed to sell drugs and remotely detonate bombs then?
- macaddct1984, on 10/10/2007, -3/+15I don't have a land line in my apartment, so the only phone I have is my cell phone... and it's actually pretty convenient.
- BoneyMan, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Next article: 10 reasons to throw away your computer
People used to survive without computers too! What's next, people used to survive without fridges?
You're not supposed to throw away your phone, just stop abusing it. Just get what you actually need, not what you think you will. It'll save you a lot of money. - Murdats, on 10/10/2007, -3/+14exactly. I should stop using phones because others use them to be jerks.
I should stop driving because other people can use cars to be jerks.
and boring? what kind of lame excuse is that?
I refuse to use my pen, its boring.
why would I use paper, its boring. - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -4/+15My phone and a hammer got in a fight... phone lost. :(
- Dumbledorito, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10FTA: "Everyone is at it, but the most iconic example of how times have changed is AT&T: Ma Bell has reglued itself together with almost Marxian inevitability..."
Marxian? It's a corporation running in a (theoretically) capitalist environment. What a twit. - Murdats, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9jerks will always find ways to be bigger and better jerks.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9I assume you have caller id so you should know if it is your work calling. Furthermore, I have a seperate ringtone for work numbers.
- EllimistX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9Plus, you get pictures and/or video too! ....Just saying...
- Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Meh... The author is just some pitiful mindless drone -- that's his problem. He has lost the capability of making his own choices and is therefore bothered by all the people around him trying to screw him out of his last cent... and as the drone he is, he lets them.
The whole list could be compiled down to a single point: learn to say "no" to other people's asshattery. This done, you can keep your phone for when *you* need it, and use it they way *you* want to use it. - shawnz, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8"It must constantly be recharged
Unless you want to hoik around a brick, the chances are you're recharging it daily. Screw fuel-cells: with WiFi, BlueTooth, WWAN and whatever else, we need AAA-size disposable fission reactors to keep these buggers awake."
huh? my phone lasts for at least three days on a full charge, which takes under an hour. :-/ - lordigor, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7basically, what murdats said. people can be morons with anything they get their hands on, and a cell phone is no exception.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7I have been without a landline for 7 years now. And I have never lost my cell. My car keys and my wallet are more likely candidates for being lost than my cell. Hell the damn thing makes a noise. How hard could it be to find it?
- LordSkywalker, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Same here. According to my phone bill, I talk on average, 60-80 minutes a month. And that's with them rounding up each partial minute. Only cost's me about $18/mo. though, and no contract.
- MasterThief117, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8Actually, I did something different. I got rid of my land line in favor of a cell phone. It saves about $40/mo.
- MacParrot, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Still the same, it just takes longer
- MikeFromAmerica, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Try IRC.
"I put on my robe and wizard hat..."
http://bash.org/?104383 - Homunculiheaded, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6While I agree that the term seems a bit odd, aside from being a harsh critic of capitalism Marx also probably described and understood the system better than many (in many ways he foresaw global capitalism before anyone else, and certainly understood it's mechanics). If we give the benefit of the doubt to the author 'Marxian Inevitability' could simply refer to the fact that Marx would have seen the reformation of monopoly like structure as being nearly inevitable.
- Frezzle, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6The person trying to reach you will proly end up calling the cops and organizing a search party to look for your body. When really you just wanted to take a crap with out getting a call
- panzergeist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5@corkdorkdan
Oh, I beg to differ! - jgullickson, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Amen Brother!
I got my first phone around 1993 and from that point on thought I could never live without one. About two years ago I switched jobs and no longer had a "company phone". Faced with the cost of paying for my own "cool" phone I decided to wait awhile and see if I could get by (somehow) without one. It's two years later and there hasn't been one time that I couldn't live without a phone, and not having one to worry about (cost, charging, obsolecense, etc.) has definately decreased my stress levels, even if in a small way.
The comments about needing a cellphone to have a social life/girlfriend etc. are hillarious. As far as I know, there's only one kind of sex that requires a phone... - Slyer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5If I didn't have a cell phone, how would I waste company time texting people?
- Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+51. iPhone hackers say "yes"
2. You're still in charge of when/how you use it, which makes you in charge of the cost.
3. Yes, there are tons of Linux phones.
4. Still your choice -- if you don't want to be available, you can choose not to be.
5. They're not meant to be "special" (or fun) -- they're meant to allow you to communicate. If you want to (or don't want to) pay for extra features, that's your choice.
6. Yes... and..?
7. Get a better government.
8/10. Is filler, like you say, but still... Is it really that hard to be considerate? If you really need to yell into your phone, you're not using it right...
9. Again, user choice. - theMurdocVolta, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I dont Have a Home Phone, Just a Cell, and I cant imagine life without it.
This is how it goes; If I want to answer the call, I do. If I dont want to answer the call I don't. Also, If I am In the middle of something important (meeting, family, date, etc.) I turn it off so it goes to voice mail, which i do check later, seems to work for me, It works out to being about 20 more dollars for a cell then if I had long distance and caller ID in my house - Murdats, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5what if his landline service was disrupted? or his home phone broke, or he lost his cordless phone?
those are some of the stupidest arguments ever, you go to a phone shop, buy a new phone and get your account transfered to it. -
Show 51 - 100 of 308 discussions
Check out the new & improved 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is