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Ordered a smartphone - resistance finally crumbled in face of relentless pressure

24th Feb 2015
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I have for a long time resisted the upgrade from £5 phone to smartphone . The thought of being "on call" from all fronts all the time just did not appeal to me

However , Mrs Y had other plans , so what choice did I have ? In the interests of domestic harmony and most importantly to demonstrate that I appreciate how much it will benefit her I have taken the bold step (again) . This time it is probably for good as I do have a tablet AND have "gone Google " now that the exchange server is leaving us 

I can't help wondering if it will actually make me more productive and less hassled , as I will be bale to spread out certain tasks to times that are normally "dead"  , such as waiting rooms and queues

Have any of you lot made the same journey as me ?

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Replies (24)

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By Rachael White
24th Feb 2015 13:42

One tip

Switch on airplane mode for when you don't want to be hassled. 

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Norman Younger
By Norman Younger
24th Feb 2015 15:09

Airplane mode

My wife would get wise to it after a few days - I could only feign ignorance for so long 

Isn't this airline caper outmoded now - last month I flew and they said you could keep your phone on , thus ending the last bastion of peace on the planet 

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By Rachael White
24th Feb 2015 15:24

Some airlines

Even go as far as having wi-fi on board, i.e. Norweigan airlines. No one abused it thankfully - it was pretty cool messaging people from tens of thousands of feet in the air! 

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By User deleted
24th Feb 2015 15:45

No hassle mode

If you don't want to be hassled - turn it off! And when someone complains that they rang / messaged / emailed you but got no reply, your answer is 'Sorry but it was switched off'. No reasons for it being off required. Just a simple statement of fact. Your time is just that, yours.

My phone cost me £20.99. I only answer it when it suits me. I reply to a text if I feel like it. And the rest of the time it sits there quietly. I figure that if everyone else is boldly going forward, it'll leave the present nice and quiet for me on my tod!

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Norman Younger
By Norman Younger
24th Feb 2015 20:12

Switched on or switched off ?

Well, I do not have an answerphone , I generally only answer if you are in my contact list etc .

So that takes care of that BUT and it's a BIG BUT.....

 

My wife wants to be able to get hold of me of WhattsApp !!!

So , at times being "off" is not an option . To be fair to Mrs Y , the logic is based on the following

When shopping and said item of grocery is in doubt I must take a picture and send it to her for approval or otherwise

When she has a break (which is quite rare) at work she can communicate in an instant 

When abroad on holiday she can send instant pictures of what she is up to (abroad , with me I hear you ask) . Yup I can't tolerate heat and hate plane travel so she goes with a friend . This way 2 wives and 2 hubbies get a holiday for the price of one :-)  ...simples

So , in short as from when my phone arrives I am officially no longer a Luddite !

 

 

 

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
25th Feb 2015 00:09

As with so much IT....

they are a mixed blessing.  I've had a selection of these little wonders over several years and, as indicated above, the art is to stay in control so, like Flash, I just tell people it was switched off (even if it wasn't). After all, if things are that urgent, there's always the landline (this will stay till the bitter end).

On the plus side, with three email accounts, Hipchat, Google+, Whatsapp, Skype and texts, it is such a help to be able to see how things stand (even if it's just reading), when you would otherwise be sitting there with little else to do; in my case that's waiting for delayed trains, the dentist/docs waiting room, Sainsburys checkout or during Holby City.

Of all of the above features Whatsapp is great, especially with my widespread family group where we can all share news & gossip amongst ourselves and where some of us refuse to lower ourselves to Facebook.

I do, however, have an issue with them being called smartphones, my Samsung is a crapphone, I tend to cut off 50% of the calls I receive and and planning to dust off my old flip phone to use instead.

 

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By User deleted
25th Feb 2015 08:19

Yes but

But why the need to see wife's holiday pictures instantly?! In the good old days, not only would you have to wait till the person got home, but then you had the wait while the photos were developed. So I can't help thinking that you could survive a couple or so hours until you next turned the phone on. 

I seriously don't understand why so many people have this need to be in touch 24-7. It's like people have forgotten how to survive on their own. 

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Out of my mind
By runningmate
25th Feb 2015 09:44

News just in

Mafeking has been relieved!

RM

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Norman Younger
By Norman Younger
25th Feb 2015 13:05

A 24-7 world

Well I can honestly say that when the phone shop were unable to supply me on the spot and told me to go home and call up in the morning , that I went home very very undisappointed - a good sign

It is all about the barrier going higher and higher and the next generation accepting with little resistance - history is littered with stories of progress that rattled the "old timers"

There is something fundamental about being in touch and being part of a group - it is a basic human trait and the tech people have worked this out and there is no going back

My big question is whether I will feel a sense of being subjugated and browbeaten by progress, in 3 or 6 months /

Will I be able to tame the technology ?

Undoubtedly I will see benefits - for example on the homewatch scheme I run , I am the only person not be on WhattsApp , which is genuinely useful in an emergency . At the moment to scramble a response I have to text or phone somebody which is really stupid and wastes valuable minutes

 

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By User deleted
25th Feb 2015 14:14

In touch - but always

It may be, apparently, a basic human trait to want to be part of a group (personally I disagree - I'm happier on my own) but there's a difference between being in touch / part of a group and being constantly reachable. I'm reachable if someone wants to leave a message or email me, or better still write me a letter. My life doesn't suddenly become meaningless or barely liveable just because someone can't get hold of me the second they decide to (actually it becomes miles better). It seems as if some people are so busy reporting on their lives that they don't actually have time to have a life.

It may be progress to some but to me it's a backwards step. Progress is being able to switch off and spend time living.  

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By Rachael White
25th Feb 2015 17:31

Being in touch always

It isn't all negative...

I moved here from Ireland in 2012 and love getting instant pics, messages, just generally hearing from my family and friends I left behind! It makes me feel part of their lives still even though I live hundreds of miles away and just generally makes me happy.

So I am in favour of it - but not if the person concerned is sitting next to you, then it becomes an issue ;-) 

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By User deleted
25th Feb 2015 17:48

Yes but

Do you need to receive them the second they send them? Or could they be just as enjoyable (or more so) later when you've time to appreciate them fully?

And how about if you're out for a meal with someone and they're ignoring you because they're tapping away on their phone constantly?

I'm not saying that having the means to stay in touch isn't good, but I don't see why it has to be every second of the day. People expect replies immediately and don't allow for the fact that a, you might be busy doing something else or b, you might not want to reply straight away 

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Routemaster image
By tom123
25th Feb 2015 21:01

Only two people ring my brother's landline

My brother (younger) tells me that it is only ever mum and I who ring his landline.

I tell him this is because I know the number off by heart, and have free calls from landline to landline.

My (£10) Nokia mobile on a £5 contract has 100 minutes per month - and I never go over.

 

Proud to be a phone luddite - although other technology does interest me.

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Norman Younger
By Norman Younger
26th Feb 2015 22:44

The phone arrived sans SIM card

I am not exactly heartbroken and will wait most patiently until it arrives.......

Must admit it is a nice sleek piece of kit and the bluetooth maynbe handy in the car for my homewatch work , although Imam unsure if I can do 2 things at once

Stay tuned folks

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By carnmores
27th Feb 2015 09:56

the key is to get the useful apps

On your phone and bin the rest

 

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By User deleted
27th Feb 2015 22:25

I am with Flash ...

... and agree with Carnmores - I have three applications on the home screen, e-mail, calendar and remote link to office pc, if I swipe across I have 3 more, BT Sport, BBC Media player and World of Tanks.

I deleted most of the crud that infested it when I first switched it on and location finder is off.

It is a tool for me, not a window for all and sundry to pester me through - phone is on silent and vibration is off - it is generally flat anyway!

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By carnmores
02nd Mar 2015 09:43

AND....

it will fit in your sporran !

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Replying to Rgab1947:
Norman Younger
By Norman Younger
02nd Mar 2015 11:46

Sporran

Of course , I need the sporran App , complete with virtual hip flask !

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
03rd Mar 2015 11:01

Flash - no one forces me to look at stuff

Like Rachael, there can be good reasons to want to keep in touch.  I have acquired my first two grandchildren in the past few months and, getting a bleep to show me a video of my granddaughter blowing her first raspberry yesterday was a joy, especially as it pulled me a way from a crap set of books that I'd had my head in for an hour.

Similarly my niece is away for a year in Australia and shares some brilliant and scary stuff.

This is personal but having reminders that there is life outside work can be a great leveler and if I need to concentrate (on the crap set of books) there is a brilliant feature that actually enables you can turn things off! 

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Norman Younger
By Norman Younger
03rd Mar 2015 16:12

And yet still no SIM card

Fortunately my wife does not believe in conspiracy theories but the SIM card has still not arrived

In fact it was not despatched due to a technical fault - which i only found out when Mrs Y suggested I rattle their cage

Will it arrive tomorrow ? ....stay tuned folks 

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By carnmores
04th Mar 2015 17:35

we await your

tweets

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Norman Younger
By Norman Younger
06th Mar 2015 09:55

The SIM card has arrived ...

Perhaps I will get around to sorting it before the end of the day

I think the item I dread is WhatsApp , which the single thing my wife wants me to have !

I suspect this is her sweet revenge over the Bentley saga.....

 

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Replying to Duggimon:
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By User deleted
06th Mar 2015 13:06

Don't do it ...

Flying Scotsman wrote:

Perhaps I will get around to sorting it before the end of the day

I think the item I dread is WhatsApp , which the single thing my wife wants me to have !

I suspect this is her sweet revenge over the Bentley saga.....

... Big Brother has nothing on WhatsApp!

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Norman Younger
By Norman Younger
06th Mar 2015 13:53

The phone is live and so is WhatsApp

No major hitches BUT I have set up WhatsApp not to show whether I have read an item or not - keep 'em guessing !

For anything critical requiring it I can temporarily switch it back on

I shall now be developing rules of engagement for use of this masterpiece of technological wonder , and initial thoughts point towards turning the phone off more often seeing as I am becoming more widely contactable - reverse logic ?

Just as Mrs Thatcher famously described Mr Gorbachov as "somebody I can do business with" , I am confident that the new phone will be liveable with on my terms . Plus ca change , as they say in Scotland

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