Why I Don’t Have A Cell Phone by slaveofone
Yes, I’m Mennonite. And certainly that plays into it. But just because I’m Mennonite doesn’t mean I’m a Luddite (some of us Mennos–even the conservative ones!–sport the latest and greatest Apple or Google gadgets). I actually have a lot of good reasons for not having a cell phone. And here they are:
- Cost
Cell phones cost A LOT more than a landline. I’ve heard it many times
a cell doesn’t cost that much more
ormy plan was actually cheaper than a landline.
I’ve searched over half a decade for a cell phone plan that allowed me to call whenever I wanted for as long as I wanted (that’s what you get automatically with every landline) and the lowest price I have ever found was about $40 a month (not counting taxes and fees). For my landline WITH long distance, WITH high speed DSL, and WITH taxes and fees, I pay about $52 a month. The amount of money I save every month over the cheapest cell phone plan that can offer anything close to what a landline offers is almost enough to buy an Xbox 360 every year, or two Wiis every year. But why stop there? Have a landline instead of a cell for five years and you would have a down payment on a car or be able to feed a starving family in Africa for three decades. - Signal
With a landline, I have an eternally perfect signal. I have never had a dropped call. I have never had static or had to say
can you hear me now?
I am never out of range when I want to talk to someone. Does the high price you pay for cell service include this basic reality? I like having perpetually uninterrupted and clear conversations. How about you? - False sense of security
Another reason I have heard people go to cell phones is because of security. If something happens to them, they have a cell phone. They can get help. But that’s the thing: just because you have a cell phone doesn’t mean it’s going to be of any use to you at all. It may not be charged when you need it. You may not be able to charge it. There may be no signal or service available. For instance, one of my co-workers lives and works in the middle one of the largest human sprawls in the United States of America—Los Angeles County. But his home is a bit up in the hills and his cell signal is worthless even here. Or you may simply be unable to use it for a thousand common reasons such as forgetting where you put it, accidentally leaving it at home, etc. I have been in plenty of emergency situations in my life—including having my car break down in the middle of the California Valley desert—and did just fine without a cell phone. Cell phones are useful for their convenience, not their safety.
- Perpetuating childish behavior
This usually takes the form of useless communication, time wasting, indolence/lack of planning, or interruptions/rudeness. Studies by Google say that more than a third of all calls made about a place are made within a mile of that place either to confirm they are there (useless communication) or get directions (indolence/lack of planning). What’s so hard about planning where and when to meet up? What’s so hard about going online and figuring out directions before you leave? Why not know where you’re going before you get there? Cell phones increase the opportunity and over time the dependence upon capricious decision-making. By planning in advance, you also have the opportunity to chart alternate courses and are not left flying by the seat of your pants at every vagary.
And then there’s the annoyance that cell phones bring to others. You’re sitting in the theatre watching an awesome movie and suddenly a bright light flashes up into your face from the person sitting one row down in front of you as they check some text message they just received. That pool of light is even brighter than the movie screen! If they had any sense of themselves, they wouldn’t have done that in the middle of a movie. But cell phones perpetuate that kind of behaviour. And now they have interrupted your viewing experience. I remember a time when one could be in a classroom or attend a meeting or be in any sort of contextual gathering and there was no such thing as someone’s cell phone accidentally going off and interrupting everyone. That day is gone thanks to cell phones. But you will NEVER have to worry about my cell phone being an interruption or annoyance to you or to those around you. Join me in helping to make this world a better place again.
And let’s not forget talking on the phone while driving (or worse, texting while driving). Look, I know some of you think you can drive perfectly fine while you’re on the phone, but I’ve been on the road a long time and I can’t count how many times I’ve seen someone doing something silly or stupid behind the wheel and noticed that they had a cell phone to their ear. Even if it is possible for someone to drive well while talking on the phone, it isn’t a wise and mature thing to do. You expect a teenager to do that because they think they’re invincible, they think they know better than others, and because they’re immature. If you’re an adult, there’s no excuse for it. But I’ve seen more
adults
talking on the phone while driving than teenagers. - Local calls
Studies by Google about how people use cell phones reveals one of the largest things people use cells for is local calls, which is exactly what landlines do very well and very cheaply. Why pay more to do the same thing, but not as well (see above)? Most likely because of its immediacy. Why wait till you get home to make that call when you can make it now? See above. Why figure out ahead of time what you’re doing or where you’re going when you can figure that out at the moment you suddenly need that information? See above. I’ve had plenty of situations where I’m at work and I need to make a call. Almost always, it is a local call and my company—and most likely yours as well—is fine with important local calls being made on their phones. The only real reason I see for someone to step out with their cell at work is because of the privacy it offers. And the number one reason for the privacy of that call is because it is not the kind of call you would make on a company’s phone anyway (i.e., it’s not an important business call—it’s some sort of personal interaction that could just as well have been made later on your home phone or done over email).
- Freedom versus slavery
Constant connectivity means you don’t have the freedom of your own personal space (which you need). But you also need real, personal, human-to-human interaction. Constant connectivity creates a spiral of dependence. Since you have chosen not to get away from your phone, and you still need personal space, you find a way to detach from the world THROUGH the phone—by fiddling with it in useless ways instead of engaging with others around you. So detachment from the world through the device becomes a means of seeking freedom from the attachment you have with it. Try this sometime: leave your cell phone at home while at work or school. Loosen the chains of your cell and just leave it behind for the day. If it isn’t difficult to do that, you’re okay. If it is, you have a problem as real as any addiction.