What year is this?

My wife and I went the smartphone route a few years ago. A little over a year ago, we ditched the smartphones and went back to flip phones. Those things (smart phones) make communication a snap, and you can stay connected anywhere, but I find that they have a tendency to disconnect people from the real world, and diminish face to face communication. Might seem odd, but for my wife, it was somewhat liberating to get rid of the smart phone. Those little boogers, despite being handy as hell, are a little like a drug for some people. A lot of folks these days will admit that they couldn't live without their smartphone. They say it like it's cute. I think it's fairly pathetic. Get a freakin' life! That's my $.02, but what the hell do we know, were old farts (31 & 32). :wink2:
 
I'm no text monger by any means, but I think it's a handy feature, particularly where you have an occasional short question needing a short answer and you don't want to have to force someone to answer the phone or go in to voicemail. But I never used to do it with older phones because it took too much time. If all you do is talk a flip phone is fine. Add texting then not so much.
 
Actually, texting is useful for marginal cell signals.

You can get stuff out when phone calls get dropped in the first sentence.

For that reason, it's my method of choice for communicating with flight instructors, as that almost always happens when I'm driving in the mountains on my way to the airport (yes, I pull over for that). I usually have a really good weather observation, as 2600 feet is above almost any marine layer.
 
Yeah, text is all that worked during Katrina. Well, that and my rotary phones. Cell service was dead for days.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I have yet to test the theory with the iPhone but I suspect I could probably throw it the farthest of all of the phones I've owned.
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If you like to skip stones at the lake, I bet your iPhone will skip really well.

If I were to throw my iPhone, that's what I would try.
 
I've seriously considered going back to a dumb cell phone. It's really hard for the people that think the chat room is the official way to kick off a multi-day IT project, to do so, if you're never online.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Hate on me if you wish. but I am in California. That's how we roll. Just sayin'
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I dunno, a lot of people I've met think that we're all surfers in socal so I tend to exaggerate and work phrases like "gnarly, brah!" into as many sentences as I can :D
 
overdrive148 said:
I dunno, a lot of people I've met think that we're all surfers in socal so I tend to exaggerate and work phrases like "gnarly, brah!" into as many sentences as I can :D
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Exactly, there are images at stake here.
 
I found a old bag phone circa 1988 at work recently, ended up giving it to my friend who owns a '87 IROC Z. He drives around town taking "calls" on his bag phone for laughs. I guess you have to see it to appreciate it. At least it's period correct with his wheels!
 
JazzBass said:
I found a old bag phone circa 1988 at work recently, ended up giving it to my friend who owns a '87 IROC Z. He drives around town taking "calls" on his bag phone for laughs. I guess you have to see it to appreciate it. At least it's period correct with his wheels!
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My (then new) employer at the time had a couple of those for checkout. They were heavy beasts. I don't think they were ever intended to be carried, rather just portable from car to car. My boss had an Air Touch cellular phone permanently mounted in his Honda Civic.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I view things a little differently. I'd rather answer a call or reply to a short email while drinking a pint of Guinness at the pub and working a hottie rather than hanging out at the office waiting for a call or email. My little Motorola Razor flip phone never allowed me to do that. My Iphone on the other hand, has been a game changer.
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Very well said. Smart phones are absurdly capable business platforms for those who need to rock work outside of a 9-5 desk job. Just because a 9-year old can entertain himself for months on a smart phone doesn't diminish its incredible business capabilities. And as a student of history, I think flip phones are totally boss. :D
 
I travel most of the time (for work) and having a smart phone is a game changer. I use Google Maps for my portable GPS, the flashlight app at least once a day (this also great for older eyes for reading menus), texting (coordinating meet ups with colleagues and even tech support), Yelp for finding restaurants, email of course, and entertainment on long flights and getting caught up on the news, not to mention Tapatalk for PoA. The Southwest app is great for getting flight and gate status and don't forget mobile boarding passes (I often don't have access to a printer). It also backs up my iPad for ForeFlight and works as a remote for my Apple TV. In a pinch, I can turn it into a Wifi Hotspot to connect my laptop (many times I have had to do troubleshooting from airport terminals). If the flip phone works for you, great, but my iPhone definitely makes my life easier.
 
John221us said:
I travel most of the time (for work) and having a smart phone is a game changer. I use Google Maps for my portable GPS, the flashlight app at least once a day (this also great for older eyes for reading menus), texting (coordinating meet ups with colleagues and even tech support), Yelp for finding restaurants, email of course, and entertainment on long flights and getting caught up on the news, not to mention Tapatalk for PoA. The Southwest app is great for getting flight and gate status and don't forget mobile boarding passes (I often don't have access to a printer). It also backs up my iPad for ForeFlight and works as a remote for my Apple TV. In a pinch, I can turn it into a Wifi Hotspot to connect my laptop (many times I have had to do troubleshooting from airport terminals). If the flip phone works for you, great, but my iPhone definitely makes my life easier.
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I remember having a face to face conversation with you and anther POA member all the way over on the East coast across our smart phones, in fact.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I remember having a face to face conversation with you and anther POA member all the way over on the East coast across our smart phones, in fact.
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That's right, when I met up with Eric in Pittsburgh and we went to that strange Mongolian restaurant. But that is another good point, FaceTime is great for keeping my GF from forgetting me, while I am gone 70% of the time.
 
I refuse to own a Smartphone.
There are already too many interruptions in my life.
 
JazzBass said:
I found a old bag phone circa 1988 at work recently, ended up giving it to my friend who owns a '87 IROC Z. He drives around town taking "calls" on his bag phone for laughs. I guess you have to see it to appreciate it. At least it's period correct with his wheels!
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The bag phone was still the best phone I ever had.

I still have a landline at home. Kids (people under 35) will look at my old black rotary dial phone (circa 1951) and will ask me what it is.

In my garage I have an old extension phone. No roatary dial, just a handset. When the phone rings just pick it up and talk. Sometime in its life someone painted it red. When people ask about it I tell them that it is an old hot line phone from the White House. The president would pick it up and it would ring at all the missle sites to get the word out to launch. If someone goes to pick up the handset I tell them, "Hold on, that thing still works.", and they yank their hand back.....:lol:
 
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