Cell Phone BS

[ShadowArmy]

I'm having this frustrating stupid problem. I pretty much need to be carrying a cell phone with me when I'm out driving, especially on the highway, in case I get into an accident or the a flat tire, the engine dies, etc. Yet I've already gone through 2 different prepaid phones that are supposedly ideal for emergency-only use.

The first one, a trac-fone, stopped functioning altogether, even when charged, because I stored in the cars glove box all the time, or maybe because I didn't use it much at all (or both).

The second one, a AT&T type thing, gives me a stupid "smartchip registration failure" upon turning on. SO I can't even buy more minutes with it. I assume this is just due to leaving it unused for so long.

Basically, I use a cell phone so infrequently that it doesn't make any sense to own one. Yet I need one in case of emergencies. WTF am I supposed to do here?

 

[CyberPitz]

Use it more?

 

[dfc05]

My dad has an emergency one. I think he bought the cheapest phone he can possibly find (e.g. at Walgreens), then buys the prepaid minutes separately? He probably turns it on occasionally though. I don't really know.

 

[Vegeta897]

Leave the battery out?

 

[Hectic Glenn]

A standard crappy nokia phone on pay as you go would do the trick? Every electrical device loses charge over time, leaving the phone off all the time would probably mean it wouldn't need charging for 2 weeks at a time.

As far as I'm aware there are standard 'pay as you go' packages for which the credit doesn't expire so you can buy $20 of credit and leave it on there.

Lastly if you're really bad at charging or remembering to charge it, but a car cigarette lighter charger to do the job. Leave it in the glove box with the phone. They cost $5 or less on ebay for most phones. (Or get with the times grand dad and start keeping a phone on your person!)

 

[Insano]

Get an iPhone.

 

[KiplingsCat]

You can get chargers for most phones that you can plug into your car and they use the engine battery. That would work unless your car was broken.

But what you said sounds pretty typical of phones. Mine always dies when I need it most.

 

[sinkoman]

Slightly related: I was riding around Oakland yesterday and didn't notice my backpack was open. By the time I had noticed, my phone was gone.

Kthxbai

 

[Dr.Demento]

Isn't there a pre-paid option anymore? I wouldn't pay monthly for a cell-phone I don't frequently use either. I thought I would need one for the same reason for my job, but as it turns out, I can manage without one. People these days just seem to be conditioned to need one and that's not the case. Cell phones only make life easier, but they're not really necessary.

I personally hate the damned things tbh. So obnoxious.

 

[hool10]

I like the one that I have that you have to pay $20 every 3 months of something. Think my dad has like $200 on his plan. Really cell phones are stupid and I rarely use them.

 

[Kinslayer]

wat

I send/receive upwards of 500 texts / month :l

Cell phones are quite useful for keeping in contact with people you wouldn't be able to stay friends with otherwise due to schedule conflicts / distance / both.

Also: Leaving your phone in the glovebox is a bad, bad idea. When it gets hot, it will quite literally fry. Luckily my phone had an auto-shutoff if overheating so it didn't die, and that was leaving it there for maybe 3 hours. Not good. Then again, the car did have black interior.

 

[Dr.Demento]

wat

I send/receive upwards of 500 texts / month :l

Cell phones are quite useful for keeping in contact with people you wouldn't be able to stay friends with otherwise due to schedule conflicts / distance / both.

Also: Leaving your phone in the glovebox is a bad, bad idea. When it gets hot, it will quite literally fry. Luckily my phone had an auto-shutoff if overheating so it didn't die, and that was leaving it there for maybe 3 hours. Not good. Then again, the car did have black interior.

I was watching an episode of Boondocks on adult swim last night where they mentioned how useless text messaging is. "Why waste 5 minutes typing with your thumbs when it only takes 5 seconds to call the person on the same device to say the same thing? hmph. nigga technology!!!"

 

[Kinslayer]

I was watching an episode of Boondocks on adult swim last night where they mentioned how useless text messaging is. "Why waste 5 minutes typing with your thumbs when it only takes 5 seconds to call the person on the same device to say the same thing? hmph. nigga technology!!!"

Texting is much, much different than calling. It's hard to explain unless you do it. It's just like a whole different sort of conversation than you would have over the phone, in person, or even on IM or email. It's weird, not really sure how to describe it. I guess more "relaxed" would come close, but still not entirely correct.

On top of that, it's much quieter, you can converse at your own pace (such as go get lunch and reply later), it's much easier to access than voicemail should you not be there at the moment, and is actually quicker than calling if you're just saying "hey man you wanna get food after school today?" or some such. It does have uses, and people who just write it off as such are fooling themselves.

 

[Danimal]

Whoever takes five minutes to type a text is phone-casual, anyway.

Texts are great if you don't need to have a long-winded conversation with someone on the phone, when you only need to ask a quick question or something.

Calling is great though because if you ask someone who owes you money where the **** it is, they can't just put the phone down and ignore it like you can with texts.

(You get excuses instead lol)

 

[Stigmata]

Texting cuts out the fat in conversation. There's no hey, what's up, haha, oh wow, really, shit, lol, bye, later, and the grammar is condensed.

 

[dfc05]

My cell phone is still on my parents' plan, and they've blocked all texts because it's not on our plan and costs like 10 cents apiece. But people can still send texts to my number and get no indication that I'm unable to receive them. This becomes problematic when someone important like, say, your research advisor sends texts to you .

 

[swan_song1973]

i know a few people who have pay-as-you-go phones for the same reason, and they seem to enjoy them.