20-08-2002 06:44									#31
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Then there's the whole industry involved. For example I got a SMS at one evening saying 'Hey, this is important, look at your mailbox tomorrow!'. I was like wtf.. is there gonna be a bomb waiting? Or poison snake? Nope.. it wasn't anything like that. It was a new SIM-card for the phone, which I was supposed to put into my phone right away for it to work. Yep.. the service provider decided to give every customer a new SIM-card! Like it even matters. The point is, it would only work in some newer 2-frequency(?) phones, which mine is not of course. So what happened? Unnotified I went to realize that my phone didn't even work anymore. NICE!

I had to change everything, starting my number. I have even those guys selling magazines calling MY personal number at evenings. That makes me furious. I just want to kill everyone trying to sell me something in MY personal cellular phone.

Then there are the frauds. You get an SMS, saying 'call to this number'. It looks normal number, not like it's some porn line costing billion dollars a second. You call.. it's a taped message but not porn.. no wait.. yes it IS porn.. and it just costed you $30. NICE!

	20-08-2002 06:53									#32
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So you like big bills? Buy a cell phone! Few days ago I was sleeping and since I use my phone as an alarm clock too, it's near me. I managed to get it of the table while sleeping and I move a lot when I sleep. Well I managed to order some news to my phone and sports news as well! It's nice, there's an option with just few button pushing away to order them. I don't even know how much they costed me.

But since it's big industry, the service providers should be good.. right? Wrong. I STILL manage to have old bills from providers, that I already paid, and have since changed the provider. What happens then when you call to settle the mess? They say yeah, sorry we'll fix it for you. Wait another 6 months and you have a new bill from them, and since it's LONG overdue, it's huge. Happens from time to time.

And what happens everytime you're listening your stereo or watching tv? They get interference because your precious phone is looking for network or something and this annoying sound 'Tattada tattada' goes around the room. You rush to the phone, waiting for it to start ringing. Never happens.

	20-08-2002 07:05									#33
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Sorry for the long rant, I guess I got a little worked up.
I go to sleep now, so don't worry . But I know I'm gonna wake up to someone calling me accidentally, or have nothing to say but wanted to call. And I just want to sleep. So why don't I just turn it off? It could be an emergency. Yeah sure.

	20-08-2002 07:10									#34
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I love my cell phone when my friends are late to a meeting - and that happens ALOT.

And it looks f*cking hilarious when a guy uses a hands-free, I always initially think it's a mental case, talking to himself.

	20-08-2002 07:13									#35
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Did I went to sleep? No.. I needed to send some SMS first .

That's good, but it brings some bad stuff too with it. If you're friends are late, it sometimes happens with certain people that you try to call, and they ignore you. You might wait for an hour just to realize he/she is not gonna show up, and not gonna answer your calls. That will get you so worked up you're ready to eat babies.
It works both ways around. When you're running late, the phone starts ringing every other second and you explaining 'yeah, in a minute, I'm just around the corner', and do they believe you? No. They call you again after 20 seconds.

	20-08-2002 07:15									#36
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And after they had the nerves to stood YOU up, what do they do? They send you SMS after few days! It's so much easier than confronting a person in real life and apologize. And so the habit of stooding someone up only becomes stronger.

	20-08-2002 07:20									#37
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lol. man, pekka, you've got a lot of this pent up rage against handphones, no?

	20-08-2002 07:24									#38
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Yep. And it's true also. I honestly believe that they have a bad influence to society. In theory, they are ok. But in reality they are just nasty things. Of all the ranting I did, the main reason I hate them is still that you're available for 24/7. I don't hate normal phones, or email, I like them a lot. I don't know why did it come so bad when they were combined and made portable. But it is!

	20-08-2002 07:32									#39
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do i hate cell phones?

not really, no.

i find them extremely convenient, and not at all a nuisance. people can only reach me if i choose to answer the phone. if i choose not to, i can call back at my convenience.

	20-08-2002 07:35									#40
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connorkimbo, well.. you're still having that laid back cell phone culture.. it will change. Enjoy the ride while it's still innocent and convenient!

	20-08-2002 07:39									#41
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if people ever start getting all in my face because i choose not to answer the second they call, then they've got another thing coming to them.

	20-08-2002 07:41									#42
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I like SMS, don't like using the mobile as a phone. If someone calls me and I don't know who it is, I don't answer and don't really care who they are.

SMS are great because with your phone on silent you can get them in places like the movies, exams, etc, and no-one else knows you got a message. And you can then reply when it suits you, which isn't always immediately.

	20-08-2002 07:42									#43
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That's cool.. but reality is harsh and it will hit you like a thousand papercuts and sticks under your nails.

Resistance is futile.

	20-08-2002 07:44									#44
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Skanky Burns, You should enjoy this too while it lasts. After few years you'll be in a 'cell phone wall street hell' too.

	20-08-2002 09:58									#45
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You seem to be under the mistaken impression that all of these non-Finnish people will tow the Finnish Phone Nazi party line.

Ain't happenin'. My boss kept asking for my cell phone number. Did he get finally get it? Not a chance. The trick is to not remember the phone number and to leave the damn thing out of view. I've managed on the $12/month plan for a good while.

DanS's law: Outbound calls only. A+.

Last edited by DanS on 20-08-2002 at 10:06

	20-08-2002 10:24									#46
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I hate cell phones and never had one. I'll refuse to have one. I don't want to be available all the time. I don't like to share a talk on the phone with everyone being around. It's annoying when you are waiting at the checkout in the supermarket and the person in front of you starts to talk into that thing. It's annoying when you are sitting in the train, tired from work and someone talks into that little box much louder than would be a normal chat in the train.

six or seven calls from the wife during work is not specific for cell phones, however. I had a colleague with a very bored wife ... OTOH, she's South American and barely speaks German.

	20-08-2002 10:29									#47
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quote: Originally posted by Pekka Yeah I know! But when you eventually open the phone again, it will be filled with text messages and phone calls, and your answer machine is full of angry people shouting why you don't return calls.

That's easy, find a service that doesn't provide SMS messages and mailboxes.

If you can't, ask the provider to turn those off for you, or maybe you can at least shut off SMS by adjusting your mobile.

	20-08-2002 19:36									#48
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In my frequent business travels in Europe over the last year and a half or so, what always irked me about those damn cell phones was, when you were in a meeting with several people who wouldn't turn their phones off. Sure enough, at least one call would come in on someone's phone, and off that person goes to take the call (because it's just SO much more important than the meeting you're in ). And the meeting grinds to a halt until his call's done. Five minutes later, repeat the process with the next guy's phone .

I'm thinking, I flew all the way over here from Canada, to work on this project with you, and here we are in a meeting, and you can't give me your undivided attention for one measly hour?!?!

And then someone will ask me, well why don't you have a phone while you're here? "Because I don't F***ING WANT ONE!!!" is what I want to say

	20-08-2002 20:05									#49
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I wub my T68i... purty.

	20-08-2002 20:33									#50
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optimus2861, I agree. It's so acceptable in here and normal that it's outrageous. It's ok to speak everywhere, loud and whatever the subject is. You don't have to worry about it, everyone does it!

	20-08-2002 20:38									#51
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I directed a data/phone center for 10 years, and was on call 24/7/365 (not always primary or secondary but contacted frequently enough)
My current job is directing Application programmers.
I AM FINALLY FREE. NO PAGER, NO CELL PHONE.
I am in heaven and you couldn't pay me enough to start carrying one again. If I'm not at work or at home, I DON"T CARE WHAT YOUR STINKING PROBLEM IS, I DON"T WANT TO HELP YOU.

Yes, no doubt they are convienent. My wife and daughter both have them even asked me if I wanted their old one.
NOT A CHANCE. I've broken the chain of bondage and refuse to be sold into slavery again.

Besides all the annoying things that people have already posted, THE WORST, are all those socially innept people that bought these GREAT call plans (that I really don't care about what a deal they got) and have all these FREE minutes to use and feel obligated to use them no matter how much you don't want to hear from them, to discuss the weather and other similarly meaningless topics. GET A REAL LIFE AND STOP BOTHERING ME.


RAH

	20-08-2002 20:44									#52
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I'm a Finn. I have never had a cellphone, and I doubt I will ever have one.

You may proceed to express your utter disbelief now.

	20-08-2002 20:45									#53
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You are either lying, or fugitive of the law.

	20-08-2002 20:46									#54
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I think that the whole cell phone culture is crazy. We have become slaves to technology. There really is another world out there that is not connected to some electronic impulse. People are turning into machines and they don't know it. Cell phones are rude. A ring can interrupt any conversation. They intrude at will where real people are trying to interract with real eye contact. This is a plague that is not going to pass quickly. I suggest that anyone who must have one at least learn some common courtesy and turn the thing off when it is not absolutely needed.

Telephones in general are rude machines. It is rude to tell someone that you are talking with in person to stand there and wait while someone who has cut into line (so to speak) yaps on the phone completely oblivious to your presence. Or you come to the home of an old friend and your conversation is interrupted by a phone call. Why can't people turn their phones off? If you don't control the machine the machine will control you.

	20-08-2002 20:49									#55
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quote: You are either lying, or fugitive of the law.

I'm telling the truth, and the only illegal stuff I've done is 3 gigabytes of mp3s on my hard drive.

	20-08-2002 21:28									#56
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I finally gave in to the dark side and got a cell phone. My wife wanted me to have one so I could contact her if I had a problem on my long bicycle rides (hard to find a payphone 50 km into the countryside . . . heck its hard to find a house )

Its tiny, its handy and mine almost never rings as I just gave the number to a few people. So I share everyone's feelings about cell phone rudeness and etiquette and the crazy cell phone drivers, but when I broke down 30 km from home on a very quiet country road to nowhere, I WAS SURE GLAD TO HAVE MINE .

	20-08-2002 22:03									#57
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Pekka you sound very weak minded. You're letting the phone rule you. Turn the peice of crap off or throw it out. No one NEEDS one. We all made due without 5 years ago and we can now too.

	20-08-2002 22:42									#58
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A few years ago at the University of Cologne, it went so badly in the economics courses that anyone whose cell phone rang during a lecture automatically would be excluded from the final exam.

	20-08-2002 23:15									#59
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drake, yes, you are right. I'm not particulary weak minded, BUT when it comes to this phone thing.. I admit.
I should just throw it out. I need to get all the courage to do that first.

	21-08-2002 09:47									#60
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quote: Originally posted by loinburger I've got a Tracfone, which has an extremely cheap calling plan (five bucks a month)

Boy, are you lucky! I don't have a cell phone and don't want one, but my wife insisted on getting one to have in case of emergency. She got the cheapest available plan, but around here that's $25 a month ($20 for a digital service, but they don't cover rural areas). And as soon as her kid gets his driver's license, she wants him to carry a phone in case he breaks down or gets lost. So that's fifty bucks a month for something we go weeks at a time without using.