Don't have one, don't need one, don't really want one

It’s not about not using it but how much I use it. I have an iPad for all my online banking and buying as the screen and keys are bigger. I have a life other than being joined at the hip to my phone

Why would anyone be losing out by not having a mobile phone?

During the pandemic, for example, I wasn't constantly having my phone pinged. I haven't been at anybody's beck and call, etc, etc.

I'd say my quality of life is improved by not having one.

Greciangirl

Anyone with a brain, knows the value of having and using a mobile phone.

You don’t have to be tech savvy to use one.
But to choose not to have one or have one and not use it, is just plain daft.

I have friends who own one, but refuse to use it for anything other than texting.

Yes. But there will always be reactionary people. They are a feature of humanity. They are the ones who lose out in the long run.

Anyone with a brain, knows the value of having and using a mobile phone.

You don’t have to be tech savvy to use one.
But to choose not to have one or have one and not use it, is just plain daft.

I have friends who own one, but refuse to use it for anything other than texting.

GEEKESSE I dont think anyone is bragging ,,we are all allowed our own opinions and choices .We've had mobile phones since the 80's a lifetime of not being out of reach of anyone who blagged the number from staff on the pretext that we were close friends and would want to speak to them.Or the half seven calls on Sunday mornings or midnight that bypassed our landline which was EX dierectory for a purpose .
I'm very happy without a cellphone attached to me 24/7 and as I said before I do all the banking ,etc on my laptop or desktop ,not "cutting myself off" from anyone .Certainly never boasted about it either .

I’m the same with the Music system my kids tried to get me to install I like the exercise winding up my gramophone gives me and I bet I’m not alone! ?

I have now got one but don’t use often, found that I needed one for online banking with my credit card, for the doctor and some things that I can’t do without it. I hate it. The other thing is I just can’t remember the number so it’s written in large letters on the carrying case.

By deliberately not having a mobile, you’re cutting yourself off from a huge part of modern life. Not really something to boast about.

I’m sure most of us here remember when a telephone was a moderately sized machine on a table by the front door, attached to the wall, or a black thing in a phone box that ate up small change.

I now have a purse-sized thing in my pocket that replaces not only telephones, but also calculators, notebooks, reference books, bank counters, timetables, notice boards, medical records and cameras.

I understand that some people can’t easily use them because of physical disability or extreme poverty, but for everyone else, I can’t see any earthly reason to brag about being stuck in the past. It’s like saying ‘who needs a cooker anyway when you can cook over an open fire?’ or ‘I don’t need a washing machine because I can wash my sheets in a kitchen sink?’

Granny23

I have a basic mobile which I carry with me for emergencies, but not a smart phone. I do not have a major disability only poor hearing, bad short sight, arthritic fingers, poor memory - all common in the elderly. I really cannot use a smart phone (I have tried) as I cannot read the small print, especially numbers and keep pressing the wrong keys. I manage fine via my large screen computer but now all my contacts e,g, Banks, Power Company, GP want me to download apps to access my accounts. Even my political Group has, since lock down, had meetings and updates on Whats App, leaving me to rely on a fellow member to keep me informed.

You can install WhatsApp on your computer - I do use a smart phone but find typing on it very fiddly so much prefer PC.

I have a basic mobile which I carry with me for emergencies, but not a smart phone. I do not have a major disability only poor hearing, bad short sight, arthritic fingers, poor memory - all common in the elderly. I really cannot use a smart phone (I have tried) as I cannot read the small print, especially numbers and keep pressing the wrong keys. I manage fine via my large screen computer but now all my contacts e,g, Banks, Power Company, GP want me to download apps to access my accounts. Even my political Group has, since lock down, had meetings and updates on Whats App, leaving me to rely on a fellow member to keep me informed.

For years I had a simple mobile phone and no wish to get a smartphone. Then two years ago I had a text from NHS inviting me to book a vaccination via a code they sent. I couldn't do this on my simple phone and got a bit panicky lest I miss out. DH then insisted on getting me a smartphone. Do I love my smartphone - no. I find it quite difficult to use, can never find things, never opens on the same page twice etc. But it does seem to be a necessity these days. The latest thing to ignite my technophobe tendancies is the way some supermarkets are offering money-off vouchers via apps. No idea about apps and judging by how long DH spends at the check-out waving his phone under various scanners to no avail it doesn't even seem efficient (especially for those behind him in the queue).
I went to a book group meeting recently (first time at this new group). Several of them had their phones to hand so that every time anyone said something like "I think he wrote a book about xyz a while ago..." fingers dashed across keyboards. I go to a book group to talk and discuss, not to do phone research. Not impressed and thought it was really rude. Yours truly, grumpy old Luddite.

My first mobile phone was barely “mobile”, it was so bulky!
I used to travel for work regularly and played games on my phone. (By train!)
Then, as they developed, I found them invaluable as route
/location finders, reading & sending emails, accessing the internet etc.
I really feel that I wouldn’t want to be without one now. I’ve recently upgraded to a Galaxy Z Flip which is small enough to sit comfortably in a pocket but opens up into a very large screen. The text is much easier to read! The photos are so bright and detailed. I’ve just taken a little film of a robin sitting on my hand enjoying his little fat nugget treat and immediately sent it off to friends.
I love my big screen iPad Pro most, but my new phone is a close runner up. ?

I haven't got one, either. I don't want one, and would prefer to spend my money on other things, but I can see a time when I'll have to give in and get one.

I remember first time I saw people with mobile phones, that was 1995 or 96 when we went on a visit to Dublin. We were living in rural N.Devon at the time and they hadn't hit there by then. We thought they were hilarious and we'd never want one. A few years later we moved to N.ireland and that first Christmas my husband went to the airport to pick up our son flying from Gatwick. His flight was very delayed and I ended up getting calls from both of them from payphones and relaying messages. That's when we bought a basic,cheap mobile. Then we both got them and now of course have progressed to smartphones which I use for lots of things including whatsapp video calls. I walk the dog in local woods and find it reassuring to have my mobile with me in case I had a fall . Wouldn't be without mine although prefer the landline for proper chats.

I feel exactly the same, and the minute you have one, the floodgates open.
Its www this, and www that..

So I'm not alone, and my husband doesn't have one either (tell a lie he has a brick . Sadly we are increasingly finding that we have to have ones that are SMART to carry out activities relating to purchases etc.

I feel bullied and pushed into buying one of these phones which a) I don't want & b) Can't afford

I couldn't get myself organized without my phone.

It has everything I need: calendar reminders Keepnotes for just about everything, online banking,alarm clock, almost all my photos which I am in the process of digitizing, my recipes, contact numbers, dictionaries. And lots more.

I suppose I managed in the past without one but nowadays it's almost impossible to be without one.

You can't book anything, get a doctor's appointment (to be fair, that's almost impossible even with a smartphone).

I panic if I go out without mine in case I brac down in thecae or get taken ill or I need to get in touch with my daughter when I'm picking up my grandchildren.

Had a work mobile for 16 years from 1999 until I retired. Decided not to buy one to replace as we have iPads but that was overturned 5 months later when we went abroad on holiday. Only recently replaced my mobile and don’t feel I’d be able to do with it now. My husband however has never felt the need to have a mobile.

I know someone who doesn’t have the internet and she misses out on so many activities and social gatherings because of it. She doesn’t use her phone much,either. She is becoming very isolated because people just don’t get round to telling her about things going on. Sad really, she is a nice person.

I have had a mobile phone for some years, but despite the wide range of options offered, I only use it for phone calls, WhatsApp, texting and emails. Everything else I do on my iPad simply because of the size and the additional options it offers.

For me it's not the phone that fits the title of this thread, it's a dishwasher. Any of my friends with one seem to have to wash everything by hand before putting it in, otherwise it doesn't come out clean, and invariably don't have a clean cup to hand as they're all in the dishwasher. I wash up manually once a day and it's just right

Also….. quite recently I saved someone’s life while out walking by using my mobile. We were miles from nearest landline. Think on that!

I have a phone which does so much that I’ve done away with laptop and computer…. my 10 year old granddaughter didn’t know what a computer was when I mentioned this to her! Yes , there are people who do g use one ….I have a friend like this…. she puts everybody to a great nuisance by not having one.