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

I couldn't see that I needed/wanted one either. Fortunately my daughter gave me her outdated mobile. I quickly realised that a good reason to use it was that I could keep in touch with more people than before, including my own children, as it is not convenient for most busy people to use landlines, but using text and Whatsapp is the quick and easy way to keep in touch with most of my friends and family. Consequently I feel closer to them all, and it enriches my life.

Also, by being open to change and experiment, I find I can use my phone for countless things that I previously didn't know about, including reading books wherever I am, and listening to audio throughout my sleepless nights.

I wouldn't know what to do without it now, but if I were able to have only one advantage to having a mobile, it would be keeping in touch with my very busy family and friends. I recently had the sadness of bereavement. A very old friend who couldn't use a mobile, died having been on her own for two years because she was shielding. It was difficult to contact her some of the time, she found it difficult to contact me, we couldn't text each other. She was too far away for me to visit her often, and so it was difficult to support her, but if she could use a mobile, we could text or Whatsapp each other more often than we could actually speak

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

Its not about being "stuck in the past" but resisting all the baggage which comes with a smartphone:-

The constant urge some folks have to "check their phone" in case they have missed someone

The need to "belong" to the dominent group

The assumption that you are at the 24/7 beck and call of random people if they deign to contact you.

Then a guilt feeling if you dont immediately call them back.

The way in which these devices have killed normal conversation and polite social intercourse

I could go on at some length but I think my message is clear.

Its not being a Luddite that people are proud of but rather not being a sheeplike zombie who sees the world through a three inch screen.

I own 2 desktops, 2 laptops and a tablet plus one dumb phone and the cheapo smartphone so Im not going to stare at a tiny screen when I have a proper keyboard in 3 rooms of my house.

Wow! You can have a smartphone and not be any of those things. I don’t remember taking a test to see if I had morphed into a sheeplike zombie, or promise to check it every few minutes.

I can still hold a conversation, and can assure you that I am at nobody’s beck and call. Maybe it’s because I didn’t join the dominant group, but I didn’t know there was one .

Big assumptions about people's behaviour!

Seems that if someone knows so much about the 'dominant' group, they must have previously, if not now been a member of it.

I was unaware it existed and certainly know no one who belongs to it, as defined by Biglouis

Ah, biglouis I see what you’re doing. You are equating everything you dislike about phone obsessed people with the phone itself. That’s like blaming gin for alcoholism.

I work a 50 hour week in a job where I can’t use my phone. I don’t gaze zombie-like at my screen at all other times, just use it when I want to do something with it. It’s convenient, extremely useful and saves me the trouble of going upstairs to my office computer when I’m tired at the end of a long day and I need to do something online. I have far less tech than you, and wouldn’t dream of spoiling the peace of my living space with a computer downstairs.

nipsmum

I don't have one. I don't need one .I have managed 81 years without one and will continue to not need one.

My other half (with complex medical problems) recently had a fall in the shower. Behind a locked door.

Our landline has a technical fault and isn't working. Without a mobile 'phone I'd have had to run out into the street to ask for help - late at night, and there were few to none folk around.

I was able to call both an ambulance and the police, who called the fire brigade to come and break the door down within minutes.

Can you really be sure you will continue to "not need one"?

M0nica

Thank you dustyangel and no thanks to Thisismyname1953 Bully for you that you can use a phone so easily.

Do you ever think about those who for physical and other reasons cannot use a phone as you do? I am not talking about about those who are elderly and cannot cope with modern technology, I am talking about those, of all ages, with some disablity, however slight, that makes using something as small and fiddly as smart phone very difficult indeed.

I understand your problem with the small and fiddly smart 'phone M0nica.

My 14 year old grandson has dyspraxia. I don't think many people know about the condition, nor understand the challenges.

I don't have that disability - but still find the 'phone too small and awkward to handle. With that in mind - I purchased a case for it. It's now like a mini notebook and the case makes it chunkier and easier to hold... there's something to grip when you're using it and it doesn't keep sliding out of our hand.

* our hand * your hand!

I too am not permanently glued to my smart phone and certainly wouldn’t have computers all over my house biglouis
When I worked from home I had a laptop, it was shut up and put away at the end of my working day, now I have an iPad.
If my phone rings I’ll answer it, or if I’m busy, including in conversation, it goes to answerphone, it is, like many other items, a useful tool.

Well you don’t know what you are missing until you have it.
I am elderly and the thought that I was out and had some mishap with no way of connecting with home would be enough for me.

If you go to a good phone shop (I use Carphone Warehouse) they’ll be able to advise on the right phone to suit the user’s needs and budget. I love using text and WhatsApp. It means I can keep in touch with my family but in a less intrusive way. A phone call can be inconvenient when you’re working, cooking or dealing with children for example.

But you do not need a smart phone to be able to call for help. A phone that can be used for phone calls and texts is sufficient. I have a smart phone and use it, but struggle.

Dickens Yes, people know about dyslexia, dyscalcula, but not dyspraxia. When my DS and I were diagnosed with it, the word wasn't even used, generally we were just recognised as being clumsy and constantly being told to take more care and concentrate when we did things.

It is only in the last five years that I have discovered how it affects you mentally as well as practically, Sequencing is difficult. It means, with a smart phone, if you need to do several actions in a given order, you know what to do, but you still do them in the wrong order.

You have probaby noticed my erratic typing, and spelling at times. I do proof read, but same problem, not very good at it.

It has always been infuriating to live with, but better once I was diagnosed and knew why.

I never quite understand why people seem determined to convert others to getting things they like and not buying things they don't; and I'm even less clear about why the ownership of some things incurs moral judgement.

If you want a smartphone, get one, and if they are not for you, don't, on the same principle as any other consumer item. The only time it irritates me one way or the other is when people refuse to have one but ask others to look things up for them, or even book tickets etc.

Yes some people use them in an annoying way (eg people who check up on everything you say by googling it ?) and people walking along the street when texting, expecting others to move out of their way; but the fault there is with the people, not the phone.

Thank you Musicgirl for letting me know about your smartphone brand..I have also thought of opting for Samsung..it seems they're user-friendly

MOnica

Dickens Yes, people know about dyslexia, dyscalcula, but not dyspraxia. When my DS and I were diagnosed with it, the word wasn't even used, generally we were just recognised as being clumsy and constantly being told to take more care and concentrate when we did things.

Exactly so.

It is only in the last five years that I have discovered how it affects you mentally as well as practically, Sequencing is difficult. It means, with a smart phone, if you need to do several actions in a given order, you know what to do, but you still do them in the wrong order.

So aware of this!

You have probaby noticed my erratic typing, and spelling at times. I do proof read, but same problem, not very good at it.

TBH, I haven't noticed.

There was a 'meme' going around Facebook a while ago. A sentence was written down with some words missing and others spelled incorrectly - yet everyone could read it instantly and had no problem deciphering what it meant.

The brain, having been accustomed and 'trained' to understand words apparently immediately makes sense of what is written. It sees what it's meant to see.

... that's what my brain does. I don't often notice spelling mistakes (anyone's) and, as far as your posts are concerned, I've never noticed any errors or erratic typing. You make perfect sense to me!

Regarding the discussion on people trying to convert each other, I don't mind what people choose for themselves. What irks me a little is when people are complaining they can't do stuff because they have chosen not to have a smart phone. I mean if you don't want one, then don't complain about what you've chosen not to be able to do. And of course I am not including people who for one reason or another cannot use one.