Look Up! (a poetic reflection on "Social Networking")

[n4gix 4,947]

I ran across this delightful video while visiting another game forum today. It is a pithy poetic video narration on the downsides of "social networking..."

 

"We are a world full of smart phones and dumb people..."

[Daveo 36]

So true.

I drastic change from HAM and CB radio.

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

I hate them but I got my first smart phone less then a year ago because of work....I was a hold out for a long time. I am guilty of not looking down as I have always had my head up.  :lol:

[Daveo 36]

I love my phone, but....I rarely walk around with my head buried in it like 95% of the people I see when I'm out in public.

It's good to have when you need it and I spend enough time in front of this screen when I am home anyway.

Everybody looks like a robot now. Like a Hi-Tech Night of the Living Dead.

[n4gix 4,947]

For years I carried around and used a tiny Motorola Flip phone. When U.S. Cellular sold everyone east of the Mississippi River to Sprint, I had to get a new phone because Sprint wouldn't allow me to use my "antique" (all of five years old!) phone on their system.

 

Adding "insult to injury," Sprint told me that they'd require a $300 deposit since I would be considered a "new customer" and my utter lack of "good credit" didn't fit their criteria, despite my sixteen years of loyal and never late once relationship with U.S. Cellular!

 

So, being peeved at their intransigence, I wound up going to Verizon. Unfortunately, they only had "smart phones" available, having discontinued carrying any of the sensible and tiny "flip phones..." So now, instead of my little shirt-pocket sized and very convenient phone, I've been forced to carry around a Nokia "Smart Phone" that weighs four times what my little and well-loved Motorola Flip weighed.

 

I've really tried to love it, but it's just so bloody huge and awkward to hold, I just can't stand it. I've never even used but a mere 2GB the first month out of my 10GB/month allowance, and that only because I hadn't yet figured out how to connect with my home's WiFi service... :He He:

 

It does have one feature that I've actually found handy. When I park in a lot, if I remember to mark my spot, the built-in GPS will guide me to my car again. I never can remember where I parked at the mall! :LMAO:

[spokes2112 179]

Keeping my head up since 1994 - "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking!"

 

[mebull 27]

 

 

It does have one feature that I've actually found handy. When I park in a lot, if I remember to mark my spot, the built-in GPS will guide me to my car again. I never can remember where I parked at the mall! :LMAO:

 

I got to get me one of those! I'm tired of chasing my wife across a parking lot, yelling, "No, wait, no, no dear, we parked over there under that H sign. Remember? H for HERE.".  Oh! never mind! I just realized I'd need to teach her how to use the thing - easier just to chase her down. I was at a mall. Fifteen(?) people standing on the curb, poking at their horn panic button on their key fob trying to find their cars. Horns honking all over the parking lot. Here a honk, there a honk and everywhere a honk honk.

 

I also was pushed into a 'smart' phone deal. Many more features than I really need. I downloaded a flashlight application though and now I have a really neat, flat, led flashlight that gets more use than the 'stupid' smart phone. On a positive note, at least I can use the phone to find out time and date so I don't have to squint at a watch anymore.

 

Mel

[n4gix 4,947]

Yep, the time and date feature is handy. Oddly enough, I've actually used the silly thing more for photographs and recording short videos of my flightsim screen than I have used it as a phone!

 

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the strangest part of this "bundle" I was tricked (er, encouraged) into signing up for...

 

Strangely enough, the best rate I could get according to the salesman would be to also -for only $19.95 more- subscribe to their "Wireless Home Phone" service. It is a small tabletop cellular phone device with a battery backup. You can plug any regular home phone into the device and use it. You can even take it with you when travelling, and always have your "home phone" with you, even if you happen to be spending the night at a Motel6 in Omaha, Nebraska!

 

Well that's swell except for two things. One is that I'm too poor to travel much if at all, and the second thing is I live alone. So, just what use is this "wireless home phone" for me? Nothing at all as it happens, except that I can now amuse myself and confound strangers by carrying around a plain vanilla cordless 'home phone' and make phone calls from the mall, since I had put the "wireless device" in my car and powered it from the cigarette lighter.

 

If I still had one of the older desktop phones, I could mount it in my car and really confuse people! :LMAO:

 

As I am on food assistance (SNAP), I'm entitled to a free cell phone and tons of free roll-over minutes each month. The only requirement is that I must make at least one phone call per month to prove I'm still alive I guess. This really tiny cellphone stays in my pajama pocket in case I fall down during the night and need to call 911 for rescue.

 

I have three phone numbers, two cell phones and a "home phone," so I guess I could say that I am "well connected." Unfortunately, I no longer have any living relatives, and precious few friends, none of whom can ever seem to remember to call me... :Shocked:

[ematheson 19]

You might consider T-Mobile - I have a smart phone, but I got rather tired of it, so I am currently using by choice a cheap $30 Samsung flip phone I bought at Walmart. The only downside is that it's a pre-paid plan - but if you keep on top of it, you're never without phone service.

And yes - $30 for a brand-new flip phone. Well worth it to me.

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

The best feature on a Smart Phone is the Personal Hotspot. I use that to connect my Laptop to the Internet where ever I am. No more trying to find WiFi at Café's any more or when I travel to avoid expensive Hotel WiFi access, I just use my phone from now on. 

[Jim Robinson 122]

Probably sounds stupid but I was "moved" by that video. I sent a link to my i-sister and her i-kid...

[january 19]

and precious few friends, none of whom can ever seem to remember to call me...

 

Fr Bill-  be assured that you have many friends- including this old octogenarian!

However, I do sometimes wonder whether "eternal damnation" refers to cell phones or modern airline seating.

 january. 

[n4gix 4,947]

The best feature on a Smart Phone is the Personal Hotspot.

I my Nokia Lumina has that feature too, but with a 10GB/month data limit, it wouldn't be too practical for me, leaving aside the fact that I rarely am away from home more than a few hours... :He He:

Fr Bill-  be assured that you have many friends- including this old octogenarian!

However, I do sometimes wonder whether "eternal damnation" refers to cell phones or modern airline seating.

 january. 

Well, thanks for that sir! I've found myself wondering the same thing from time to time...

You might consider T-Mobile - I have a smart phone, but I got rather tired of it, so I am currently using by choice a cheap $30 Samsung flip phone I bought at Walmart.

Well, once my two-year contract with Verizon is up, I may well consider something like that. One 'solution' for me is to set up my smart phone's number to be call-forwarded to my 'SNAP' phone. That is the 'free one' that's a bit less than 1/3rd the size of a pack of cigarettes! B)

[mebull 27]

 

 

Strangely enough, the best rate I could get according to the salesman would be to also -for only $19.95 more- subscribe to their "Wireless Home Phone" service. It is a small tabletop cellular phone device with a battery backup.

 

That is the same type plan that my wife bought into. She got that for her business. She overlooked a couple of important details. The most important one being that her business is in a basement, and that line of site to the nearest tower extended through about a foot of reinforced concrete and twenty feet of semi solid clay. No reception at all. That ruined her business for two weeks while she tried to get back the land line.

 

 

 

I have three phone numbers, two cell phones and a "home phone," so I guess I could say that I am "well connected." Unfortunately, I no longer have any living relatives, and precious few friends, none of whom can ever seem to remember to call me

 

Same here, except my loving wife. I have a son and a maybe one of these days daughter in law and three grand kids. Except for the grand daughter (11) we never hear from them unless they want something for free. The grand daughter shows up at the door once in awhile and hangs out. All five of them are right out of the video you posted -  heads down - phone zombies. No other relatives otherwise that I've seen or heard from for twenty some years and friends are all 'gone'. As January so kindly wrote, at least here, we have a hobby to share and even if we are not usually invite them to dinner type friends at least we are companions and we can share a part of ourselves with each other.

 

Best regards to all,

Mel

[n4gix 4,947]

That is the same type plan that my wife bought into. She got that for her business. She overlooked a couple of important details. The most important one being that her business is in a basement, and that line of site to the nearest tower extended through about a foot of reinforced concrete and twenty feet of semi solid clay. No reception at all. That ruined her business for two weeks while she tried to get back the land line.

Well that could probably have been solved by placing the 'wireless device' upstairs, and connecting an inexpensive 'cordless phone' to it. Surely that would have worked out.

 

Since I haven't had a landline phone for fifteen years or more, I had to buy a new cordless phone for about $29 at Target. Cordless phone technology has sure improved a lot since I last used one. This "cheapie" has enough range I can walk completely around my block with it and still have a solid connection...

 

As for "online friends," the absence of being able to communicate during the last AVSIM outage was dreadfully painful, and brought home the extreme differences between "forum friends" and "Facebook friends" (or similar venues)...

 

At least in forum communications one has an opportunity to express one's ideas in full, unlike the superficial and shallow short messages afforded by 'Facebook' et alia. :lol: