Anyone else NOT got a mobile phone?
Discussion
Well, since most on here are professionals and a lotworkforthemselves etc, I probably think not.
Since going back PAYE three months ago, I chucked the old phone in the back of a drawer and there it has remained.
Not missed, probably run often still as people I speak to on my home or work phone say 'turn the bugger on' like it's oxygen or something.
Son has one
, wife has one (in amaranth to match her MG 
) but I don't feel the need for one to be honest. If I'm stuck in traffic and gonna be late for me tea, the missus shoves it in the oven LIKE THEY DID 30 YEARS AGO!
And as for txt mesging
It's nice not havig to get all the crap together before you go out. Money, keys, phone, fags, lighter etc.
The last three don't bother me any more.
:dooccasionallymissthefagsthough:
I can survive without one (and not contribute to jeremyc's Cerbera-affording wages) Could you?
Since going back PAYE three months ago, I chucked the old phone in the back of a drawer and there it has remained.
Not missed, probably run often still as people I speak to on my home or work phone say 'turn the bugger on' like it's oxygen or something.
Son has one
, wife has one (in amaranth to match her MG ) but I don't feel the need for one to be honest. If I'm stuck in traffic and gonna be late for me tea, the missus shoves it in the oven LIKE THEY DID 30 YEARS AGO! And as for txt mesging
It's nice not havig to get all the crap together before you go out. Money, keys, phone, fags, lighter etc.
The last three don't bother me any more.
:dooccasionallymissthefagsthough:
I can survive without one (and not contribute to jeremyc's Cerbera-affording wages
) Could you?
I have never owned one !! 
Seems a shocking statement to say, these days, but I can't really see the need for one. If anybody needs to reach me, then I am either at work, or at home. Again, if I am late, the dinner goes in the oven. If I am out, and the wife wants to know where I am, then I'm at the place I told her I was going, eg watching the racing at Thruxton, and I don't want to be interupted, as my 'own' time is very much a precious, but limited resource. If I am shopping and I need to get something on behalf of my wife, and it is out of stock, then I use my own judgement, (based on me listening and talking to my wife, beforehand)which my wife respects me for. If my car breaks down, then I either fix it myself, or walk to the nearest phonebox (only have had to do this once). So based on the above, I don't think I really need one. I have thought of getting one of the walkie talkie sets, for my little daughter, in case she gets lost ?
BTW, I won a 'prize' over the phone the other day a Nokia Orange phone package, with free phone + bonus free digital camera, with 715 odd freetime minutes per month, all for £13.99 per month. Was that a good deal then ? I presume so.
Regards John S
Seems a shocking statement to say, these days, but I can't really see the need for one. If anybody needs to reach me, then I am either at work, or at home. Again, if I am late, the dinner goes in the oven. If I am out, and the wife wants to know where I am, then I'm at the place I told her I was going, eg watching the racing at Thruxton, and I don't want to be interupted, as my 'own' time is very much a precious, but limited resource. If I am shopping and I need to get something on behalf of my wife, and it is out of stock, then I use my own judgement, (based on me listening and talking to my wife, beforehand)which my wife respects me for. If my car breaks down, then I either fix it myself, or walk to the nearest phonebox (only have had to do this once). So based on the above, I don't think I really need one. I have thought of getting one of the walkie talkie sets, for my little daughter, in case she gets lost ?
BTW, I won a 'prize' over the phone the other day
a Nokia Orange phone package, with free phone + bonus free digital camera, with 715 odd freetime minutes per month, all for £13.99 per month. Was that a good deal then ? I presume so. Regards John S
I find mine indispensable, but I'm a 21 year old student. It makes life so much easier to meet up friends in town, tell them I'm running late (it seems rude not to tell someone I'll be late if I arranged to meet at a specific time), etc. And as I spend a lot of my time driving about in rural Norfolk where it can be 3 or 4 miles to the nearest phone box, my mobile is a potential lifeline for me.
But that's just me.
But that's just me.
well..... when out in my mini, I have had to call the AA 3 times when the blo*dy thing had died on me. I'm not very good at fixing engines anyway, but even if I had've been, these were serious problems (f**ked gearbox, f**ked fuel pump, & f**cked clutch) so with me living in the sticks (16 miles from newcastle) it's pretty much essential!
Also, most good roads are miles from anywhere (up here) and certainly miles from a phonebox, that's if it's working.
Also, most good roads are miles from anywhere (up here) and certainly miles from a phonebox, that's if it's working.
I have one, but due to government snooping, i turn it off when im going somewhere.
Call me paranoid, (PARANOID!!!!!) if you like, but i dont like the idea of that little box sending its encrypted messages to whoever.
And they do ya know! They really do send out constant messages on signal strength and what cell theyre in.
Anyway, i seem to have strayed from the topic somewhat...yes i do have one..
Call me paranoid, (PARANOID!!!!!) if you like, but i dont like the idea of that little box sending its encrypted messages to whoever.
And they do ya know! They really do send out constant messages on signal strength and what cell theyre in.
Anyway, i seem to have strayed from the topic somewhat...yes i do have one..
I am somewhat ashamed to say that I have had a mobile since 1988. I've seen them get somewhat smaller and substantially cheaper over the years.
I still have one now, but it is seldom switched on...
I may as well not have one, but for the few times they are absolutely neccesary they are worth their weight in black market uranium.
Matt.
I still have one now, but it is seldom switched on...
I may as well not have one, but for the few times they are absolutely neccesary they are worth their weight in black market uranium.
Matt.
deltaf said: I have one, but due to government snooping, i turn it off when im going somewhere.
Call me paranoid, (PARANOID!!!!!) if you like, but i dont like the idea of that little box sending its encrypted messages to whoever.
And they do ya know! They really do send out constant messages on signal strength and what cell theyre in.
Anyway, i seem to have strayed from the topic somewhat...yes i do have one..
they DO track you! the phone triangulates on the nearest broadcast points for the best signal, but it means it knows roughly where you are - if you call AA roadwatch or similar, you don't have to tell them where you are, they ALREADY KNOW! "you are on the M1 at j26, there are no delays" etc etc. Could the authorities use this triangulating to calculate speed? Anyone?
John_S4x4 said: If my car breaks down, then I either fix it myself, or walk to the nearest phonebox
Seem to recall that the AA are considering decommissioning their emergency phone boxes, as "everybody has a mobile these days".
Hmmm. [sarcasm]Decision not at all based on cost, I imagine
[/sarcasm] Good news (not) if you break down and your battery died, then?
minimax said:
deltaf said: I have one, but due to government snooping, i turn it off when im going somewhere.
Call me paranoid, (PARANOID!!!!!) if you like, but i dont like the idea of that little box sending its encrypted messages to whoever.
And they do ya know! They really do send out constant messages on signal strength and what cell theyre in.
Anyway, i seem to have strayed from the topic somewhat...yes i do have one..
they DO track you! the phone triangulates on the nearest broadcast points for the best signal, but it means it knows roughly where you are - if you call AA roadwatch or similar, you don't have to tell them where you are, they ALREADY KNOW! "you are on the M1 at j26, there are no delays" etc etc. Could the authorities use this triangulating to calculate speed? Anyone?
They can triangulate you to a "cell" but the size of the "cell" varies - in the city it could be a few metres square, in the country, nearly a mile square...
IN theory, they could track your speed, but they're not really accurate enough... yet.
Mobiles have always been able to track you movements. In murder cases on TV the police can track text messages and calls to eliminate or help convict suspects. I was under the impression you had to make a call / text before it recored your location. Think of the logistics if it was logging EVERYONES mobile location in the UK all the time. Unlikely in my opinion.
robp said: Think of the logistics if it was logging EVERYONES mobile location in the UK all the time. Unlikely in my opinion.
How would an incoming call get routed to your phone, then, unless 'they' knew where you were?
{edited to add:}
Don't know enough about the details (I'm sure there's several PH'ers who have all the inside info), but afik your phone constantly/frequently transmits a signal that gets picked up by any base stations within range. The stations and phone negotiate the best signal available between them. The stations must pass this info back up to a central location in order to route incoming calls to the handset, so I see no reason at all why this info wouldn't be logged and stored.
>> Edited by pdv6 on Friday 14th February 12:04
Say 10m phones in the UK. Store a 12 character grid reference for each phone, say every 2s (for speed calculations etc).
pdv6 said: I see no reason at all why this info wouldn't be logged and stored.
That is 1.944e13 bytes per day, or 7.0956e15 bytes per year, or just over 6 million GB. I know that storage is cheap these days, but trying to search through that lot would be a lot worse than one of Ted's bad server days
. I use my mobile all the time, if I'm on site, I can talk through a problem with a guy at a CAD station, if I'm running late I can make excuses and not upset the girl that I am meeting into withholding sex
, or I can do an extra three hours work during the day when I'm driving. They may be watching me, but the additional qualities of life that the phone affords me more than makes up for it IMHO.
If someone wants to know where I am, it would be easier to call me and ask, than trawl through all of that data ;-).
Rich
daydreamer said:Store a 12 character grid reference for each phone, say every 2s (for speed calculations etc).
Presumably the current system only records which cell it thinks the phone is in (all that's needed for call routing) and only updates this info when it changes (frequently for phones in cars, much less so for pedestrians). Much less data to record then.
I'm 17 and got my FIRST mobile phone the other day.
The guy in the shop looked absolutely gutted when i said i wanted a phone that allows me merely to speak to other people. Not one of those mobiles thats also a fax , an internet , a small car , a house and a birdbath at the same time.
Also don't see what the fuss is about. My friends are pleased coz they can finally reach me when i'm out.
The guy in the shop looked absolutely gutted when i said i wanted a phone that allows me merely to speak to other people. Not one of those mobiles thats also a fax , an internet , a small car , a house and a birdbath at the same time.
Also don't see what the fuss is about. My friends are pleased coz they can finally reach me when i'm out.
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