Patterico's Pontifications

6/28/2015

You and Your Device

Filed under: General — JVW @ 1:26 pm



[guest post by JVW]

A break from all the inveighing against the weirdness of the Supreme Court.

Do a Google search on “mobile device addiction” and you will note that the has garnered a lot of attention over the past year. Allow me to relate a couple of incidents I have had a couple of interesting experiences the past few months that I can relate:

The Setting: Public transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area.
I was riding BART (the local subway) during the afternoon rush hour. The train I was on was crowded so I had to stand and hold on to the passenger handrail. I took a look around the train where I probably had about 35-40 people in my line of vision. Literally every single person had their heads down and were gazing intently upon a mobile device, either a tablet or phone. Literally every single person. People in their 50s and 60s who were sitting down: reading a Nook or an iPad or a phone. Younger people standing: one hand on the handrail or the rail strap, the other hand holding a mobile phone. All races, all 900 sexual orientations that Facebook recognizes, all apparent levels of income were busy with a device. Granted this was the Bay Area and it was rush hour, but how amazing was it that everyone in my line of sight was doing the exact same thing? I then transferred over to CalTrain to head down the peninsula, and encountered pretty much the same thing, with the exception of a couple of old fashioned folks who actually had laptop computers open and were typing on an actual clackety-clack keyboard.

The Setting: A beach bar on a weekend afternoon.
I am meeting up with a friend to watch a game and drink some beers, and I am there a bit early of our arranged time. I’m sitting at a table next to a young couple who are pretty apparently on a first date. I’m guessing that they met online or through some dating service because I can overhear themselves going over the usual litany of first day discussion items (where are you from? what do you do for a living?). They were two nice-looking young people and they seemed to have a lot in common so by all appearances the date was off to a good start. Suddenly, though, there is the inevitable lull in the conversation and inexplicably the young guy excuses himself and pulls out his smart phone to check on his messages. Naturally the young lady does the same, and for the next few minutes there is this uncomfortable silence (or at least I thought it was uncomfortable) while the two of them stare down at their devices. Amazing.

And just today, at 10:00 mass at my parish, I am making my way up in the communion line to the front of the church and there sitting in a the sixth row of pews having already received communion is a guy playing a game on his smart phone. Seriously. While everyone around him is kneeling in silent contemplation of the Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ, this grown man — probably at least 40 years old — was playing a game on his phone.

So let’s make this an open thread centered around some questions. Do you own a mobile device? If so, what self-imposed limits to you observe? Do your children have mobile devices? If so, what rules are they expected to follow?

– JVW

70 Responses to “You and Your Device”

  1. I have a smart phone which I carry with me and a tablet which I do not. I have been making a conscientious effort to avoid spending time on the smart phone when I am in public, especially if I am in the company of someone. I’m also trying to have periods in which I don’t pay attention to my phone — I am famous among my friends for not quickly replying to calls and texts. I like to tell them that I own a mobile phone; it does not own me.

    JVW (8278a3)

  2. Excuse me, you asked a question?
    Sorry, I was playing solitare.

    askeptic (efcf22)

  3. re public transportation: is using a device really any different from reading from prinated book/magazine/newspaper? or using a device as a transistor radio?

    seeRpea (0cf003)

  4. re public transportation: is using a device really any different from reading from prinated book/magazine/newspaper?

    No, but when I was taking public transportation to work daily in the early 1990s, not every rider was reading on the train. Many of us where talking to each other, even introducing ourselves to strangers. I fondly recall it as actually a great place to meet young, professional women. Part of what I found so weird about my BART and CalTrain experience was how quiet the trains were as everyone silently gazed upon their device and no one was making eye contact with anyone else. It’s a weird and insular society we are morphing into.

    JVW (8278a3)

  5. This is a fun topic, JVW. I had to get a better cell phone that made it easier to text because some people, especially young folks, don’t want to talk on the phone — they only want to text. I don’t think I have an addiction to mobile devices in the sense I constantly use them, but I am addicted to always having a phone or tablet available to use when I want it. As a result, I have multiple phones and tablets that I can use at home, work or when I’m in a place with nothing to do.

    DRJ (1dff03)

  6. “People in their 50s and 60s who were sitting down: reading a Nook or an iPad or a phone.”

    Back before ebooks, I would have my head in a printed book, so for me all that has changed is the medium–because ebooks are so portable.

    pst314 (ae6bd1)

  7. “While everyone around him is kneeling in silent contemplation of the Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ, this grown man — probably at least 40 years old — was playing a game on his phone.”

    Was his name Dr. Sheldon Cooper?

    pst314 (ae6bd1)

  8. “what self-imposed limits to you observe?”

    I own an ebook, an mp3 player, and a smart phone.

    I make a point of NOT using my phone while in any social setting unless truly necessary, and then I always apologize first and explain why.

    It really annoys me when I’m out to dinner with people and one of them will just whip out her phone to text someone (although the message could wait until she gets home), to post “at dinner with X, Y and Z” on Facebook (ditto), or to check her email (unless you are a doctor or IT technician on call, it can wait, dammit.) These behaviors are very rude; they send the message “although I consent to socialize with you, you are so unimportant or uninteresting that I will periodically ignore you for the most trivial purposes.” Sadly, I have tried to gently suggest that such interruptions can wait but to no avail.

    pst314 (ae6bd1)

  9. People use it as a boredom stopper. Yeah, the communion thing is weird, but if it was the DMV where you are supposed to contemplate the majesty of government it would be more understandable.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  10. In our house, I think we have (4 people) 4 iPhones, 4 iPads, and 2 Samsung Galaxy Notes. We have a basket on the table that all electronics go into during all meals and other designated family time. It is not at all uncommon for my girls to be playing on their smart phone and tablet simultaneously. Electronics not allowed in church. Instead of grounding from electronics, we take away chargers, and they have to learn to ration usage.

    JD (3b5483)

  11. I have the apple 5 for the camera. Games?? have no clue…
    I never take it in to a restaurant or a store. It is sad that everywhere you look heads are down, letting the world slip by.

    mg (31009b)

  12. I would go back to the party line.[ Rural telephone, 2shorts was are ring] and a 120 box camera.

    mg (31009b)

  13. i has a dumb phone: a GZ One. i have no idea if it even can do internetz, since it has an old fashioned key face, with actual buttons 0-9.

    i rarely text, in part because, if i want the letter “C” for instance, i have to push the button 3 times. it’s way easier to leave a VM, and then you can hear my tone of voice, for cues.

    no tablet, although i will be getting one shortly, used. i’ll mostly use it for public meetings, to take notes & such, but that’s all.

    here in The Valley, it seems just about everyone on the street, to include the bums, has a phone in their hand. i’m surprised there aren’t more people run over, because NO one is watching where they’re going.

    hell, the other day i scared the cr@p out of some idiot who was jaywalking against a red light…

    apparently he felt i should give him the right of way, instead of me making my green light. boy was he disappointed. 😉

    redc1c4 (2b3c9e)

  14. I haven’t owned a cell phone for years. A couple of months ago I got a smartphone through work. Of course my wife immediately started accusing me of being on the thing too much because during our long car rides during vacation, I’d read something online. Naturally, I used my phone more to spite her anti-technology tendencies. (Or I guess I should say her anti-me using technology tendencies)

    In our house, we do have a no technology at the table rule. Easier for us since no one in our family has a smart phone except for myself at the moment.

    Dejectedhead (d7bca7)

  15. I have a cell phone that talks and texts. But I have yet to figure out how to text. Blessed phone keeps autocorrecting and predictive typing for me, so I can never get the text to say what I want it to say.

    I have a Nexus 7 tablet that I use constantly. It does 90% of what I used to do on my desktop, so I hardly ever use the desktop. (Never had a laptop.). But it is not a phone, so only emails when I need that. And it is either at home or safely in my pocket or carryall when I am with other people.

    kishnevi (91d5c6)

  16. I’m an oddball in this regard. Even though I’m a Developer, I just have a dumb phone. We finally got texting, but only because everyone assumes you have it these days. (I do have a smart phone for work, but don’t use it often at all – certainly not for personal use.) I think that people are going a little overboard with smart phones, but maybe that’s my age talking. The bright side is, they do get people reading & thinking more than they would have otherwise.

    Tillman (a95660)

  17. The bright side is, they do get people reading & thinking more than they would have otherwise.

    I often hear this, Tillman, but i have never seen any real data to indicate that this is true. My observations lead me to believe quite the opposite. Do you know of any studies that prove your assertion?

    JVW (8278a3)

  18. I should have mentioned in my first comment that I use my smart phone about half the time for work and half the time for personal business. I can actually conduct about 80% of my job-related duties on my phone, but I can’t type quickly enough on the small touch keyboard to make it worthwhile.

    JVW (8278a3)

  19. JVW – Tillman means they dumbed down society enough we voted a pop star in as president.

    JD (3b5483)

  20. JVW, I’m no expert on that and it’s probably a mixed bag.

    Analogously, did calculator’s make us smarter? Well, yes and no (the calculator’s answer is usually correct even if we forget how to do the math manually). But smart phone users have the whole internet in their hands and can research topics in minutes, and often do. Now I see people using them in stores to make more informed purchases too. But yeah, some will just play games and watch cat videos.

    As for the research you wanted, I would suggest Googling it.

    Tillman (a95660)

  21. I have an LG Cosmo and the daughter’s hand-me down Samsung Galaxy Note which I use as a Kindle and Nook. The daughter has an iPhone 6 and a Kindle in addition to her two Macs, and the only rule really is “Don’t drop this one, too”. She’s broken her iPhone three times; one time we just replaced the screen, twice the whole phone. She doesn’t use the Kindle much — she prefers paper. I like ebooks these days because I can adjust the print size. ~_`

    nk (dbc370)

  22. JD – I don’t know about any pop stars, but we did have a Hollywood actor as a president.

    Tillman (a95660)

  23. Spice and I each have smartphones and tablets (and a bunch of laptop and desk PCs.) We carry the phones when we leave the house (which has a landline); you just can’t find a payphone anymore. She mostly uses her tablet in bed in the evening (which I do too.) She carries a laptop to work; I used to. I carry the tablet instead in my briefcase, if I’m taking that (I have a bluetooth keyboard for it that goes along.)

    Both of us use MessagEase on the smartphones and tablets, far easier than the QWERTY keybards on a touch screen. There is a learning curve to it (and a set of games to help, give it an evening while you’re watching TV and you’ll be ready to go.)

    Saw a dozen kids get off the school bus a couple of days ago, every one of them with a phone to their ear, formed up into a two-wide column, moved on down the street talking on their phones, peeling off as they came to houses, not a wave to anyone. We’re losing our social skills.

    htom (4ca1fa)

  24. PS. I had a Blackberry for a while. When I dropped it (into the laundry) I went back to a dumb phone because the whole time I had it I used its internet function only once — to look up a paint store whose address I had remembered wrong.

    nk (dbc370)

  25. I have an iPhone and my kids never return calls so I am getting used to texting them. If they call, they want money.

    By the way, my new book is on Amazon as a Kindle book if you have nothing to read on your ebook.

    It’s called War Stories: 50 Years in Medicine.

    Mike K (90dfdc)

  26. Excellent, Mike K. I would love to read your book.

    DRJ (1dff03)

  27. Oh, BTW, JVW:
    in·vei·gle
    inˈvāɡəl/
    verb
    verb: inveigle; 3rd person present: inveigles; past tense: inveigled; past participle: inveigled; gerund or present participle: inveigling

    persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery.
    “we cannot inveigle him into putting pen to paper”
    synonyms: entice, tempt, lure, seduce, beguile; More
    wheedle, cajole, coax, persuade;
    informalsweet-talk, soft-soap, con, sucker, snow
    “planted in colleges are members whose only mission is to inveigle unsuspecting students into the cult”
    gain entrance to (a place) by persuading (someone) with deception or flattery.

    nk (dbc370)

  28. My cell phone is an old flip phone that is used for only outbound calls (other than wife & daughter, both of whom have medical problems). If I know I’m going somewhere where I have to wait I bring a book. I’m not exactly a Luddite, but having retired from 35 years at a job that quite literally tied me to a phone, I no longer want to deal with them. I like the feel of paper books and they are usually cheaper (used) than electronic ones. The downside is probably that my house is a fire hazard due to the number of books I own.

    roy in nipomo (e8f8e6)

  29. Texting takes a little while to get used to but its immediacy is nice if you want to carry on a brief conversation with someone. After about 2 weeks it kinda figures out who you are and what words you regularly use–especially proper names –and it even capitalizes them. Mine is specifically set not to autocorrect, but it alerts me and offers suggestions of what it thinks I probably meant so I can choose a specific correction rather than retyping. Or, I can ignore its suggestion entirely. My phone has voice googling and voice recognition outbound texting. It is much easier, I think, than messing with the tiny keyboard unless one is in a very noisy setting. I’ve found the voice recognition pick-up is amazingly accurate.

    But I am far from a device hound and use my LG smart phone reluctantly and only to be part of my social milieu. My smart phone is completely turned off inside my purse most of the time. I primarily use it while traveling, when expecting a specific important call, or when wanting to confirm/ meet up/connect with others like for an appointment or joining up at a venue such as a restaurant, store, or ball game. It also takes great pictures on the fly.

    Facebook? No!!! Twitter? NO! I have only contempt for rude people who constantly have their noses in their phones when you are right there in the seat next to them. And, I know I’ve not been the only person to be nearly run off train platforms or sidewalks by smart phone addicts who don’t even know we’re there.

    I realize we’re all different. Some of us prefer constant stimulation, and some of us relish and need more peace and privacy than others do. I do not want to be reachable and connected every minute of the day.

    elissa (65d577)

  30. I have an iPad, but no phone. From what I see day to day, having a cellphone opens you to being contacted 24/7 (or even 28/8), and the only person I feel THAT close to, I married.

    People seem to have an incredible sense of entitlement about reaching their friends and associates by cellphone. If they can’t interrupt you any time of the day or night there is a significant minority that will get totally bent out of shape. I have seen guys getting read the riot act by their “girlfriends” (personally I think the “friends” part is a stretch), because they turned off their phones while ON SHIFT at work, as required by the people they worked for.

    Anybody EVER pulls something like that on me, the sex better be absolutely stellar.

    Thank Gods my Lady is happy to have text-only communication when I’m away, and uses it sparingly.

    C. S. P. Schofield (a196fd)

  31. To me, the beauty of devices such as Iphones is the ability to text with grown-up out of the house kids any time of day. They are not talk on the phone sorts, and I have discovered that one learns alot about what they’re thinking and where they’re coming from when texting back and forth. It’s a running conversation that never ends. No formalities, no re-entry, just picking up where we left off. Also, it is very commonplace for us to group text with each other. Often it’s inside jokes that only five people who lived together for several decades would “get”, or current events that rile the ranks, or photos that impact. No matter, it’s a great way to stay close to those who are no longer geographically close.

    Dana (86e864)

  32. Mom: What do idk, ly, ttyl mean?
    Daughter: I don’t know, love you, talk to you later.
    Mom: Ok, I’ll ask your brother.

    nk (dbc370)

  33. Cute, nk.

    Some of our funniest group texts have been when one of us has missed auto-correct’s inappropriate corrections.

    Dana (86e864)

  34. == Some of our funniest group texts have been when one of us has missed auto-correct’s inappropriate corrections.==

    This is why I had autocorrect disabled so I could be in control of deciding if I wanted it “corrected” or not. Do you think on your i-phone autocorret over all is a net plus? Some of the autocorrects I’ve seen have been hum-dingers!

    elissa (65d577)

  35. When what you meant to type –“you seem a little overwrought”– auto-corrects to “you seem a little overweight” on a group text, it not good. 🙂

    elissa (65d577)

  36. Disclaimer:

    I do not have a land line, mobile phone, or any type of mobile device. I just don’t do phones. No I am not on the “spectrum.”

    Now for my story:

    I, to was at an early morning week-day Mass where I had noticed on many occasion, the same man who help a mobile device not just before or after Mass, but pretty much all of the Mass. Well, of course, in an earlier part of my life I would have been outraged, but today I am thankful that he was just there! I did my best to take the plank out of my eye. Good thing, too.

    One morning the Debil got the better of me and I sat as close as I “dared” in order to do a little snooping. I had always tried to convince myself that he must have been glued to that device for a substantial reason – who knows, maybe he was monitoring a family tragedy? He turns on his device and you know what? He had an app that laid out the daily order of the Mass! Good heavens! he was following the Daily readings! Someone had the grace to create an app to bring the “addicted” closer to God.

    Yes, it is amazing.

    felipe (56556d)

  37. While everybody else in the family has some sort of smart phone, I make do with a flip phone; in my line of work, I’d smash a smart phone in no time, and my flip phone is much more solid and durable. Of course, since half the contractors in town have my cell number, I get calls at strange hours of the evening to change their morning orders.

    We don’t have a land line anymore. With everyone in the family having a cell phone of some sort, there’s no use in paying an additional $24 a month for a land line.

    I do have an Android tablet, which, 99% of the time, is used as my Kindle reader.

    The Dana still living in the twentieth century (1b79fa)

  38. I do appreciate the texting functions, because my hearing is so poor that it’s easier for me to read than listen to a conversation. I cannot hear higher-pitched sounds, and voices are difficult for me.

    The half-deaf Dana (1b79fa)

  39. Hey, DR.Mike K! I was just about to buy your book and noticed that it would be delived “wirelessly.” Does that mean I need a Kindle? I am on my desktop. Would someone clue me into this mystery?

    felipe (56556d)

  40. Go to Amazon and search for Kindle app for PC, felipe. It’s free. Google Play has a Kindle app for Android, unless it’s Samsung, in which case you have to use the Kindle app on your Samsung’s app bucket (might need to update).

    nk (dbc370)

  41. Thanks, man! Will do.

    felipe (56556d)

  42. Just a flip phone. Never texted. No social networking at all. But then, I have no friends really. I remember I was watching a F1 race on the telly. As the cars crossed the finish line, every single spectator was watching thru their cell phones. It made me sad for them.

    Gazzer (be559b)

  43. This is why I had autocorrect disabled so I could be in control of deciding if I wanted it “corrected” or not. Do you think on your i-phone autocorret over all is a net plus? Some of the autocorrects I’ve seen have been hum-dingers!

    I’m agnostic on the matter, elissa. When it makes a smart correction, I think, oh cool. When it makes a dumb one, I think, stupid technology. The problem is when one doesn’t take enough time to really look at what auto-correct is changing it to and hits send… then you have the possibility of some real doozies getting through.

    Dana (86e864)

  44. I and my 16-year-old daughter have cell phones, er, mobile devices. She plays Candy Crush in enforced waiting situations; I play sudoku. I only go on the internet to check postseason scores during rehearsal. I’m not really fond of or adept at the thing; it’s just a social necessity. Fortunately (and archaically), we both prefer reading books or the increasingly gaunt Los Angeles Times (for the puzzles), so no restrictions are imposed. If the 16-year-old pulled out her phone during church, I’d confiscate it forthwith.

    My wife and 12-year-old daughter do without; the 12-year-old covets one, the wife not.

    Side note: I fetched my 16-year-old at Dockweiler State Beach yesterday. We were furious at each other because neither of us responded to texts or calls. Later we realized the cell-phone connection is poor there. Finding her was needle-haystack. We are indeed dependent on the ruddy things.

    Golden Eagle (4e9369)

  45. Dana, auto-correct also assumes a certain amount of word or grammar knowledge. Some folks today can’t differentiate between synonyms so the feature is sometimes of no use.

    Gazzer (be559b)

  46. As change in personal behaviors have changed since the arrival of smartphones, it begs the question: who is in control – the person or the device?:

    Nearly three in four American smartphone users surveyed said they are within five feet of their devices the majority of the time, according to the 2013 Mobile Consumer Habits study conducted by Harris Interactive for Jumio, a mobile verification and payments company.

    More than a third said they use their device at movie theaters and 12% said they even use it while in the shower.

    But perhaps most unusual is the fact that almost 1 in 10 users, or 9% of respondents, said they have even used their smartphone during sex.

    “So it should be no surprise that 12% believe their smartphone gets in the way of their relationships,” the press release for the study said.

    The number of adults using their smartphones during sex rises to one in five when looking only at the 18 to 34 age group.

    Other unusual places where people are using their smartphones include during a dinner date (33%), during a child’s school function (32%), at a church or place of worship (19%), and, perhaps most alarming, while driving (55%).

    Dana (86e864)

  47. But perhaps most unusual is the fact that almost 1 in 10 users, or 9% of respondents, said they have even used their smartphone during sex.

    And they were probably on their own, suggesting the number is much higher. If you know what I mean…

    Gazzer (be559b)

  48. I used my iPhone, and tablets A LOT. Barely ever get online via laptop or desktop Mac. I won’t lie, my life would be in turmoil were I to lose or break one. I never leave home without my portable battery charger.

    JD (3b5483)

  49. I suppose that’s true, Gazzer. At times, it’s a bit insulting that a little know-it-all device of intentionalism tells me what I meant, instead of what I clearly said. Because, frankly, I know the difference between “ejecting” a dvd and “erecting” a dvd, thank you very much.

    Dana (86e864)

  50. Yeah, over on Reddit they’re always talking about this love-making technique called “buffering”.

    nk (dbc370)

  51. I have Mike K’s new book. Now for the fun part -reading it! Oh, of course I used the Amazon widgit!

    felipe (56556d)

  52. Still have my black Razr V3 from 2006, I think, with a couple of other colors as back ups. I can speak to anyone who needs me, and text if necessary. Toughest thing is to find a battery that will last more than a little while.

    My wife and kids have all the smart stuff, and they mock me as the dinosaur I am.

    I have had job applicants check their phones during the interview and, in my most recent training class of new sales agents, one young woman actually said “I’m sorry, my mom was texting me. Could you repeat that?”

    Matador (1f55cc)

  53. Depends on what kind of DVD you are watching, Dana

    JD (3b5483)

  54. felipe, Groucho Marx once said of a friend’s new book, “From the moment I picked it up, to the moment I put it down I could not stop laughing. Some day I intend to read it.”

    Gazzer (be559b)

  55. I have had job applicants check their phones during the interview and, in my most recent training class of new sales agents, one young woman actually said “I’m sorry, my mom was texting me. Could you repeat that?”

    It’s hard to understand why this is tolerated during an interview. I know, however, that it is a regular and acceptable interruption during meetings with senior administrators and the like. I have seen it happen frequently and no one bats and eye while old school me cringes. I was brought up that it was better to die than to interrupt in any way one speaking before a select group, a pastor in a pulpit, an employer speaking to employees, or a neighbor shooting the breeze. Good manners counted, once upon a time.

    Surely it must mean something not good that people now have the attention span of a ADD-riddled gnat.

    Dana (86e864)

  56. == in my most recent training class of new sales agents, one young woman actually said “I’m sorry, my mom was texting me. Could you repeat that?”==

    Ah, the millennial generation! We’re going to be in the very best of hands.

    elissa (65d577)

  57. Dana, it isn’t tolerated. At least, not by me.

    However, I try my best to give the benefit of the doubt, especially if there is a sincere apology for forgetting to turn it off or maybe they explain a particularly extenuating circumstance like a sick child they are monitoring. In the case of the latter, I would hope they would have the good sense to inform me before we begin.

    But, if they check the phone and then continue on as if it never happened? That is, indeed, something not good and shortly thereafter, he or she will hear “Thank you for your interest in our company. We’ll be in touch.”

    For now, at least, the rude and inconsiderate are not a protected class.

    Matador (1f55cc)

  58. Gazzer (be559b) — 6/28/2015 @ 5:57 pm

    LOL!

    Hey Dr. Mike. the title of your book is: War Stories: 50 years in medicine.
    But the first page says “War Stories: A Memoir of 40 Years in Medicine.”
    What happened to the other 10 years?

    felipe (56556d)

  59. I am semi-retired, which means I may be any of a dozen places at any time, so I have a dumb flip phone with me. I never know which part of my day is “semi”.
    My fingers are too big to make texting easy, or even barely possible on anything smaller than a laptop. Even a Kindle is difficult, presuming you could text on a Kindle.
    I don’t do games.
    Having my attention fixed so close to me in public makes me nervous. Never can tell….
    If my wife and I are traveling any distance, and it’s my turn to ride, I’ll check news sites or read an e-book.
    I find preparing presentations on practically anything an interesting mental exercise, so that’s how I kill time on, say, public transport.
    I viscerally dislike hearing from people what they had for breakfast or what somebody else thinks of what they had for breakfast, and similar irrelevancies.

    Richard Aubrey (f6d8de)

  60. If I am at a restaurant with someone, I leave my phone in the car. I find it a bit insulting if I expect to talk intimately at the meal and the other person is check their texts. That would be a dealbreaker if it was a date.

    Denver Todd (7163dd)

  61. Advert idea: A new mobile device with the name “Arrow”. Pitch song would be “Me and my arrow.”

    felipe (56556d)

  62. I own a smartphone, a tablet, and a laptop.

    The phone is the only thing I use extensively (it’s clearly easy to carry around everywhere) and, as I’ve got 64gig of RAM in it, I now have lots of videos stored on it.

    So, if I go to lunch alone, instead of reading a magazine, I’m often watching a TV show (cordless headphones).

    Two question I would ask is:
    “Is what I’m doing really any different”?

    And the other question, given your BART example:

    “The people are making efficient use of their travel time. What, exactly, did you think they should be doing instead?”

    IGotBupkis, "Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses." (225d0d)

  63. I have never owned a cell phone, and don’t plan on ever buying one.

    gahrie (12cc0f)

  64. my phone broke so my guests had to do all the ubers i felt like a douchebag

    happyfeet (7b1a9e)

  65. I bet you had a nice celebration, happyfeet.

    DRJ (1dff03)

  66. I won’t lie, my life would be in turmoil were I to lose or break one. I never leave home without my portable battery charger.

    That equipment (the battery charger) for me is as standard as taking my wallet.

    Patterico (3cc0c1)

  67. hi we had a lot of fun we got the citipass

    i’m so in love with the art institute i can’t tell you

    the field museum is sorta disappointing unless you really like looking at dead birds, but it’s super-fun if you just like walking around looking at dead birds

    happyfeet (7b1a9e)

  68. also the architecture boat tour was a big hit even though it was stupid foggy

    happyfeet (7b1a9e)

  69. I own a flip phone that I carry with me when I have a late meeting because it makes my wife feel better. I don’t own a smart phone, don’t want a smart phone. Ditto notebooks and tablets, Kindles and Nooks et al.

    I have a laptop I take when when I’m on vacation.

    Mark Johnson (21f0b0)

  70. Do you own a mobile device?

    I don’t want a smartphone… I still use a landline (and DSL for internet).

    I have a Kindle Fire tablet, but the last time I took it out of the apartment was when I had to report for jury duty, so I’d have a couple of movies to watch in the jury room.

    I usually carry a Kindle e-reader with me so I have something to read.

    malclave (4f3ec1)


Powered by WordPress.

Page loaded in: 0.1030 secs.