Cell phone is the invention Americans hate most but can't live without

[kechara420]

http://www.rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=16597


Cell phones: Can’t live with them …
January 21 12:26:00, 2004


CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—The cell phone is the invention Americans hate most but cannot live without, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s annual Lemelson-MIT Invention Index study released today.

Nearly 30 percent of adults chose the cell phone as the most hated invention they cannot live without. The alarm clock was a close second, with 25 percent of adults choosing it, and the television received 23 percent of the votes.

“Cell phones have clearly been beneficial in terms of increasing worker productivity and connecting people with family and friends,” said Merton Flemings, director of the Lemelson-MIT program. “However, the invention index results show that the benefits of an invention sometimes come with a societal cost.”

MIT further pointed out that problems with inventions can open opportunities for more innovations. For example, MIT lab researchers said they plan to find ways to make cell phones more socially intelligent. “We are exploring ways to give these devices human-style social intelligence, which means that they would know what we as owners expect them to do, and especially what not to do, without our having to tell them explicitly every time,” explained MIT Media Lab researcher Stefan Marti.

[DRD2001]

I can live without it. :D

[bouyantman]

Originally posted by DRD2001
I can live without it. :D

mee too!...:smokin:

[recklesshumor]

I certainly wouldn't be able to live without mine. Especially considering I don't have any other type of phone!

[Frellster]

I like my cell phone. It represents security, considering my car has a tendancy to break down. Ofcourse, I've only ever given the number to my best friend, so I know who it is when it rings. I like not having to search for a phone too. I don't use it often, but I like having it. I love the name/number storage feature. I use it to look up phone numbers even when I'm calling using my home phone.

[PrairieScaper]

I don't even have a cell phone. Sometimes I think I'm the only one left in America who doesn't own one.

[recklesshumor]

Originally posted by PrairieScaper
I don't even have a cell phone. Sometimes I think I'm the only one left in America who doesn't own one.

So YOU are the one! We've been looking for you.

[Judith]

I still don't have one.

[BaseLine]

Don't you have an off-button on your cellphones in the US? ;)

[fermicat]

I don't hate cell phones. I hate cell phone users with no manners.

[PrairieScaper]

Originally posted by recklesshumor
So YOU are the one! We've been looking for you. :run:

[Judith]

Originally posted by fermicat
I don't hate cell phones. I hate cell phone users with no manners.

Yeah, that is essentially my problem.

When I get a cellphone, I'm going to keep it on off or on vibrate most of the time. That way I don't have to annoy others. Especially since I intend to pretty much screen most of my calls. Honestly, I'm uncomfortable with people being able to get a hold of me all of the time. My cellphone will be for my convenience. Not someone else's.

[fermicat]

Originally posted by Judith_Shakespeare
Yeah, that is essentially my problem.

When I get a cellphone, I'm going to keep it on off or on vibrate most of the time. That way I don't have to annoy others. Especially since I intend to pretty much screen most of my calls. Honestly, I'm uncomfortable with people being able to get a hold of me all of the time. My cellphone will be for my convenience. Not someone else's.

Mine stays in my purse and is turned completely off 99.9% of the time.

[BlackThorn]

I've never had one, and I've never been in a situation where I really needed one. The only reason I'd like one in the future would be to access the internet for research reasons when I'm out writing at Denny's. Of course, I rarely give people my home phone number if possible. I'd much rather people contact me via e-mail or IM. Much easier that way.

[vikingscaper]

I have one and the only reason why I have one is because of my looooong commute back and forth to school every day. I also try to keep mine turned off or on silent especially during class.

[kechara420]

I've moved back in with my mom, so now I give people my cell # instead of her home #. It's just easier.

I have the same philosophy for home & cell: If I don't know who it is, I don't answer. If it's important, they'll leave a message. If not ... piss on 'em. :shrug:

[PrairieScaper]

Originally posted by vikingscaper
I also try to keep mine turned off or on silent especially during class. I was in a class a few months ago and a woman not only answered her phone during class but proceeded to carry on a short conversation. I just stared at her in amazement. I didn't understand why the professor tolerated this, since it was clearly not an emergency.

Sometimes I hear people carrying on absolutely inane cell phone conversations in public. Is it just because they're insecure about being -- gasp -- alone? I just don't understand wasting breath like that. Maybe wiser folks can explain that behavior.

[AgentSun]

i can't live without a cell phone for several reasons:

it gets me in contact with people i need to talk to
it lets people get in contact with me in a second
it lets me keep track of people i know
it gives me security in case anything happens or i need to contact my parents

the last point has several applications...if i'm waiting in a really long line for somthing and i suddenly realize that i'm missing something, the least i could do is call my friend or someone and see if they can answer my questions. its better than getting out of the line to find out the answer.

[divinedaydreams]

We have cable internet so we really don't need a house phone. I also bought my phone while still living in AZ. Now my family and friends can call me using my AZ cell and not have to pay long distance charges since I moved to CA.

[AgentSun]

i keep mine off during class too. i keep it off cause i figure that if its on vibrate then everyone will still hear it clanging against the pens in my backpack. and if its on silent, whats the point of using up battery? if its off, then they still get the voicemail so its the same as silent.

[Judith]

Originally posted by PrairieScaper
I was in a class a few months ago and a woman not only answered her phone during class but proceeded to carry on a short conversation. I just stared at her in amazement. I didn't understand why the professor tolerated this, since it was clearly not an emergency.

Sometimes I hear people carrying on absolutely inane cell phone conversations in public. Is it just because they're insecure about being -- gasp -- alone? I just don't understand wasting breath like that. Maybe wiser folks can explain that behavior.

My boyfriend is a TA at my college and he answers people's phones.

The dumbest thing I ever heard someone say on a cellphone was (in a call to an insurance company)

"So if I get married, can I still be classified as a dependant of my parents? No? What if I get married and don't tell you? How would you know?"

[divinedaydreams]

I like it when people talk on their cells while going to the restroom. Not important calls either just nonsense. It happens all the time.

[Judith]

Originally posted by divinedaydreams
I like it when people talk on their cells while going to the restroom. Not important calls either just nonsense. It happens all the time.

I hang up on people when I find out they are in the bathroom!

[divinedaydreams]

Oh I'm not talking at home I'm talking in public restrooms like at WalMart.

[PrairieScaper]

The first time I ever witnessed a public bathroom phoner was at an airport. The woman never even slowed down her conversation the entire time she was using the 'facilities.' Then she left the bathroom without washing her hands, still chattering away -- and returned to her station at the terminal security check, handling and rummaging around in people's luggage! AAAAARRRGH!

My SO flushes the toilet repeatedly when he hears bathroom phoners, just for spite.

I never want to know what those calls must sound like on the other end of the line.

[AyuRocks]

I have a friend that has a phone in her bathroom at home... O_o

Ashley

[PrairieScaper]

:lol3: Does she ever call you from her loo phone?

[vikingscaper]

I don't think that I have ever seen anybody use a phone in the bathroom. Wait a minute, I have seen my dad take our cordless phone into the bathroom.:hork:

[AgentSun]

my mom takes the phone into the bathroom for one simple reason and its not to use it...its cause the rest of the house is so loud (my dad and i are usually playing music or talking or we've got more than one tv on) that she needs quiet to talk to people...and now she's got a home office so she can shut the doors. but before, she used to go into the bathroom cause it shut out the noise.

[fermicat]

Some of the people here at work use the bathroom stalls as their private phone booths. It is annoying because (a) there are not that many stalls in the building and our workforce is fairly large now, (b) I don't want to hear someone's personal conversation, and (c) it makes me feel uncomfortable doing the normal thing we go into a bathroom to do, even though I have every right to be in there doing that! Stupid frellniks. Go talk somewhere else.

[fermicat]

About cell phones in class.....

Why would anybody have their phone turned on (even set to vibrate) while they are in class?!? It would be completely rude and inappropriate to answer the phone in that situation, so why even have it on?

This goes ditto for church, theaters, concerts, meetings, restaurants, and while operating heavy machinery. Maybe I am just too old to get it, but I don't understand why anyone needs to be reachable 100% of the time. Give it a rest, and check your messages at a more appropriate time for telephone use.

[vikingscaper]

I don't know why people would have their cell phones on during class. I always hate it when during class, all of the sudden you hear "ring, ring". At least the person who the phone belongs to is embarrased and I always love it when the professors tell the person to shut off the cell phone. I usually turn off my phone once I get out of my car or when I go inside a building.