Category: Let's talk
Another topic on here asked what we couldn't live without. People mentioned a lot of stuff that wasn't around like the internet and microwave ovens. That made me wonder how we got along without the stuff we have now. In my case, it's the cell phone. Since I got my first one in 1996, I've always had a phone when I needed it to call a cab, let whoever know I was visiting that I was on the way and much more. Naturally, I have often wondered "how did we get along without Cell phones.
I hate being around people who have to inflict their personal phone conversations on me and others in public places. I find them obnoxious. I will probably never get one and am managing to live without it just fine.
Well if we think about all the things that have been invented over time.. after all, 150 years ago there was no electricity. imagine not having all the things that run on electricity? washing machines, refrigerators ... imagine having to shop every day, do your washing by hand, having to light the stove to cook, not having the telephone, and then as time progressed we got motor cars, busses and trains, aeroplanes, and then into microwaves, computers, tapes, records, CD's video and DVD, television, the internet, mobile phones ... and to think that there was a time, when people didn't have any of it.
well, I've often thought, maybe people should've practiced with the way they use to do things before we had electricity, computers etc. I mean,electricity isn't reliable either, just like computers aren't reliable. We never know when the power is going to go out, and we're practically helpless without electricity, though I'm better off than sighted people, because I can do the same way I alwys do in getting around. As for cell phones, my mom and i had one before she retired, and the bill was allmost as much as a regular phone bill. It was a real rip off, and they tried to make her keep paying for it after she turned it in.
wonderwoman
well a few years ago they did a programme over here where they sent a group of people to live on an island for a year, no electricity, no running water, they had to live off the land, and that included having to rear their own animals for slaughter, the only thing they didn't have to do was kill them but that was to do with the laws surrounding the killing of livestock. But they literally had to do everything, bake their own bread in clay ovens, breed their own chickens .. fetch their own water, they had no home comforts, no hot baths, showers, they had a make shift shower affair for washing etc, no tv, no mobile phones, no nothing. And after the year they all came off that island totally changed people.
Fact is, the human race is incredibly good at adapting to situations, that's why we managed to develop so far. We started out with nothing nd we invented all those things. If we're forced to go back to the old ways, sure it will be no fun whatsoever and our way of life will most likely change dramtically for the worst but the fact is we could survive. We have the brain and that's our strength, we can reinvent the wheel, we can do almost anything hehe, certainly anything humanly possible to survive.
It's crazy stuff really. I have both a regular phone and a cell phone and actually in Charlotte per say a regular Bell South phone plan with unlimited local calls runs almost $49, they claim it's $29 but they throw all sorts of fcc charges and taxes and fees so I paid btween $45 and $49 for it, for long distance they charged extra 5 cents per inute (state to state). After switching to Time Warner cable I pay $36/month for unlimited local and long distance calls, and even cell phones have much better plans, I have unlimited nights and weekends local and long distance and 250 minutes any time for $35/month so I can't say that to me cell phones have been a rip off, granted though that prices have been coming down a lot just in the last 2 years.
I have a cell phone too (obviously) but I usually only use it when travelling or out of the house expecting a call. The thing that annoys me about them is in Europe half the party people are busy sending and receiving sms (text) messages on their phone instead of engaging with other people. Our friends group is split up between two countries so it's understandable and it's fun to be able to send pictures live from a party in one country to the other and exchange live facts using text messaging (which is cheap about 8 cents a message even internationally) but you always feel like peole are distracted.
But, yeah, when people are meeting up in public cell phonesss are a miracle and amazing help, organizing when/where to meet, how to get there, it's really amazing. :)
Cheers
-B
well that is one thing, cel phones, or mobile phones as we call them over here, are so incredibly useful. I'm terrible I will admit to being slightly adicted to texting though which brings us to another thing ... email. How did we ever live without email? When I left south Africa in 1993 I lost touch with an awful lot of friends over there, partly because phone calls between this country and south africa were so expensive, and partly because I'm hopeless at writing letters, or even if I write them, I invariably forget to post them. But once email became the in thing, I regained contact with so many of my friends over there, people I hadn't talked to in years and years, and it was just so incredible.
the forerunner or electricity was discovered by a Scotsman.
Like SB said, years and years ago we didn't even have electrecitty, but I sure am greatfull for everything I have now. Mobile phones? I love them! These days it's so much I can do like check my mail on the move, go on to instant messengers if I'm on a long boring train journey, sure none of those things are neceserry, but they are a convencience and if it's available why not. Regarding text messages, I don't see what's wrong with it, especially if you need to relate short information to a group of people.
Um, my mother said she could perfectly live without computers and without cell phones. For me, it would be hard, because I would have to write letters to my BF and this would take a lot more time then just sending an email. But I'm sure if I had to, I could live without a microwave or - well, also the internet.