Cell phones a bad idea for society?

To start, I have two cell phones. Do I need two cell phones? No, but work is paying for one, so technically I only have one, I guess. They both ring however. For work, an i730 on the Nextel network. I hate hearing it ring, nuff said. My Treo, I love my Treo and all of the wonderful things that it can do, but I am starting to think that I would be better without it, without the phone at least. If I had my way, I would only have data service. E-mail, Internet, and Google Maps. If it had GPS my wireless needs would be complete.

Wireless communication has come a long way in the few years that it has been available to the masses. I follow the bleeding edge of Tech fairly regularly, but I don’t open my wallet, only my ears and eyes. Do I want an iPhone? Yes! Will I be spending my hard earned money on it anytime in the near future, probably not. I didn’t get on the iPod bandwagon until the first generation Nano, so I figure Apple has a year or so to prove to me that the iPhone is THE phone.

The question has to be asked and the answer is obvious…. I hope.

Does everyone that has a cell phone need it? If you said yes, I also want to remind you that the Sun, in fact, does not revolve around the Earth. Please make a note of it.

I have had many long conversations on cell phones, but things seem to be getting out of hand. Mel and I were sitting in the parking lot of Ipanema in the west end, waiting for people to arrive, and while we sat there waiting three or four people drove by us and ALL of them had a cell phone held to one ear! Don’t get all “That’s the West End for ya” on me because it’s like this everywhere. I was standing in a fast food establishment the other day and a woman had a cell phone to her ear the entire time she was in line and while she was ordering. Funny thing was, I only heard her whisper something once, the rest of the time she said nothing. What the hell is the point of that? The straw that made this rant possible happened just today. I made a business related call to a guy’s cell phone, he answered, I started talking, he abruptly interrupts me and asks that I call him back in five minutes. If you are busy, don’t answer your damn phone, that’s what voicemail is for! I promise that the unknown number on your CID is not the President or Publishers clearing house and if you don’t answer I bet the unknown will leave a message. I am also certain that they would prefer to leave a message than to be cut off and told to call back later.

Cellphones have their place and the safety that a cellphone brings is definitely something I can get behind. My problem is that America, and probably the world, seems to be developing a dependency on cell phones. Kinda like TV. I had a co-worker tell me one time that their kids freak out and can’t sleep if the TV, radio, or some similar noisy device is not on in their room. As if the silence is deafening. Now this need is extending to driving and just simply being in public. Take a walk around a busy mall and I promise you will see an abundance of people talking on or playing with their cellphones. The silence of being in public without electronic distraction seems to be more than some can handle.

I often feel like people are using cellphones and all similar devices to distract themselves from not only what is going on around them, but from what’s going on in their heads. How long can this go on before it is diagnosed as a disease and found to be an unstoppable epidemic? As much of a tech head as I am, I am starting to re-think my stance on cellphones. In moderation they are fine, but I think we are going to have a few million addicts on our hands in the future. So turn them off and enjoy a weekend SANS wireless devices. Can you handle it?