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I know for some it may be a stupid question. Has phones morphed into too big a deal. I never understood it till I switched here a while back and now have a phone that does everything. Before I had a phone that really didnt do much more than make a call. On a cheap deal from a fellow worker I had a chance to upgrade. Changed my plan slightly and now I have everything. Email, text, internet etc. Im totally addicted. Its stupid. Im reading Advrider Ride Reports all day long. Checking email every 30 mins and texting friends across the U.S. that I havent talked to much at all in years. Ive come to realise that I really dont like to talk on the phone even. Just text me man. Its becomming incorporated in to my work. Guys text me info from one side of work to the other when it isnt easy to just talk to eachother. I find myself sitting on the couch surffing the net instead of walking to the corner of my living room and booting up my laptop. I check my email and have kids sitting next to me say something like " man you still email? whats wrong with you". Oh man am I behind the times.

We had a girl this week texting in her car and ran into the back of a cop on a off ramp on 235. Im really, how bad is that!!! (No one was hurt too bad)

I sware every person out at work spends much more time on thier phone than they should. My boss has started giving me crap alot now because I cant set it down. We had a policy at work that you couldnt take your phone out on the floor. It was becoming that much of a problem. They eventually gave up on it because they did it anyway.

For me it has become a work tool also though. I have Word, Excel and Spreadsheets on my phone. This comes in handy keeping track of hrs worked on the Ranch, Maintenance records, Tractor serial #s etc etc. Anytime I need info on one of the numerous pieces of equipment out on the ranch I just pull out my phone. I record everything I do to them from new parts, oil changes, to hrs on the equipment. This has come in very handy so I put all my bike and truck records on my phone also.

I made the mistake of playing with a REALLY NICE NEW phone here lately. The I Phone from Apple. God this thing is just stupid fun. I know some of you have them. I looked into it and it was going to cost me like $700 to switch carriers, buy the phone etc. So Im now looking at the Sprint Instinct phone. About the same as the I Phone. I can get one for $29 and wont have to change my plan any. Interface is much better than mine and I already have someone that wants to buy my phone for thier kid.

SOOOO.............. have you become addicted to your phone????


Hayden

I HATE mobile phones...I would like to take mine with me on the DRZ out to Colorado, ride up to the top of a 14,000 ft. peak and chuck it as far as I can so I can watch it break into a million pieces. yeah, that's what I'd do with it.
KC

I got the iPhone. Replying to this on it now! The gps feature is a blast, I'm always playing with it and a free program called TrailGuru. And as far as work, well the FRA had a knee jerk reaction after the train wreck in Cali. And can't have it on while I'm on duty. Now what the news didn't tell you is a freight train has to have both crew members in the front cab while moving but a commuter train doesn't. Anyway ya it's a cool toy first and a phone last!

T, I hear you. I'm not as much a fan as you, but.... My current phone is an iPhone, and it is fantastic. It is also my first phone that has any Internet access worth using. As motoracer13 points out, it's actual so good, you can comfortably read and even reply to the forum on it. The screen is beautiful and the added features in Safari to make it easy to focus on the content you want make it very usable.

Email on the iPhone is great, too. I don't even bother to use my home computer to check my mail--the iPhone interface is that good. However, to reply to mail more than a short sentence, I use my computer.

I hate typing on the iPhone or any previous phone. Some people are great at it--the reply motoracer13 posted is much larger than I'd care to type on my iPhone, so he must be pretty comfortable with it. I have a colleague who frequently sends me email with multiple paragraphs--typed on his iPhone.

I have the older generation iPhone, which does not have true GPS and uses the slower Edge network. However, it does do a pseudo GPS locator thing using cell tower triangulation. It actually works GREAT in the metro. It integrates with Google Maps and updates as you drive to show your current location--usually accurate within a block or less.

The 2Mp phone on the iPhone takes really good photos if the lighting is good, and it makes working with the photos, emailing them, pulling them off to your computer, etc. very simple.

What REALLY sets the iPhone in a class by itself is the Application market. You can download apps (most under $10, many are free) that do everything from act as a remote control for your home audio system, monitor your stock portfolio, allow you to access your home MP3 collection on your phone, play video games. One app I have that blows me away is called Shazam. You can simply hold your phone up to any music that is playing and it will tell you what the song is (title, artist, album, etc.) It does not ALWAYS work of course, but it has surprised me more than it has let me down. My wife and I use it all the time--like when you are watching a good commercial and wonder "what is that song?". I just rewind (DVR), click my Shazam app, and hold the iPhone up to the TV speaker. In about 20 seconds, I know the song. I can then--on my iPhone--access my Rhapsody account, find the song (or the whole album) and start it playing on one or all of the zones in my home audio system.

Yeah, this thing is cool.

Now what do I hate? I hate that in my about 13 years of cell phone use, the network speed , voice quality, and reliability have not improved at all. Or at least that is my impression. My very first cell phone (a large one!) had better sound quality and the cell networks worked just as good as they do today. Or it seems. I'd give up some phone features for better call quality.

KC, I also hear you, and sometimes I feel the same way!

KC I'm with you. All cell phones suck.

Ok, I admit, cell phones are extremely useful and have revolutionized our lives, especially in the way we conduct business. But...life was just fine without them too. I seem to have a love/hate relationship with technology. I love computers and cool gadgets. They are a lot of fun most of the time. The rest of the time they just don't work! Chew on this one: We at TKE currently use PDAs to log all of our time on jobs and obtain customers signatures. My union brothers at Otis Elevator have PDAs with integrated GPS. They have to log in and out at their jobs which allows their PDAs to sync their location directly to the local office... the company knows exactly where they are at and how fast they are driving, etc... Big Brother is watching

Yea well big brother may be watching but sometimes thats good. Im sure the kid that wrecked his car the other night out in the middle of no where was glad for the GPS feature on his phone. Thats how the medics found him. He didnt have a clue where he was and a bit out of it Im sure. (drunk)??

My dad was wondering about his phone a while back. Thought maybe he should see if it needed updated software or anything. SO he went to the Altel place in Hutch. Dad handed the guy his phone and said check this out to see if it needed anything. The guy laughed at him. Said where in the world did you get this thing????? I havent seen one of these in years. It was the first phone my dad ever bought. 15 YEARS ago. A Nokia. Guy was like, Does it work? Dad said hell ya it works. Ive never dropped a call on it and its very clear. Guy said he couldnt sell him a phone as good as the one he had and just keep using it. Granted its just a phone but hey.........thats all he uses it for.

On to last night........ Dad calls me. Hey my phone quit what do I do. OK DAD!!! go out and buy a new one already He was actually a bit upset that it quit. Well it lasted 15 years dad, maybe its time for a new one.

I picked up the Instinct on Sunday. Oh boy is this thing sweet. Its like christmas early

T

Life wouldnt have been easy for me before cellphones when it comes to work. I get a 2 hour call for work and Im on call 24-7. If I have net access I can get an idea of when I will get called but can call in to an automated call center to find out also, but I still have to answer and accept the call. Before cell phones people would call comand center and leave the name of the restraunt they were at. Think of all the docters on call at any given time!

I still carry a motorola pager for work. It's how our calls are dispatched...and also how I read my daily horoscope. I guess having a cell phone is easier than looking for the nearest pay phone to call in on and say, "Yeah, I got the page." I haven't used that old 1-800 number in years, will never forget though.

Dont get me wrong from my earlier post, Im all for making it illegal to be on the phone and drive(even if I can txt while riding )