My Favorite Medium

The Amish religious group embraces cell phones but have traditionally not had telephones in their homes. It doesn’t make a lot of sense in this old-fashioned sect who usually avoid modern technology and still drive horse and buggies until you understand why. As I understand it they don’t like traditional telephones or even television because it is too invasive in their homes. Home is a place for family, sanctity, contemplation, even frequent worship. It is a place to keep worldly thoughts and temptations out of. So they don’t have traditional telephones at home. There is (was) a phone booth near the corn field that many families used. Now they embrace cell phones - on when needed but off most of the time (non-invasive but convenient). I believe you will find cell phones in most horse and buggies now. One writer terms them ‘very adaptive techno-selectives’ (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.01/amish.html)

So your non-invasive concept has many friends. Maybe you just have it backwards - You should have a cell phone (a simple one) that is only on when you want it to be and get rid of your traditional phone that can interrupt and invade your personal home space.

I count myself lucky … my cell phone doesn’t work at the office and doesn’t work well at home.  It does, however, work fine when I’m driving and unable to answer it.  :-)

(When I saw the subject line in my email, I thought you were talking about a seance <VBG>

I, too, own a cellphone.  It’s for outgoing calls only.  If I were to get a call on it, I wouldn’t know how to answer <g>

I carry a cell phone but I have it turned off most of the time. A good friend of mine has found this immensely annoying and has whined about it: I never answer, and it goes to voicemail, which I check once a month, if he’s lucky.  I explained to him that my cell phone is there so that I can yank his leash when I need to, but it isn’t there so he can yank mine.  I turn it on when I need it.  Otherwise off.  He was greatly offended by this, and said it was not only selfish but immoral.  Clearly I am violating the Rules of the Game.

You need an iPhone my friend.

Having once had the honor of picking you up at an airport in Oklahoma and seeing that you got to the  OLA conference hotel, had some dinner, and were on time for your presentation, I can attest to your ability, as well as my own, to getting things done the old-fashioned way.  Admittedly, this was years ago when cell phones were not in vogue, but we did  correspond via snail mail, manage to connected in the airport, enjoyed dinner and the conference, and got you back—on time and under budget— to your flight home.

One thing you did forget to mention is that you manage to avoid lots of marital issues by not having a cell phone.  When I can’t figure out how to pull information up Mapquest and read it on that tiny little cell phone screen with eyes that now function much better with trifocals, I’m in for an argument with my tech-savvy spouse every time.  Now, he’s forced to pull over and get directions, albeit on his own high-tech telephone, portable gps, or in-dash system, none of which I can figure out how to use as we’re whizzing past landmarks at highway speeds.

My current job requires me to be on-call 24/7, and I am electronically leashed to it at all times.  I love my job and feel fortunate to work in glorious Southern California now, but when vacations start, the Blackberry leash is the first thing to go.   

Oh, I was of the ilk of not wanting to be annoyed by people 24/7. That was until my mother eneded up in the hospital and I couldn’t get a hold of anyone to find out how she was.

I have found that now that I have a cell phone that the people who want to be constantly "in touch"  are the only ones who are on 24/7. I am on the phone when I want to be just like when I had a land line.  I still do not text, take pictures, play games or anything else, since I always have had the choice of doing these things whether I was on the phone or not.

My phone makes it easy when I am lost and I call my friend for directions. I no longer have to stop and look for a phone. If I don’t want to be ‘found" I don’t have to be. But I have the comfort of knowing that I can keep in touch if I want to.

I carried a phone for a about two years in the mid-90’s.  Hated it, haven’t had one since.  I spend a great deal of my time near a phone and cherish the time I have in the car, walking the dog, etc. when I can’t be reached by anyone.  My wife and I have not found it to be a problem to be occasionally out of touch.  With aging parents, the time is coming when we’ll have to break down and get back on the grid - besides, texting is fast becoming the only way to communicate with my son.

As someone said, a cell phone can just be phone. I have one and pay by the minute and use it as many folk said, just for "in case" and usually keep it turned off. (Of course, I have the advantage of living where there is no cell service. That’s right. No tower, no service. Those waves do not go thru mountains. But I do have it at work and on the road I travel to required library meetings.)

I did record a message on my cell number voice mail. It’s says "you’ve reached my cell number, don’t leave  message, I won’t get it." Yeah, you guessed it. My cousins insist on leaving me messages when we are at family weddings. But only the older ones my age. Millenials don’t leave messages. They just check to see who called ….

Oh, c’mon, even I have a cell phone, of sorts.  I don’t need my phone to take pictures, play videos, or do any of the meriad of things people seem to believe phones should do now days.  But in my travels I have found that is increasingly harder to find pay phones and being a woman who often drives alone, a few years ago I bought a Trac phone.  It will text and save messages, but I don’t know how to text and haven’t bothered to find out how to retrieve messages.  But in addition to this, it makes and receive phone calls!  So, now I have a phone to use in case of emergencies and I have found it useful in other situations.  I am not bothered by ringing at inopportune times because I tend to only turn it on when I know I’m going to use it.  My adult children have had to learn not to expect mom to drop everything and answer their ever so important calls asking, "what time does the DMV office open?" but occasionally I surprise them by having the phone turned on.  So, Mr. Manley, my advice is this:  hie thee to Walmart or another such merchant and buy a simple pay as you go phone to have available when YOU want to use it and save yourself from having to explain to nosy shuttle drivers.

My husband I resisted getting cellphones until last year, when we decided that it is a good idea to have one for emergencies, such as a breakdown on an undeveloped stretch of highway.  We pay $100 per year each to have a simple phone that we use  only for making calls when necessary.  The rest of the time, we keep ‘em turned off and we don’t give out the numbers.  Just because you have a phone doesn’t mean you have to let people call you.

<scribbling with my quill on a nice fresh scroll>  AMEN!!

Dear Mr. Manley/Will—As a longtime reader (and bulletin-board poster) of your column(s), I want to Thank You for years of great insights, wise counsel, and inspired, greatly civilized rants.  You speak non-digitized volumes to us Old Librarian Guard, and who cares if some (in the adjacent cubicle) see us as dinosaurs.  While—apart from my lack of ambition to follow your administrative footsteps—it seems we do share many interests & avoidances, I must confess that I do "own"  a cell phone.  In my own defense however it is a very basic, telephone-Only device (which my adult children might describe as "Way-y-y primitive"); and one which my wife forced on me last year when she upgraded to something more 21st century in color, range, capability, and Price.  In fact, I think that’s my cell beeping at me now, to remind me to plug It in for a re-charge, even though I rarely use it.  Take Care & Keep Up that great writing!  —FWH; Reference Librarian, Rochester Public Library, MN