I find it very irritating when someone rings my home phone and then my mobile and keeps doing this until they get a reply … what’s wrong with people, is it so urgent all the time! Do they think I’m there sat waiting for their call??? If I call someone and they don’t answer I accept they are busy and leave a message or leave it a little bit later in the day.

I’m not answering because I am probably eating my dinner or taking a shower or in middle of something else. It does not mean that I don’t like you or what you have to say is not important … but please accept that I have ‘other’ things to do!

This culture of being enslaved by phones a modern phenomenon that is in reality is quite stupid IMO

Is this just me?

I’m not enslaved by my mobile.

I get particularly pissed off when I am talking to someone and they will just stop me mid-sentence to pick up their mobile.

I find it especially annoying when this is during a business meeting.

I don’t own a mobile. So I’m no slave to them

Maybe it is urgent? If it’s not, ask them why they rang so many times. Simple.

If you don’t want to be contacted, turn the phone off.

If it’s that important, they’ll leave a message, and I’ll call back. Especially if it’s a number I don’t recognise – usually means it’s The Bank!. I’ve never really felt comfortable with phones much.

Yes, I think the OP is right. Would you go up to someone who was talking to someone else and interupt them? That’s what you’re doing when you phone someone.

I liberated myself from my mobile and have spent £40 in credit in 2 years. 😀

But I admit that for most people this is not an option.

i only answer my phone when i feel like it – very very rarely will i interupt anything to take a call unless im expecting.

i live in a house where you dont get a phone signal – its great.

only my friends/family have the house number.

was a belter when i went into work a couple weeks back and was told id been the on call contact for the weekend ( not a normal arrangement nor was it agreed with me that my PERSONAL mobile number could be used …. )

i said good job nothing went wrong then lad – shit out of luck trying to phone me at home on my mobile i dont get a signal.

Yes, I think the OP is right. Would you go up to someone who was talking to someone else and interupt them? That’s what you’re doing when you phone someone.

Poor analogy, as the caller you have no idea if the callee is doing something.

I have an iPhone, which is very modern. If I don’t want to take calls, I use the ‘silent’ function that this bewitching device offers. If you have an old-fashioned phone, just turn the power off. Something only enslaves you if you give it permission; and that applies to other people, too.

I leave mine on silent all the time and pick up the calls / messages when I feel like it……

Answer to OP. No. Turn it off. Put it on silent. Hide it in a drawer. Easy

Trail rat – so if your friends want to speak to you you’ll ignore them? Niiice!

The benefits far outweigh the enslaving features. It’s an enslavement with which I’m happy. 🙂

It’s much worse now with smart phones. We’ve just been camping with friends for the weekend, one of whom spent much time on his iphone and used it to get on the net and check things on virtually every topic we discussed, exactly the sort of thing I try to get away from on a camping weekend.

they will phone the house . my point being i dont jump through hoops just cause i have a mobile it doesnt mean im instantly contactable – its for my convienance not anyone elses.

if im not busy then yes ill answer it – but if im with company or riding etc then i wont answer it.

Silent feature sounds good 🙂

Still doesn’t stop the insistent landline calls though ;-(

What’s annoying is that everyone else seems to assume you’re at their beck and call 24/7.

Smartphones are the worst for this; people send an email and assume you’ll reply within a few minutes cos you must have access to it wherever you are.
No, if you want an immediate reply, give me a ring. Emails mean either you want evidence of the correspondence or that it’s not urgent!

If it’s important they’ll leave a message. If not, it wasn’t important win-win

People feel the need to talk about all sorts of crap on their phones, wonder what they talk about face to face. However its all a bit me me me, especially with all other social media taking off as well.

I am more than aware of the subtle hypocrisy of posting my opinion on an internet forum.

I can be guilty at times of not ignoring work related stuff that isn’t ugrent when I’m not on duty. I do get this time back though but really I could just ignore some of it until on duty.

I’m enslaved to my phone in so far as I hate not having it with me. However, I do not drop everything the moment it rings or beeps at me with a text. If I’m out on a ride, it goes in the bag/jersey pocket and isn’t checked til the end of the ride, on the golf course it is turned off. If I’m driving I don’t have a handsfree so unless my wife is sat next to me to answer then sorry caller, you’re shit out of luck.

I’d take a dim view of someone repeatedly ringing me unless it was an emergency or we had a pre-arranged appointment that i had missed/forgotten/was late for. If I don’t answer leave a voicemail, or preferably send a text (I hate voicemail, don’t know why).

So am I enslaved to my phone? Partly I’d say.
I don’t remember phone numbers anymore, since they all just go in the mobile phonebook. I live in fear of the day I NEED to contact someone and don’t have access to my mobile!

It’s much worse now with smart phones. We’ve just been camping with friends for the weekend, one of whom spent much time on his iphone and used it to get on the net and check things on virtually every topic we discussed, exactly the sort of thing I try to get away from on a camping weekend.

TOTALLY agree on this one, I take my phone camping as a safety option, but it remains turned off and I get quite annoyed if other peoples comes out for use for more than a minute or so – the whole point of camping is to get away from it all, don’t bring your office with you!

I don’t worry about missing calls. If it’s important they’ll leave a message or call back.

The way I see it is that my phone is for me to use to make the calls I want to make. It’s not a guarantee for others to get in touch.

I think we all like to think we’re not as enslaved to our mobiles as we really are. 🙂

I think we all like to think we’re not as enslaved to our mobiles as we really are.

Agreed.

I own a mobile, but I’m not a slave to it. I switch it off if I don’t want to be disturb and usually let the home phone go through to answerphone so I can screen the calls.

I’m basically a miserable git so don’t really like talking to people.

It really drives home how much I rely on my phone these days when I go abroad. With data roaming switched off it becomes just a phone again. I hate it.

It really drives home how much I rely on my phone these days when I go abroad. With data roaming switched off it becomes just a phone again. I hate it.

Really? I relish the times I can turn mine off and pretend it doesn’t exist. I went 3 weeks without one when my old one died and it made pretty much zero difference to my life except I got lost once and had forgotten my road map so had to call someone from a phonebox for directions. Not exactly enslaved… It’s cool, and I’d like a smartphone but don’t care that I’ve not got one. I only want a smartphone because I don’t have a laptop and it’s nice to have a portable web portal, not because I need it.

In the 21st century it amazes me how few people are familiar with the OFF button. How many threads on here about how crap the TV was lastnight? Now it’s being bugged by mobiles. I’ve got a mobile, it’s great, what with sat nav, web browsering, angry birds, kindle with motorbike manual, even a phone to contact the breakdown people when the manual’s not enough. Brilliant. And it can be switched off or put into solent when I don’t want to bothered by it or anyone else. As for insistent landlie calls, ignore them once. If they keep ringing, pick the phone up and tell them you’re busy, leave a message call back later. Don’t let them speak, they’ll get the message.
Like any technology, it’s up to you to dictate how you want to use it. If you want to be “enslaved” by it that’s more your decision than anyone else’s.

EDIT

And it can be switched off or put into solent

obviously that should have been silent, but still not a bad idea as it stands.

I’d love my smart phone to be able to make calls easily, or even to text without spelling everything wrong. Oh, and for the battery to last more than 5 minutes.

All the other whizz bang stuff is mainly a nuisance for me.

So, no, I’m not a slave to my mobile phone, except when it decides not to call someone I want it to.

All the other whizz bang stuff is mainly a nuisance for me.

Why’d you buy a smartphone then?

I think we all like to think we’re not as enslaved to our mobiles as we really are

I get about one call a week.

I’d love my smart phone to be able to make calls easily, or even to text without spelling everything wrong. Oh, and for the battery to last more than 5 minutes.

All the other whizz bang stuff is mainly a nuisance for me.

So, no, I’m not a slave to my mobile phone, except when it decides not to call someone I want it to.

Get a normal, non-smart, phone?
They are still available.

“Get a normal, non-smart, phone?
They are still available.”

But I get 50000000000 mb of free internet a month on my 24 month contract, that I am paying for every month. And 900 minutes of calls, that are difficult to call people with.

😉

I get about one call a week.

There may be a reason for that 😉

I have no mates, I’ll not try and cover that up 🙂

But I get 50000000000 mb of free internet a month on my 24 month contract, that I am paying for every month. And 900 minutes of calls, that are difficult to call people with.

So get a non-smart (thick?) phone. Anyone can get one, and if you’re on a contract, go back to the shop and tell them you want to trade down. Most contracts let you do that.
Or, we have yet another example of someone letting technology run their lives for them. After all it’s about 1000 times easier to whinge on here about how difficult your phone is to use than it is to go into a shop and admit to not being able to work a phone

BigButSlimmerBloke – I know how to use the thing, I just find it a bit pointless.

It doesn’t run my life, it’s a phone. Sheesh, some people on here takle themselves so seriously.

PedanticTrackWorld at its finest!

🙄

I put mine on silent when I don’t want to be harassed and loud when I do. It is a part of modern life and there is no point whinging about it – if I am hosting a business meeting and someones phone rings I accept it as this is the way things are and worrying about it is counter productive.