Friday Poll - No.3: Mobiles, Can You Live Without?

[Rob McCow]

Mobile Phones!

This man looks happy with his.


But could you last without one? Is your life controlled and dictated by your mobile? Do you spend more than 70 hours on it a week?

Perhaps some of you can remember a time before mobiles. What was it like and how did you ever meet anyone else at an arranged time?

Are they GOOD - or EVIL?

[SiHart]

I could survive with out mine- althoughsince I've just given my number to all my staff, I don't think I'll do away with it.

The fact that I've never had a brand new one and have always coped with other people's cast offs shows just how important they are to me.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

It's a tricky one. I could survive. But I wouldn't like to. Since we've all become dependent on them I find I'm worried to be without it - I would actually be uncomfortable all day if I left it behind. It's my link to my friends, the management company, the RAC if I need them. What would you do if you broke down without a phone? How would you get a job these days without a mobile? I'm sure we'd manage but they have just become such a big part of life, and a great comfort. It's lovely having all your friends just a text message away too.

I think they will be our downfall though. I think we'll find out in 30 years that they cause all kinds of radiation-linked problems. That's grim I know, especially for a Friday, but you could see it. They used to think cigarettes were good for you, you know.

Si.

[Dirk Gently]

Like Si just said, I could live with out mine but it would make things more difficult. Life is better with them as they allow communication to be swift & convenient.

[Wayne]

I managed fine without one until the year 2000, & i suppose i could do so again, but i would choose not to because they're very useful & convenient things to have!

[Stuart Wallis]

Never had one, never seen the need. Call me a Luddite...

[Stephen Morgan]

Mobiles? Who needs them, they're the scourge of modern society. I've never had one, and don't want one, even though Vvi keeps telling me they're essential. Not to me it isn't. There's an old saying "Talk is cheap" I can't think of any bigger waste of money than spending on mobiles.

[Stuart Wallis]

And Bluetooth! The embarrassment caused by thinking someone passing you is talking to you or themselves!

[Pip Madeley]

I've never been glued to my phone, but it's a big plus for me because it allows me to always stay in touch with Trudi, no matter where I am, and that's an invention that's worth having.

[Alex]

I could live without mine, it's handy, sure, but by no means a neccessity. Mine's a fairly rubbish one anyway, bar making phone calls it's got an alarm and a calculator, and you can play snake on it, but that's about it.

I'm pretty sure mobile phone's are to blame for people being late now too, in pre-mobile days we'd all have to arrange a place to meet at a certain time, but now that you can just quickly send a text saying you're going to be late, tardiness seems to be on the increase. Or maybe it's just a sign of the times, maaaaaaaan!

I really hated that time when they suddenly became very popular, everyone had one, and you could spend a night down the pub with a group of friends constantly being distracted by the text bleep or the phone going off, twas really annoying. Fortunately those days seem to be over now...

That said, if I had a newfangled phone where I could surf the net and watch tv on it, I might be more fond of them!

[Andrew Curnow]

Not only could I live without one, I do.

What an exciting post that was...

[Dave Lewis]

My phone is my music player, my digital camera, my internet browser, the place I store the Sunday quiz and other documents, my only friend, and my occasional sexual partner. I also talk to people on it and send and receive text messages, although I find 'txt spk' absolutely abhorrent - I h8 it.

Actually, I genuinely can't live without it. Not that it's also a life support machine in the traditional sense, but if I'm parted from it, I feel incomplete.

How sad am I?

[Captain Tancredi]

Somewhere in between- there are certain people I can only contact on their mobile, and some people who only have my mobile number.

[Wayne]

I don't use mine all that much compared to a lot of people. I don't even switch it on until i know it's gonna be useful. I can hardly be arsed with texting, & only really use it when travelling.
It's a great convenience at times though, especially in my line of work, & also mobile phones have at times been instrumental in people's lives.
Everyone's entitled to an opinion, but there are things that i consider far more of a waste of money than owning a mobile. When you consider that some people spend excessive amounts of money on clothing just because it has a certain name or label on it, then that's much more of a waste of money in my book.

[Milky Tears]

I'd find it harder to make pervy calls and take upskirt shots without mine.

[WhiteCrow]

Seeing as I'm having a despute with PhonesFU at the moment, I'm having to do without mine at the moment until we resolve our differences.

Hint to members of PS - avoid PhonesFU like the plague. Their customer services are the stuff of nightmares.

[Trudi G]

I am a textaholic i'm afraid, lol.

[Larry]

although I voted no, I could probably survive with out it but if we had a day when the phones went down at work then I would be in serious trouble but then you would just ask to use a friends. So in work I could get buy with out but out side no I couldn't as a disabled person i'm not able to use public transport so when I go out any where my mobile is my life line to be able to order a taxi or family member to come and pick me up,.

[Matthew T]

I think mobiles have made life better for so many reasons - they make it so much easier to keep in contact with people, via the medium of the text message.

I was talking to a lad the other day who's a bit younger than me, and I mentioned that when I left school (in 1996), that we didn't have mobile phones, or the internet (I know they existed then but they weren't in common usage). Within a month or 2 of leaving, I'd lost touch with all but one of my friends from school! This won't be a problem for him when he leaves in a couple of months, thanks to mobile phones! So thats one way they've made life better.

I suppose I could manage without one if forced, but it's so nice to know you can get in touch with someone in an emergency whenever and wherever you are. That's providing you can get a signal. And you've remembered to charge it.

The age of the video mobile has brought it's curse though, as a video of me, drunk and semi naked has recently made it's way online! It's not there anymore though.