OP
I thought I was bad...
- Thread starter Zorba
- Start date
Same. All notifications are turned off except for calls & texts and the phones rarely make it past the front hallway. They have their own little area where they can be used.
I leave my work phone in my company truck on weekends and it blows me away how many texts and calls that I gladly miss.
. My mother-in-law calls me all the time on my personal phone to tell me my wife isn’t answering her phone…noted
My phone is both work and personal. Zero SM on it and only emails are from work. I've had the same number since 98 so it's ingrained. I set limits with my employer and coworkers on when I will answer. Boss got a bit pissed at first but learned quickly that it's better to be on my good side. It's a tool, not a toy.
My coworkers and grand kids, though, sheesh. I've started to refuse to go to breakfast or lunch meetings with my boss and coworkers because I'm the only one without a phone in my hand. I'd run my boss to the airport because he'd want to discuss something in private with me and that ended when he'd get a call that would last the entire trip.
Of my 4 grandkids, only one has not succumbed to the evil.
My coworkers and grand kids, though, sheesh. I've started to refuse to go to breakfast or lunch meetings with my boss and coworkers because I'm the only one without a phone in my hand. I'd run my boss to the airport because he'd want to discuss something in private with me and that ended when he'd get a call that would last the entire trip.
Of my 4 grandkids, only one has not succumbed to the evil.
OP
Before my retirement, I'd gladly answer emails on off hours "when I got to it" which means I'd have to be home and on my computer to do so. Otherwise, my stance was "110% at work, 00% when not". "8 hours work for 8 hours pay, and the relationship ends there." Nobody was expected to do anything for work when they weren't there - unless they were in a position that necessitated a certain amount of on-call - and they were PAID for being so.
I didn't mind answering emails when I was on the computer anyway (and there weren't that many of them), but no way in HELL would I ever consider doing so "on the go" (as the saying is), much less using a crippled smartphone to do it with.
Employers are, rightfully, complaining about the lack of workers and their dedication/quality. That's fine - BUT - this trend of employers owning you 24/7/365 is bullshit. I'm not obligated to do a damn thing on off hours, and if I want to go get drunk off my ass and post it on "Social Media" (I don't!), that's MY business not the company's as long as I don't do it on their time, premises, wearing their livery, or mentioning them in any way. Much less carry a fucking smartphone for their benefit or answering phone calls/emails when I'm off work. FUCK THAT.
Interestingly, I had a chat with my ex-boss a couple of weeks ago. They are being pressured by their insurance company to utilize 2FA (2nd Factor Authentication) for logins from off site via the company VPN. The usual way of doing so is to use either a smartphone "APP" or texting. A small, but significant number of employees don't have smartphones, and a couple or three don't have or do texting (such as me to this day). People are used to logging in via computer - the kinds of things they log in for certainly can't be done easily - if at all - with a smartphone. But another option they're considering is one of the many hardware token type devices. I told him that if I were still there, that would be a workable solution for me, and that the hardware tokens were fantastic for what they do.
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Wish I could do that.
I am not on-call by the true sense of the words, but one differentiator between me and my competition is being available to clients should they need me.
I'll check in once a day just to be sure nothing is imploding. I set the expectation with clients that I will return their call by the end of the next business day unless it is an emergency, in which case I will call as soon as possible. I trust them to decide whether it is an emergency. They do a decent job of that...
OP
That's the downside of any kind of owning a business, some worse than others. Which is why I was completely content to be a worker bee. When I walk out of the mine, the day's OVER!
You ain’t wrong. I stopped even trying to keep up. I currently have just under 23k UNREAD emails.
OP
I sure wouldn't want to attempt to do anything about those emails on anything less than a computer with a HUGE screen. But procmail is your friend - and so is /dev/null !
OP
Here is another rant similar to the one I posted in the first post. Can't say the guy is wrong...
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I know I might be coming off as an 80-year-old grandpa, but screw it, you all need to be told the truth.
SMARTPHONES ARE TERRIBLE.
Oh, and before you make the argument, “Oh Mark you own one too, don’t be a baby,” let me make one thing clear: I don’t own a smartphone in any capacity.
I own a Cosmo phone with a sliding keyboard. It looks so much better than that tacky piece of garbage you are using. They always have, and always will.
They were cute at first, with their Wi-Fi and their apps, but they are also the lamest looking piece of tech on the market. Don’t lie to me on this one, you’re probably reading this on one of those contraptions right now.
If so, I hope you drop it.
That way you’ll see the first problem with these stupid things: the touchscreen. Now I come from a gaming based background, so I have a bit of a different feel for touch screens than most people.
We got them on the old Nintendo DS, and after a few games, the community was lukewarm to the mechanic. Sure, if you’re an artist then the touch screen is the greatest thing in the world since sliced bread, but if your apart of the population that likes having a life than you don’t get much out of it. Anything the screen can do can easily be done with a button.
So, most games now at days don’t use the touch screen, at least outside of mobile gaming. Even then it’s more about the need and less about desire.
But the non-gamers, you godless pagans, are still in love with the stupid concept. You ignore the fact that if that screen gets so much as a scratch on it your ability to use the phone goes out the window, along with your money. And let’s not forget that cracked screen look, oh how it looks so stupid.
Furthermore, touch screen keyboards are always a pain to handle, I click one thing and it enters the thing right next to it. And no, I shouldn’t need to calibrate the screen because buttons are just better. Click and done — that’s it.
Swiping is for those of us who enjoy gimmicks.
And FYI — if you need a special separate protector case that wasn’t built into the product, your being scammed. We all know they could have built the case into the phone but didn’t because of profits.
Speaking of profits, my god. If you can afford to replace your phone every year, f–k you.
Like on principle, f–k you.
Especially if you’re one of those “the environment” types, because I got news for you, buddy. That phone is a bigger piece of waste than my garbage can.
When did tech become so disposable? The answer when Apple wanted more money. They don’t really do much with the new phones, in fact, they take stuff away. We didn’t need to get rid of the headphone jack, you just wanted to charge more for your brain-dead replacement that’s somehow worse than the original product.
Oh and all you “humanitarians” out there? Go look up a country called China and their factories, I guarantee your rose gold (such a dumb color) won’t look so golden anymore.
I will never buy a smartphone on the grounds that they are just as greedy as Wall Street. Why liberals like them, I don’t know. Maybe its hypocrisy, maybe its hipster life at work. Or they are just stupid.
I mean their sense of style is down the gutter. It’s a rectangle people, nothing cool about it. No number of pallet swaps will change that fact. I can’t get myself hyped up for a rectangle for ten years in a row. Seriously ten years and no one thought of a different look.
Your lack of creativity seriously disturbs me.
Seriously, every smartphone company can go burn, I don’t need them and neither do you. The fact that you act as you do shows you have a problem.
I guarantee the fastest way to kill a man now at days is to take away his smartphone for two hours, he’ll throw himself out the window at some point.
Because Twitter and Facebook are so important.
Smartphones have made all of you wimps.
And that’s fine, you can continue to tear away at your social skills.
I hope you’re happy with your empty wallets and lack of style.
I’ll just sit over here with my regular, cheap, phone. I’ll have it for years and maximize.
UPDATE: My beloved slide phone was destroyed and I have since been forced by my family and loved ones into getting a smartphone. It has crippled my productivity, sucks up data and is a general detriment to my life. I hate it and resent it. I will always stand by what I said in this column despite now being forced to own one.
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Of course, I don't see why he felt he was "forced" to get a smartphone, they still make dumbphones...
———————————————————————-
I know I might be coming off as an 80-year-old grandpa, but screw it, you all need to be told the truth.
SMARTPHONES ARE TERRIBLE.
Oh, and before you make the argument, “Oh Mark you own one too, don’t be a baby,” let me make one thing clear: I don’t own a smartphone in any capacity.
I own a Cosmo phone with a sliding keyboard. It looks so much better than that tacky piece of garbage you are using. They always have, and always will.
They were cute at first, with their Wi-Fi and their apps, but they are also the lamest looking piece of tech on the market. Don’t lie to me on this one, you’re probably reading this on one of those contraptions right now.
If so, I hope you drop it.
That way you’ll see the first problem with these stupid things: the touchscreen. Now I come from a gaming based background, so I have a bit of a different feel for touch screens than most people.
We got them on the old Nintendo DS, and after a few games, the community was lukewarm to the mechanic. Sure, if you’re an artist then the touch screen is the greatest thing in the world since sliced bread, but if your apart of the population that likes having a life than you don’t get much out of it. Anything the screen can do can easily be done with a button.
So, most games now at days don’t use the touch screen, at least outside of mobile gaming. Even then it’s more about the need and less about desire.
But the non-gamers, you godless pagans, are still in love with the stupid concept. You ignore the fact that if that screen gets so much as a scratch on it your ability to use the phone goes out the window, along with your money. And let’s not forget that cracked screen look, oh how it looks so stupid.
Furthermore, touch screen keyboards are always a pain to handle, I click one thing and it enters the thing right next to it. And no, I shouldn’t need to calibrate the screen because buttons are just better. Click and done — that’s it.
Swiping is for those of us who enjoy gimmicks.
And FYI — if you need a special separate protector case that wasn’t built into the product, your being scammed. We all know they could have built the case into the phone but didn’t because of profits.
Speaking of profits, my god. If you can afford to replace your phone every year, f–k you.
Like on principle, f–k you.
Especially if you’re one of those “the environment” types, because I got news for you, buddy. That phone is a bigger piece of waste than my garbage can.
When did tech become so disposable? The answer when Apple wanted more money. They don’t really do much with the new phones, in fact, they take stuff away. We didn’t need to get rid of the headphone jack, you just wanted to charge more for your brain-dead replacement that’s somehow worse than the original product.
Oh and all you “humanitarians” out there? Go look up a country called China and their factories, I guarantee your rose gold (such a dumb color) won’t look so golden anymore.
I will never buy a smartphone on the grounds that they are just as greedy as Wall Street. Why liberals like them, I don’t know. Maybe its hypocrisy, maybe its hipster life at work. Or they are just stupid.
I mean their sense of style is down the gutter. It’s a rectangle people, nothing cool about it. No number of pallet swaps will change that fact. I can’t get myself hyped up for a rectangle for ten years in a row. Seriously ten years and no one thought of a different look.
Your lack of creativity seriously disturbs me.
Seriously, every smartphone company can go burn, I don’t need them and neither do you. The fact that you act as you do shows you have a problem.
I guarantee the fastest way to kill a man now at days is to take away his smartphone for two hours, he’ll throw himself out the window at some point.
Because Twitter and Facebook are so important.
Smartphones have made all of you wimps.
And that’s fine, you can continue to tear away at your social skills.
I hope you’re happy with your empty wallets and lack of style.
I’ll just sit over here with my regular, cheap, phone. I’ll have it for years and maximize.
UPDATE: My beloved slide phone was destroyed and I have since been forced by my family and loved ones into getting a smartphone. It has crippled my productivity, sucks up data and is a general detriment to my life. I hate it and resent it. I will always stand by what I said in this column despite now being forced to own one.
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Of course, I don't see why he felt he was "forced" to get a smartphone, they still make dumbphones...
nathanotis
TJ Enthusiast
Ran across the following just now. And I thought I was bad! Wow. Can't disagree though - guess I need to up my game!
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No, I think this is about where I land, too.
This is my new favorite descriptive phrase.
OP
There's a discussion on the topic of smartphones and driving in another thread going on right now - and boy are people taking exception to my thought that maybe they shouldn't be on the phone while driving. I sure don't "get" this slavish devotion to smartphones. They're horrid in most respects, terribly inconvenient to use vis-a-vis whatever particular device they're replacing (See "Jack of all trades, master of none"), plus they're horribly expensive. Yet people act like they were born with them grafted into their brains and cannot function without them. The TelCos have the greatest scam in the history of the planet going, and about 85% of Americans buy into it, hook line and sinker. Whatever...
OP
And yet another, that I could have written myself except its far more succinct than anything I could write. He, like I was, is an IT guy and thus "knows better":
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I'm an IT guy and I can't stand smartphones. The entire concept to me is stupid and evil. All I want is a reliable phone with long battery life to make and receive calls. That's it. The rest is candy for addicts. Good luck with your smart phone calling an ambulance when you are in an accident covered in blood hanging upside down in your car.
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"The rest is candy for addicts." Indeed.
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I'm an IT guy and I can't stand smartphones. The entire concept to me is stupid and evil. All I want is a reliable phone with long battery life to make and receive calls. That's it. The rest is candy for addicts. Good luck with your smart phone calling an ambulance when you are in an accident covered in blood hanging upside down in your car.
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"The rest is candy for addicts." Indeed.
I guess his Jitterbug will be calling an ambulance when he is in an accident covered in blood hanging upside down in his car.
But the keys are bigger on the jitterbug.I guess his Jitterbug will be calling an ambulance when he is in an accident covered in blood hanging upside down in his car.
OP
OP
It depends on what your definition of "is" is. I do not consider this "social media", but an online forum which is a successor to both usenet and the old dialup RCP/Ms and other BBSes.