Can You Resist The Lure Of The Mobile Phone?
from the temptation... dept
Robert J. Samuelson, writing for Newsweek, explains why he’ll never get a mobile phone. He lists out most of the mobile phone annoyances we all know about already (being interrupted at the wrong time, private conversations being made public, always being accessible, etc.) while still admitting that phones are useful in certain circumstances. He pretty much ignores the more innovative ways that mobile phones have changed lives (such as by saving them) or how people act (such as making it possible for groups to gather in a much more ad hoc manner) which is normal for those who simply assume that a mobile phone is just like a phone, but mobile. However, in the end, he’s basically taking a stand against the tide. While it’s great for him if he can keep it up, it really doesn’t impact anyone else (unless they’re trying to reach him). I have nothing against anyone who chooses not to buy a mobile phone if they don’t think it’s necessary. However, to think that it’s somehow noble to stand there and declare publicly that you have no need for the technology just looks silly. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it.
Comments on “Can You Resist The Lure Of The Mobile Phone?”
Mobile Phone radiation
I am one of the few not wanting any mobile phone, but the reason is a bit different. I am sensitive to the Electromagnetic radiation of mobile phones. This means, i can feel trembling, tension, stress, while holding a mobile phone, or being near to any antenna. Also I feel less of my own emotions, and my thinking is less intuitive.
This doesn’t mean that I am special, it is only because I am used to be much more relaxed, and being more intuitive. I see the same happening to people using these things a lot, like managers or people watching television all day, but they are usually stressed and not intuitive anway. So there is hardly any change for these people.
Because I have studied electromagnetism during my electrotechnics course on the university, I have learned some things about these radio-waves. These radio-waves do influence our cells, not by breaking any chemical bounds, but by stressing the chemical reactions that happen continuously in active cells. And by influencing tresholdvalues in the brain-cells.
This means that only cells that are active and sensitive will be influenced. The cells will be “stressed” if theire chemical reactions are pushed or influenced in some way. Sometimes cells can react because of a single molecule. These cells can be found in the brain, in the skin (“sensors”) in the immunity system. This exactly explains my problems.
The official words from the safety institutes is different: “there is no effect, because the heating caused by the radiotion is neglectable.”
This is partly true, there is no heating effect, but there are other effects which are completely neglected. While technology is able to make antenna’s smaller, and brain researchers find circular circuits in the brain that may act like antenna’s, most institutes and researchers in this direction are able to stay with the heating effect.
It’s like saying: “it’s safe to smoke sigarettes, because you can still breath air, and will therefore not sufficate.”
Greetings, Dirk
I fought it for years
But having recently purchased a car, it was deemed somewhat essential in case of accident or breakdown (or simply being stuck in traffic and late for an appointment).
What put it over the top finally was when I went with my fiancee to replace her phone and they offered us that deal where any calls to cellphones from the same company would be free, so I bought the bare bones package.
However since I still have to wear my pager for work, I refuse to give out the number to anyone from work and only to a select few friends.
Who is the phone for?
Is the phone for you, or for everyone else? I bought a phone last year, but my position is that the phone is for my convenience, not anyone else’s. It’s listed on my vCard, but it’s usually set on “silent”, and frequently just turned off. If a call is coming in, and it’s inconvenient for me to answer it, I have a “Decline” button that’s very useful. If the caller can’t get through, they can always send me a text message or leave a voice mail.
My position is that a mobile phone is only as annoying as you allow it to be. For me, there are huge safety/emergency benefits to having a cell phone with me. For everyone else, me having a cell phone gives them the possibility that I’ll be more accessible than I used to be when I was out: not at all.
For the person that seems to experience side-effects from cell phone use, I might suggest a prescription for 50mg of placebo like Sucrosa (see your doctor), and perhaps a wired hands-free headset. RF radiation decreases dramatically with distance, so keeping it by your hip instead of by the side of your head while talking will reduce your exposure to a tiny fraction of what you’d get otherwise.
Self Righteous Blabber
Mike you have my total agreement on this one. I live and die by my cell phone because my boyfriend is currently 800 miles away on business and my parents are 500 miles away. Plain and simple, it’s cheaper for me and mroe convenient. However, I have no opinion one way or the other if everyone should have a cell phone. However, this guy is self-righteous and a bit unbalanced. Look at this: “But I vow to resist just as I’ve resisted ATM cards, laptops and digital cameras.” Come on. It has nothing to do with him taking a stand against cell phones. It has to do with him hating technology.
Luddite
that’s pronounced ‘paranoid anti-technology weirdo’