Mine doesn't get to say Preferred Area Dork, though

[cosmolinguist]

I have a cell phone now. My brother and even my parents have had them for years, and for at least a year my parents have been saying that they should get me one, too, so now that their contract expired a couple weeks ago, they decided to get a different plan with a phone for me. So far it's exciting enough as a high-tech toy that I don't really mind that it's not gone to any real use. It has lots of settings and strange things to play with, so I like it for the moment, even though I don't usually care about talking on the phone very much.

Comments

[tenbaset.livejournal.com]

Talking on a cell phone?

How passé. :-)

[ivana-duboise.livejournal.com]

Yes! She should be taking pictures or playing Arkanoid.

[cosmolinguist]

Actually, I'm fairly sure the phone I have is similar to yours--only, sadly, without the blue epilespsy-inducing lights I like so much. Anyway, this means it does not do stupid things like take pictures. I can download games and "ring tones" and other stuff (not things, not items of use, but just stuff), but that still requires doodads I don't have and an unwillingness to go to any effort for it. :-)

[cosmolinguist]

You geeky boys ...

I actually resisted several more complicated (and thus more expensive) features that I know I won't use--like text messages and ... other things I can't think of at the moment. The only one that interests me is the ability to connect to the Internet, but you get charged for that besides it counting as a phone call, which is just stupid, and I'm pretty sure it's not part of the wireless plan I have, at any rate.

Still, maybe I should shut up about the geekiness of other people if the only feature I want is probably the geekiest one available, eh?

"Hey, if you thought cell phones were actually for, you know, talking to people and otherwise being social, think again! Now you can surf the net even more ubiquitously, and never have any life at all!"

[tenbaset.livejournal.com]

Text messages was what I was thinking of. I seem to use my cellphone to send and recieve txt msg more than talking on it. (Consequently, the feature I want on my next cellphone is predicitve text. :-)

Text messaging has rather common in NZ; mainly because it's singnificantly cheaper than talking. (20c/message vs $1.49 peak per minute on the prepay/pay-as-you-go option that's commonly used by teenagers.)

Yeah... accessing the 'net can be quite expensive via the cellphone. Current theory: The providers don't have the bandwidth to do it cheaply, so they don't want that many people using it. :-)

Cellphones are fun. Annoying, but occasionally incredibly useful.

[cosmolinguist]

The thing is, though, that while many of my friends have cell phones, I don't know of any of them who actually use them for text messages. And while I myself have a well-documented preference for written over spoken communication, I don't mind and I'm sure I won't miss not using something I have never used.

And cell phones are still fun. I've borrowed my dad's on a few occasions, and it's come in handy in innumerable unexpected ways, so I imagine it is nice to have one now.

[tenbaset.livejournal.com]

Txt spk isn't the same as writing on a keyboard, unless you have predictive text. :-) It does get tiring banging out full words on a mere cellphone keypad after a while. But it's very useful if you're in a loud place or something like that.

Methinks the PXT/MMS (various names depending where you are in the world) fad might not go down too well with you then.

But yes, cellphones are inordinatly handy when doing social things and doing the whole, "I'm here, where are you". "What do you mean, where am I? I'm here, where are you?" and that sort of thing. :-)

[ismelljello.livejournal.com]

yeah, its quite a life having no life and surfing the net all day. From checking email when getting the mail to surfing livejournal in the shower.

Sprint vision doesnt use wireless minutes. And if its like the tmobile one the text messaging and downloading ringtones are included. Its more unlimited data than internet. (although unless they changed it morris is like the only tower in the state that cant do the good sprint internet.

[cosmolinguist]

Ah, but I don't have Sprint and I don't have Internet on my phone, so I don't have to worry about it. :-) It's not Tmobile, either, which is a shame because I really like the noise they have at the end of all their commercials, when they say their name.

possible uh oh

[ismelljello.livejournal.com]

Who do you have? Coverage in western minnesota is pitiful. As of last spring if I recall the only ones that covered morris and surrounding areas were sprint, cellular one, and cellular 2000. Make damn sure while you can still break the phone contract.

Re: possible uh oh

[cosmolinguist]

Oh, calm down. I know you're one of those people who just likes to find things to worry about, but really.

I know the phone I have will work about as well as anyone else's because I've used both my friend's and my dad's cell phones there and they have the same provider as I now do.

Re: possible uh oh

[ismelljello.livejournal.com]

I know, I know. Most people don't realize what a post apocalyptic rf wasteland it is west of saint cloud. Trying to cut my sprint contract early was enough of a bitch I figured I'd spare you the (theoretical) trouble.

[cosmolinguist]

Being one of those lucky people who actually know what "rf" stands for and what it is, I am well aware of this. :-) I'm even aware of the evilness of Sprint (outside of those annoying commercials ... not that any other wireless company's commercials aren't annoying) because a friend of mine was happy to get rid of them when his contract was up and my brother actually had minor legal troubles getting back from them what money they owed him.

I don't even have to worry about it; my phone only cost ten dollars as an add-on to my parents' plan, and they're paying the bill. :-) And it's not like I'm going to use the thing that much anyway; I don't talk on the phone.

[ivana-duboise.livejournal.com]

I'm sure that you could find a way to make it say 'Preferred Area Dork' if'n you really wanted to.

You should call me so that I would have your number and I call you at odd hours of the evening on the rare occasions when I get drunk.

[cosmolinguist]

I'm fairly sure I remember your number correctly, so yours is one of the half-dozen or so I have in my phone now. Which means I could indeed call you, and then you'd have my number, and then you could bother me. As long as you don't do it too extensively (the nice thing about this plan is that my parents are paying for it, the bad thing is that we're sharing minutes (a lot of them, but still) and that they get the bill and will see all the people I talk to. :-) So if there are a million calls with you, my mom will probably start to think we're dating again, or something equally ridiculous and bad. But it's a risk I'm willing to take.

[ivana-duboise.livejournal.com]

Oh dear God! Let's not have her think that we're dating. If she ever does I'll have to give you a pair of my underwear so that she can find that when she does laundry. :-D

[cosmolinguist]

She did think that! A long time ago, but ... I think we went to Titan AE soon enough after prom that Mom was getting all suspicious.

There has been a guy's underwear mixed in with my laundry before, but sadly Mom was not around to see that. And it did not imply, as it did with Chris and Rachel, that sex was being had (since it wasn't). So, I think it'd be fun to freak my mom out a little bit! :-) And hey, if I have to give you a bra ...