I'm Not A Luddite, Really I'm Not

Though I know some of my friends in Ukraine thought we were, the way we eschewed getting a cell phone. We "borrowed" a team one during a summer project. I never used it.

But we've made the jump, and now Hubby and I each have cell phones. I figured out how to dial and answer it tonight. Played around a bit so the ring tones are less annoying. At the end of the week, our landline will be disconnected. The costs balance out.

Fiber-optic internet at home; cell phones when we're out. No more dial up or being tied to landlines.

No, not a Luddite.

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though, i don't think there is anything wrong with being a luddite-usually. though i do miss my cell phone. but not really my tv.
Posted by: meggan at August 30, 2006 12:32 AM

well done you ;o)
i cannot get by without my cell phone. great for finding where your friends are at the beach lol.
D17 just got one for his birthday: funny, as i was reading your post, he came out asking about setting up his voice mailbox etc.

i'm more techno-savvy than my teenager.
*kate celebrates three seconds of victory*
Posted by: kate5kiwis at August 30, 2006 01:20 AM

We didn't have a cell phone till we got to Israel. Now I can't imagine living without it! We are meeting a friend at a "kikar" or traffic circle. "well" I said as I finalized the arrangements. "If I can't find it I can call you on the cell"
Yep, it is helpful.
Posted by: Rachel Ann at August 30, 2006 03:37 AM

We've been landline-free for several years! One huge benefit is NO MORE SALES CALLS! Seriously...in three years, they haven't found me yet!

One thing we did, by the way, was to get a third phone to leave at home. It stays in a certain spot in the kitchen, (unless DS11 has wandered off with it) so that if we have a babysitter or are both gone there is a phone at home that could call 911 if needed. This phone shares my minutes on one of those "family plans" so it is pretty cheap, and we still come out better than having a land line plus one cell.
Posted by: chewymom at August 30, 2006 07:25 AM

I have a cell phone, but I never have it on. The only reason I have it is for emergencies. I took it to a homeschooling convention once and left it on, only to have someone phone me in the middle of a lecture. Not embarassing at all, no sir.
Posted by: Kim in ON at August 30, 2006 07:30 AM

yeah!

It's surprising how well the costs do balance out. We'd do it, but the two things prohibiting us, well really the one thing, is lack of 911 service for our area code :(. Though, I hear it's coming (along with a proposal that would make it illegal to not offer 911 service in homes that don't carry phone). The other thing is no Dry DSL lines - if you want broadband you must carry a phone signal as well :(.

Things change though...

--pete
Posted by: Pete at August 30, 2006 11:09 AM

We had a cell phone while in the States and I hated it. Everyone thought we should be available all the time. I think - God gave us times when we need to be unavailable - like driving down the interstate in the middle of Wyoming, enjoying the scenery, talking to each other in the quiet of the car. I treasure my private time, time alone walking, reading, etc. Some people get upset if you don't answer your phone - so sad. My husband has one here - but I refuse. If I had one, it would be turned off all the time - unless I (me, myself and I) wanted to make a call. Sorry guys - that's the way I am. :):) I'll probably have to get one some day - I do not look forward to that day. For now, I'll stick with the land line and answer it when it rings. At least it can't follow me into the car!
Posted by: Columbine at August 30, 2006 12:53 PM

We don't have a cell phone. We don't have a laptop. We don't have highspeed(well, it's a lite version, better than dial-up, but...)
We're not Luddites either.
But our bank account is! :)

P.S. Didn't blog this summer, but now I'm back. How are you? Having trouble accessing Carol's blog. Is that intended? :)
Posted by: Heather at August 30, 2006 02:41 PM

Now I REALLY feel counter-cultural. We don't have CD players in our car[s] (you'd think it was a prereq for being in choir at our church), and only Paul has a cell phone. We DO have high-speed internet, though. And I only miss TV reception during football season.
Posted by: Lenise at August 30, 2006 02:41 PM

Yeah, we have been free of a landline for almost two years now, and we really like it. Leslie and I hate to talk on the phone, so we get in fewer arguments about whose turn it is to answer. Now we have our own phones so there is no question whose turn it is. The only drawback of using cell phones is that we tend to talk to our families a lot less, because we get bad reception at our house. But in a way we don’t mind because, like I said, we hate to talk on the phone.
Posted by: gid at August 30, 2006 08:24 PM

TulipGirl, email me your new number sometime, ok? Or does it cost you extra to RECEIVE long-distance calls??

LOL Heather! I see we are both arriving back to the land of blogdom at the same time! I haven't blogged since mid June. I had planned to wait until September, but felt like it two days early. My blog was down intentionally (it wasn't just you who couldn't access it *grin* - but I WOULD appreciate it if we agreed to disagree on our differences. There are lots of other bloggers out there who love debate.)

I could say the same as you, Heather, "We don't have a cell phone (although Dh has one for work). We don't have a laptop. We don't have highspeed."
Posted by: Carol at August 31, 2006 10:37 AM

If Jennifer and I hadn't gotten a pair of phones with an unlimited hours deal for our calls to each other, I don't know that I would remember who she is anymore. "The woman who lives with me and our loud children," would become her new name.

Though, of course, even with the phones it is challenging since one of us is with them. This isn't only a problem with hearing the other person, but also, when the one with the children has to raise his/her voice to stop some act of violenct to person or property and doesn't take his/her mouth away from the phone, headaches and ear ringing result.
Posted by: Mark Horne at August 31, 2006 03:07 PM

Wow, and I thought we were the last people in the world not to have cell phones...
Posted by: The Mommy Blawger at September 1, 2006 02:24 PM

Fiber Optic?? You are definitely NOT a luddite, although perhaps a little slow on the cell phone uptake. How fast is the fiber?

Scott
Posted by: Scott at September 11, 2006 04:30 PM

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