by Jem Smith » 04 Jun 2025, 01:09
Both.
I resisted owning one for a long time because I didn't want to be contactable anywhere. I didn't want to have to stop whatever I was doing to answer the phone, and I find it quite hard to understand what the person on the call is saying if I am out somewhere with a lot of background noise. I preferred it if people called my landline, and I would answer it if I was home and check the messages later if I wasn't. The trouble was my housemates would never answer it nor check or pass on messages.
These days you need a phone for a lot of things, like work. I've had jobs where they give you the work schedule via a phone app, so you have to have a smartphone. At my last job you had to use your phone to clock in via an app. I still don't answer it all the time though. Like if I'm on my way out of the house I won't make myself late to answer it, and if I'm in the middle of something or out somewhere loud whoever it is can leave a message.
So yeah, the bane part- it's intrusive, though you can always turn it off and ignore it. Also scrolling social media and surfing the net with it or playing phone games can be addictive. And people do get distracted by them and ignore others. But then, back in the day I'd have been ignoring people in public a lot of the time anyway by reading a book or listening to music with headphones. It's okay not to want to talk to people all the time.
The good- it's good to have in case of emergency. When I was a child if you were out somewhere and needed a ride home you had to find a landline to call your parents and hope they were there to pick up. Nowadays children (or at least teens) can carry a phone.
Also, some apps are great. I use a fitness app to track my steps and workouts which I find really helpful. There are also self help apps and ones that help you to keep organised.
Both.
I resisted owning one for a long time because I didn't want to be contactable anywhere. I didn't want to have to stop whatever I was doing to answer the phone, and I find it quite hard to understand what the person on the call is saying if I am out somewhere with a lot of background noise. I preferred it if people called my landline, and I would answer it if I was home and check the messages later if I wasn't. The trouble was my housemates would never answer it nor check or pass on messages.
These days you need a phone for a lot of things, like work. I've had jobs where they give you the work schedule via a phone app, so you have to have a smartphone. At my last job you had to use your phone to clock in via an app. I still don't answer it all the time though. Like if I'm on my way out of the house I won't make myself late to answer it, and if I'm in the middle of something or out somewhere loud whoever it is can leave a message.
So yeah, the bane part- it's intrusive, though you can always turn it off and ignore it. Also scrolling social media and surfing the net with it or playing phone games can be addictive. And people do get distracted by them and ignore others. But then, back in the day I'd have been ignoring people in public a lot of the time anyway by reading a book or listening to music with headphones. It's okay not to want to talk to people all the time.
The good- it's good to have in case of emergency. When I was a child if you were out somewhere and needed a ride home you had to find a landline to call your parents and hope they were there to pick up. Nowadays children (or at least teens) can carry a phone.
Also, some apps are great. I use a fitness app to track my steps and workouts which I find really helpful. There are also self help apps and ones that help you to keep organised.
