One old fashion cellphone, please.
Do you remember the first ads for cellphones? In the US they were selling the idea that cellphones liberate you, while in Israel they were more honest with the slogan “…make a lost hour to a working hour”. They use to show people to be pretending to be at work while actually being on the beach having good time. As it turns out cellphones were the opposite of liberating and the reality is that most often people on vacation keep working while on the beach when they should have fun.
I wonder what people use to do on the train before the cellphones arrived with all the applications and e-mails and calls. It is pretty rare to see people reading books on the train nowadays. On the other hand I’m very impressed with how important so many people are, as it seems that their workplace simply cannot survive without their immediate response to e-mails. People seems to be unable to make the distinction between the ability to do something immediately, and the need to do it.
It is probably one of the clearest signs that I’m getting old, but I don’t understand why people find it beneficial to subject their time and priorities to someone else? I don’t understand what is the great achievement by checking your e-mail while inline in the coffee shop, on the train or during the intermission in theater.
I’m not a luddite, I don’t thing that technology advancement is bad. I can go here over a long list of technologies that improved our life. I also like cellphones, really. I like the idea that I can make phone calls whenever I want. However, I don’t like the idea of subjecting my schedule to someone else priorities, and therefore when I’m not calling my cellphone is usually turned off. I’m lucky enough not to have cellphone from work, mostly because I clarified that I have no intention of keeping it turned on after office hours.
I love watching TV, sometimes. I love listening to music on my Ipod, sometimes. I love using the internet, sometimes. I also love spending time with my family, I love to read books, I love to travel and being with friends, and many other things. I don’t like the idea of being enslaved for technology that should serve me and I certainly don’t like the idea that it is appropriate to expect from me to keep working after office hours, or while I’m on vacation, simply because some technology enable it.
And why do I tell you all this? because it seems that I’m not alone and that there is a market for cellphone that being marketed as Anti Iphone. And while I’m not anti Iphone I do love the fact that someone is going to make money from selling me a $10 cellphone that is only for making phone calls.
Tags: Cellphones, Iphone, Privacy, The Free MarketRelated posts