Well, there I am...smack dab on the front of the Technology section of the New York Times site today. A few days ago I was interviewed by Times reporter Claire Miller about my cell phone-free lifestyle, a choice that began due to budgetary necessity and in time morphed into a norm in my life. Only in America can you find yourself famed for living without luxuries...
A Life Without Certain Technologies
(Image: Phones by Lisa Walker)
I want to first acknowledge there are indeed people whose careers revolve around the necessity for constant communication and where a cell phone is integral. In my case, this is true also, but the modes by which I can be reached have migrated completely online (since we cut out land line also). Luddite, I am not, but someone whose purchasing habits are dictated by a realistic budget and also a system of measuring necessity vs. cost. In my case, a cell phone would be a hardly used technology, thanks to IM, email, social networking and Skype. I know, because I've owned several cell phones before.
What's a little unfortunate about the article is the picture it paints people who choose to do without certain technologies in their lives as "smug" or backwards. My own quote about the luxury of not being able to be reached subtracted the context of which the point was mentioned; I prefer not to carry anything disruptive or intrusive while hiking on the weekends, at a museum or enjoying a movie. Who does? Even if your phone is off or on vibrate, it's there, and one will likely check it occasionally, if not regularly. It also happens to be an expensive monthly cost, and in these economic times, it's prudent to weigh cost vs. utility.
When I inform someone I do not own a cell phone, there are two typical responses, both preluded by a moment of surprise. Most seem to find the premise amusing, occasionally followed by a, "Wow, I wish I could do that...that sounds great!". But there's also the flip side: a desire to mock, as if I've told the person I commute to work on a penny farthing on the freeway. In either case, the idea of living without integrated, always-available communication has become as foreign as someone living without an internet connection.
Although Unplggd is a home tech site, we've always wanted to communicate that technologies we bring into our lives should always be beneficial and specific to our needs; cell phones for most of us have become synonymous with a new world necessity, but I've personally found I've gotten well off enough without it integrated into my lifestyle. But we all make decisions about what is and is not important in our lives...which luxuries we keep and others we edit out. As a former first-adopting junkie, perhaps the luster of once owning the first color screen or the first slider phone was enough to satiate the thrill of being amongst the 85% in the United States. Or maybe it's just because I sit here all day and look at press releases of tens of home electronics each day that the consumer need fades (I still want a new GPS unit!).
An interesting fact we've learned about ourselves as we've edited our lifestyle is we're generally happier with less in our household. We didn't die when we cut DSS service. We haven't had any drama since canceling our land line. Our friends didn't ostracize us once we sold all our gaming consoles. The technologies I've kept in my life are truly beloved and important to my specific interests: our projection screen setup, our two laptops, our digital cameras that help record our adventures in and out of the home. So perhaps the lesson out of all of this is a reminder that it's not more technology that improves our lives, but better technologies which complement our needs and lifestyles.
Refusenik? More like a Larry David "ehhh" and shrug.
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so you don't have a land line or a cell phone? i could see one and not the other, but not having both seems odd. i understand we have email/IM/etc to communicate, but hearing someone's voice is completely different. if anything, i would rather not communicate via email/SMS and actually TALK to someone. Taking away the actual talking aspect unless face to face seems way too impersonal (especially with friends/family that live far away or older people who don't utilize those technologies). In that regard, it's like your shutting yourself off and excluding those people.
but hey, it's not my life.
Cheers,
Matt
view Matt. M's profile
well the good thing about the internet and computers is that they come with microphones, and you can easily talk over the web just as a phone. i have been considering getting rid of our cell phones for some time now as well. i could definately use the extra $120 a month to pay down debt and put into my savings. when i suggest it, i get crazy looks as well. i love gadgets, but the cell phone is getting to be one i definately could live without.
view ladymelody's profile
Matt,
In his defense he did say that he has Skype which can function pretty much like a land line phone...Outside of the free functionalities of skype, one can opt to purchase a subscription and/or skype credits that allows the program to call other cellphones and landline phones. I personally use skype in this very manner because my terrace level apartment gets horrible cell phone reception. So the author isn't totally isolating himself from the world as the article would lead one to believe.
view fishgrease's profile
If you live in an urban center like New York, getting away with not owning a cell phone could work. I wouldn't want to try it, but I can see how one can live without it. In car-dependent California, I wouldn't be without my cell. I've had to call for help a few times and would not be without one for that reason alone.
view Sydney's profile
@Matt As Gregory's live-in partner, I can attest that he is on the phone quite a bit. Our Skype handset operates just like a regular phone. Gregory also video chats with his computer-savvy mom!
view Emily Ho's profile
Matt: I talk to plenty of people, just in person and via a Skype line, which as fishgrease notes, is just like a landline (I subscribe with my own personalized phone number that anyone can call). I'm known as pretty gregarious and social person...just one that doesn't care nor really can warrant owning a cell. And to be honest, most of my friends prefer IMing over phone calls; even my 65 year old mom uses iChat to say hello. I have a couple friends who prefer the old fashioned phone call, and in that case, we talk on the line just like anyone else. It's not the hermit-like life you're concerned I'm living :)
view gregory's profile
Sydney: I live in the very same car-dependent LA as you do, but I'm fortunate to work from home (another reason the cell isn't a requirement) so I've been able to avoid commutes. In the past when I did subscribe to cell service, I ran into car issues and having a cell came in handy. But I've also run into car issues without a cell phone and got by with just talking to people and getting help the old fashioned way. One adapts, and we often forget that we're capable of living without certain things quite fine. I'm not telling anyone to ditch their cell phones...if it makes you happy, feel safer, aid your personal and professional life, that is what matters. But until I can justify/afford it or my work requires it, I'll likely be happily living life without one.
view gregory's profile
Hmmm, don't think i could live without my cellphone, at least per se. I don't need the phone part, but i do need a way to communicate. Honestly if i could have my choice, i'd take a camera with a slide up view screen that reveals a full keyboard, and a wireless connection ala Amazon's Kindle. That way i could caption the pictures i share or text people.
view Javarod's profile
Hey Gregory, I liked this article. I think you're right. We barely use our landline in Taiwan. My wife and I have got cell phones, but we barely use them. Most of the time, to receive SMS. Even so, my phone is on vibrate 100% of the time and I forget it at home. It's no issue.
I used to work in finance in Montreal, Canada, and I had my cell phone glued to my ear to talk with my employees. It wasn't uncommon that I had $400 monthly cell phone bills.
Cutting away superfluous technology is a great way of simplifying your life. We don't have a TV nor any cable. We do have a high speed internet connection. Our living room was partly converted to a home office to make space for both of use while we work.
When I leave town or go on bike rides and/or training, I never take my cell phone with me. In fact, I have to remember to switch it on if I know that I'm about to receive a call. Most of the time, the cell phone is used to receive SMS for teaching jobs. I use pay-as-you-go and I spend about $30 a year on my cell. That's about it.
Any, congrats on being featured in the NYT.
view range's profile
That's it. If I get featured on Time magazine or Wired one day (very far from now), I will make you guys feature me too! ;)
view anthonyn's profile
Cool discussion. I would love to read more about people who choose to simplify their lives and what technology they kept vs. what they got rid of, etc. It would make a rather interesting feature I think.
view sauceykat's profile
Having never had a cellphone I might be dismissed for commenting on the topic. I did have to take home a cell phone that belonged to my employer every other weekend. I left it in my gym bag and never turned it on. My employer knew my home phone number and my home phone never rang beckoning me. It seemed ridiculous to me. I wasn't being paid extra to be instantly available. This was before the cell phone was a growth attached to the masses.
I applaud someone who can disconnect from being 24/7 available to the world. It is important to recognize that a telephone is for owner's convenience not to make you rush to it when someone at the other end makes it ring.
I like technology that adds to me life, portable music via an iPod, television (although less and less), and access to the internet for information and communication.
view apartmenttherapy47's profile