Cell Phonery

[Alexisonfire]

Arguably the most widespread technology of our generation, they nearly outnumber people on college campuses, are becoming essential for social interaction in High Schools, and are even found in elementary schools, which is quite odd. Cell phones are nearly everywhere today. Even my grandmother got one a few weeks back.

And all this happened in what seemed like an instant. When my brother graduated from high school, less than seven years ago, a cell phone was something that a few people had here and there, but mainly for emergency purposes. It was again like this when I started High School (We start in Grade 8 where I live, no middle school), but in the past years, with the rise of text messaging, it has become a sort of epidemic, something everyone has. Now, we're talking about a small city in Saskatchewan here, so I'm sure it happened much quicker in other, larger places of the world.

I got mine a simple hand me down to keep in touch with my friends in different schools. It's a basic Samsung A660, so no camera or other cool functions. I do have PacMan on it though, so that is sweet. And I've been trying to hunt down a few other games that it can support, but I find cell phones to be the absolute worst thing to play games on; even worse than an iPod.

Considering how much I love video games, my ringtones are all Midi (my phone doesn't support anything else) from several games: Felix's Battle theme from Golden Sun is my call ringtone, the battle theme from Final Fantasy 4 is my call tone for friends, the Boss battle from Super Mario RPG is my text tone (The Fire Emblem theme from Melee used to be it), and Ken's Theme from Street Fighter II is my Alarm. If you want to check out where I got them, look no further. But no, they don't have the codec from Metal Gear Solid. I looked. 

So this is a discussion about cell phones in general:  what you have, what features it has, what your ringtones are, what you want, or what is cool/stupid/weird about the technology.

[Revan/anakinjmt]

I have a Sanyo SCP-3100.



That's like exactly what my phone looks like, color and all.

My power-up sound is the digits from each opening episode of 24. My power-down sound is the 24 clock ticking at the beginning of each commercial break.

My generic ringer is the CTU ringer (you know the one, the call-is-within-CTU ringer). I also have the call-is-from-the-outside CTU ringer.

When my dad calls, it's the Back to the Future theme. When my mom calls, it's American Dream by Casting Crowns. When my girlfriend calls, it's Johnny B. Goode from BTTF. When my brother-in-law calls, it's the Knight Rider theme song.

Finally, the wallpaper for my phone is this:

[stinkoman k]

I have an old one that I almost only use to call/be called by my parents.

I suddenly have a strong urge to find a codec ringtone and put up signs claiming that people can get free money by calling my number. That way all my friends can be like "your ring tone is the best on earth. I'd like to introduce you to my hot cousin"

[FreeViarga3524]

Words

I'm new to this whole "technology" thing. How exactly do you go about getting these files on to your cellular telephone?

[Alexisonfire]

I use this site I found that allows you to temporarily upload various pictures, games, and ringtones. You can then use your cell phone's web browser (if it has one) to download the tones/pic/whatever to your phone.

Other people I know just use bluetooth or a USB cable. My phone unfortunately supports neither.

[Burled Holiday Cabbage]

Lemme just... get over the thread name here for a second...

Ok, so, I've never had a cell phone. I've never needed a cell phone. If I need to talk to someone, they're usually contactable through AIM. If I need to talk to someone who doesn't have aim, I would probably call them at their "house" phone. Remember those? $50 a month is a complete waste for me. I have better things to spend my money on. (Galaxy in 1 month, woo!)

Not to mention my school is very anti-cell phone. Some of my teachers take 5 points off a test for every ring that goes off while taking the test. So unless you're quick with that off button, it's better to just not have one.

You see the girl next to you pretending to read with a cell phone behind the book. Teacher goes, "Chloe are you texting?" and she just puts the phone in her lap and says, "lol, no!" and of course the phone gets taken away. It's hilarious for others, but not for you.

The thing about cell phones is that you can't slam them when talking to someone. Like on a house phone, "You can't talk to me like that!!" *SLAM* goes the receiver. But on a cell phone, "You can't talk to me like that!!" *beep*..... I sure showed them!

Until calling is free (like, free free), then I don't think I'll get a phone for quite some time.

[FreeViarga3524]

Yes, but if you are not at your house, then you cannot AIM them or call them on their "house" phone.

[Alexisonfire]

I know this may be shocking for some, but I do not use my cell at school. Let that settle in...

The only times I do have it at school are when I need it at lunch/spare or after school. During those situations, I take the battery out and put it in my backpack for the day.

Most of my friends aren't on the computer constantly, so AIM/MSN/Skype is only on rare occasions. Most of my friends aren't even at home most of the time, so I calling them up is easier said than done. Its much easier to text/call one of my friends than calling several different places to no avail.

I pay $10/month for limited texting, web browsing, voicemail, and about 200 minutes/month. So I don't find the cost for the benefits to be that unreasonable.

But I do agree that it is incredibly funny at how idiotic people are when it comes to cell phone usage. I remember one of my teachers last year never caught anyone, even if it started to ring. Or, at least, everyone thought. Turns out that he knew every single time you took your cell out and throughout the entire semester he tallied all of the cell phone usage. And when finals rolled around, a lot of people paid for it in their marks.

[Depressio]

My generic ringer is the CTU ringer (you know the one, the call-is-within-CTU ringer)

You stole my ringtone, anakin! For real though...I use it as my ringtone too. It's interesting enough but it still actually sounds like a phone is ringing.

I only use my cell phone for incoming calls. Like AoF has said, this phenomenon seems to have sprung out overnight, and suddenly everybody wants to communicate through cell phones. I live in a house with a lot of people, so when people want to get a hold of me directly, that's what the phone is for. I also use it as an alarm clock. Being an Arrested Development fan, I generally wake up to a MIDI version of "The Final Countdown".

And yes, I also want the Codec ringtone.

[Elina]

My cellular telephone is a Moterola from Verizon. I very badly want an iPhone, or a Sidekick. Also, would love to have text messaging. Don't have that right now, too expensive for the rents. Also would be useful to have not family plan, as I am required to share mins. My ringtone right now, isn't tonal at all. It's the sound of Kevin Jonas Laughing.

[Revan/anakinjmt]

Lemme just... get over the thread name here for a second...

Ok, so, I've never had a cell phone. I've never needed a cell phone. If I need to talk to someone, they're usually contactable through AIM. If I need to talk to someone who doesn't have aim, I would probably call them at their "house" phone. Remember those? $50 a month is a complete waste for me. I have better things to spend my money on. (Galaxy in 1 month, woo!)

Like Sneak said, if they're not online or at home, or if you're in transit to somewhere, you can't AIM them or call them on their "house" phone (whatever "house" phone is. I know what a house phone is). $50 a month? Your parents must have a bad plan if that's what you think it costs. I myself only have $15, and even that is being paid right now by my parents because I'm in school.

Not to mention my school is very anti-cell phone. Some of my teachers take 5 points off a test for every ring that goes off while taking the test. So unless you're quick with that off button, it's better to just not have one.

You could put it on vibrate, silence it, or have it off. I silence my phone while in class. 'Course, then my problem is remembering to unsilence it when I'm done.

You see the girl next to you pretending to read with a cell phone behind the book. Teacher goes, "Chloe are you texting?" and she just puts the phone in her lap and says, "lol, no!" and of course the phone gets taken away. It's hilarious for others, but not for you.

The thing about cell phones is that you can't slam them when talking to someone. Like on a house phone, "You can't talk to me like that!!" *SLAM* goes the receiver. But on a cell phone, "You can't talk to me like that!!" *beep*..... I sure showed them!

I personally don't do that, as I consider that rude. I've WANTED to do that, but I don't, so that's a non-issue.

Until calling is free (like, free free), then I don't think I'll get a phone for quite some time.

I don't know what you mean by "free free", but it always costs something to call. You may just not be the one paying it, and if you are, it just doesn't have to be expensive.

The funny thing is, today of all days, I forget to silence my phone, and it goes off during class. 

[potthole]

I have a Samsung SCH-A930.



It has the ability to be a .mp3 player, but because I didn't feel like paying more money to Verizon than I already am, I haven't ever used it for that.  I decided I'd rather use my iPod, seeing as it works perfectly fine.  I do enjoy the camera in it, though.  It proves to be handy from time to time.

I got this phone last year, actually probably just about a year ago exactly.  They tried to sell me all sorts of other crap I didn't need, like texting plans, but I did the math and I'll save money not getting a texting plan.  I don't send/recieve enough of them to recoup the money spent on a plan.

This phone gets the job done.  I'm sure if I went and used all the extra features on it, it would be pretty awesome, but I mainly want my phone to make phonecalls- nothing more, nothing less.

[Sonic the Werewolf.]

My phone:


I hate it.

The biggest reason I hate it is because the battery life is ghastly. One half-hour phone call will almost completely drain it.
And when the battery is about to die, it makes a horrendous "BEE-OOP!" noise every few minutes.

Other minor things that bug me is that you MUST buy ringtones and pictures for wallpapers Verizon's "Get It Now" service. It locks out Bluetooth and pretty much any other way to download stuff onto the phone.
And the interface is prone to being incredibly slow and locking up. I remember once it took me twenty minutes to open the download service, buy the ringtone, and exit. And during that long, tedious time, the battery died. ARGH. Oh, and free nights and weekends starts at 9 PM..and I rarely make calls after 9.

I'm not a big cell phone user, actually. It's mainly for 'emergencies' (which, to my mom is forgetting to water the plants). I have Tetris on the phone, which is a lifesaver when I'm bored. I'd buy more games, but I'm going to get rid of this thing as soon as I can, and the games don't carry over to new phones. I can say one good thing about the phone: the picture/video quality is pretty good. Most of my wallpapers are taken with the camera off the TV screen while I'm watching Frisky Dingo.
Current wallpaper: Hooper and the Decepticles looking into the Annilanatrix's core.

Finally, I'm a ringtone fanatic. I have ten, two of which I got for free. I know it's a ripoff ($3 each, or Value packs, which is 4 tones for $10), but I collect them obsessively.
Good thing they carry over when I get rid of this piece of junk.

[Burled Holiday Cabbage]

The funny thing is, today of all days, I forget to silence my phone, and it goes off during class. 

Looks like the shoe is on the other foot, mah boi!

And that part about slamming the phone was a Seinfeld stand-up joke. Just thought I'd sneak it in there.

And vibrate still has noise (at least when everything's quiet), so that's a pointless function.

Eventually, you'll all have to pay for your own phones. Today, the average cell phone bill is $50.64. $600 a year. That's ironically enough for an iPhone! $6000 in 10 years. OVER $9000 in 16 years. And for what? Being able to play Pac-man whenever you want?

[potthole]

My fiance has a Razor too (I'm guessing that's yours, Carlton), and I haven't been a fan of it at all.  Not really for the reasons you've stated, though.  I dislike the Razor because the buttons are a pain in the butt to use, and the phone just seems glitchy (her camera hasn't worked for nearly 8 months now, and she's had the phone for only about 10 months).