Anyone remember life before Smartphones?

Discussion in Computers, Electronics & Gadgets started by marmunmrhundun • Jan 18, 2014.

  1. marmunmrhundun

    marmunmrhundunBanned

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    I can't even start to imagine how life was before I started using Smartphones. I just happen to remember the devices that came before smartphones and it made me laugh lol. How about you guys, do you guys remember how it use to be?
     
  2. True2marie

    True2marieActive Member

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    Yes, I remember when having a cell phone was regulated to doctors and lawyers. Now, any fool can get a cell phone. At one of the worst jobs I ever worked, some of my co-workers with no kind of life were walking around with high priced phones. Why? I think for appearances only.
     
  3. daimashin

    daimashinActive Member

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    I remember them very clearly since it wasn't until last year that I started using a smartphone. I remember the days when my pocket is much lighter and no constant email alerts and notifications. It was so much simpler then, not that I dislike having a smartphone but each has their pros and cons.
     
  4. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    Most of my life was before smartphones lol, so yes, I can remember it clearly. I keep forgetting that so many people now, don't know a life without computers and cell phones etc etc etc. No wonder attention spans are completely shot now. I had a hard time letting go of my landline, but we used our cells almost exclusively, so we got rid of it. Now I'm rethinking that decision because I don't need technology following me wherever I go. I hate seeing everyone so absent while they're out.. always staring at their phones. I miss people not having access to me 24/7 lol, all I like cell phones for anymore is emergencies.
     
  5. lindbergh

    lindberghWell-Known Member

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    Life before smartphones? Was that even possible?
     
  6. delusional

    delusionalActive Member

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    Every day, I'm more amazed at what we can do this day and age. I don't think anyone in the 50's could imagine we would be doing video calls on our TV and because we had to leave with out electric car, we continued the video call on our handheld phone.

    Also the internet and the internet of things is more and more shaping our lives. I imagine seeing Google in classrooms in a few years.
     
  7. Miaka_M

    Miaka_MActive Member

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    I remember the flip phone, my dad had one and I found it so cool when you could listen to the ringtones that it came with; now it's like "wow, you can unlock your phone with fingerprints?" More people are spending more time with their phones instead of people and when people go out they're always with their phones again, it's definitely taking people away from reality.
     
  8. delusional

    delusionalActive Member

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    I remember wanting the flip phone from The Matrix. Not the sliding phone of Morpheus but a the flip phone with a swiveling camera. Don't know which one it was but I do remember it being very cool those days.
    My first phone was a Nokia 5510, the one with the full keyboard and the first phone to have an MP3 player. When you opened it up, it was actually a Nokia 3310 inside another casing.
     
  9. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Yeah I remember the old phones with the green backlight. It was solely used for texting and calling and playing games such as "Snake" and "Space Impact" which are now considered boring and lame, lol. Back then if you owned a 3210, 3310 or any of the higher end models that time as a high school student, you were considered cool.
     
  10. jriley

    jrileyNew Member

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    I was getting lost all the time and had no answers to the questions I had haha.
     
  11. lovemwaf

    lovemwafActive Member

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    Life without smartphones for me was pretty interesting. I do say that i had the internet to pretty much do what i now do on smartphones. So the biggest change for me is that the smartphones have now made the computer much more portable and the internet very accessible compared to how it was back then.
     
  12. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    That's one thing I definitely don't miss, is lugging those stupid bricks around with me out to the bars and night clubs. We looked ridiculous having them hanging off of our belts. I have a feeling that's why cargo pants made a comeback in the late 1990's.

    In the early 1990's it was the pagers that everyone had to have, then you would have to make sure you had a pocket full of quarter with you everywhere you went so you can hurry up and run to a pay phone every time someone buzzed you. Either that or you were standing in line at a noisy bar waiting to call someone back.

    One thing I do really like about smart phones though is how they freed me up to travel with ease. I used to get so worried when driving to other cities or states that I did not know my way around, because I am terrible with directions and reading maps. I'm a very visual person and mainly remember landmarks, and always seem to miss street signs. I never feel "terrified" that I am completely lost anymore.
     
  13. Hedonologist

    HedonologistActive Member

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    Well I know what it's like now since I don't own one. I have owned one in the past though and while some things are a bit easier, I don't really miss it THAT much. I've always preferred doing things on the desktop anyway so I'm not too bothered.
     
  14. deansaliba

    deansalibaActive Member

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    I not only remember life before smart phones, but I remember life when mobile phones were massive things and only bankers could afford them, a time when people sat down and wrote letters to each other. Not you can do almost anything with a phone, I can even turn my TV on and off with it!

    My dad is 74 and he knows how to do everything with his phone, except make a phone call!
     
  15. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    Yes, I remember those days fondly, but I have to admit those days were a little more boring. Nowadays we can watch TV shows and movies on our phones and we almost never have to get bored anymore, wherein back then I remember it being sort of hellish whenever I know I'll be standing in line for more than 10 minutes. At least now I can be entertained with some games while doing some mundane tasks, although, that's not to say that the simpler times in the past were completely awful, it of course had its benefits as well but I'm a lot more comfortable now with smartphones and tablets and I assume a lot of other people who have experienced both the pre-smartphone era and our current one will probably share the same sentiment to some degree.
     
  16. Batiatus

    BatiatusMember

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    Hey, Symbian and Java OS were pretty cool too:) I remember how excited I was when first phones that have internet and WiFi were introduced. Of course now I use a smartphone from Alcatel.
     
  17. Carles

    CarlesMember

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    I'm still living without a smartphone! I've had my messaging phone for the last three years and it works well enough for me. Also, smartphones are expensive.
     
  18. ebby23

    ebby23Member

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    My first phone was definitely not a smartphone. Therefore, I remember life before smartphones and would never want to go back to those days. I received my first cell phone when I was in 6th grade, which was a Nokia. A black and white screen which included the game snake, many of you should be familiar with. That was the only exciting thing about that phone. Then I moved up and got my first flip phone around 8th grade. In high school, I really stepped it up a notch and during those times I had a razr phone in 10th grade and a sidekick in 11th grade. The sidekick happens to be one of my favorite phones out the bunch. The iPhone came out during my freshmen year in college. That was my first "smartphone" and as you can see, I came a long way. Lol. :D
     
  19. crimsonghost747

    crimsonghost747Active Member

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    The real question is, does anyone remember the time before mobile phones? When you actually had one phone in the house for the whole family, and if your friend was out of his house you couldn't reach them`.
     
  20. brian101

    brian101New Member

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    Life before smartphones, man life was simpler in some ways like when you have a face to face conversation with someone you know you would have their attention for the full length of the convo or conversations were never cut short because someone received a tweet,fb, whatsapp message on their phone but at the same time I'm glad to have a smart phone because now I can navigate through towns and area's I haven't been to before and not get lost using google maps or I can look up random facts online if I don't know something or just want info for the sake of it.

    Though to some extent life does seem to revolve around smart phones and not the other way round.
     
    #20Mar 1, 2014
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2014