Anyone remember life before Smartphones?

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

  1. crucider

    cruciderNew Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2014
    Threads:
    0
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    0
    Yes! Of course, I remember having the Motorola Razr. That phone was the best around, and it was my first camera phone, which was awesome. But now it's so outdated that it reminds me how much the phone industry has changed and how it was revolutionized.
     
  2. pahagwl

    pahagwlActive Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2014
    Threads:
    18
    Messages:
    126
    Likes Received:
    0
    Well, I remember my days of using a Nokia phone which ran on a Symbian operating system. In those days, people did not expect too much from their cell phones. It was supposed to be a device which was able to make and receive phone calls apart from being able to do a small set of other tasks. But nowadays, the phones are almost able to do everything on their smartphones.
     
  3. Gelsemium

    GelsemiumWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 17, 2014
    Threads:
    367
    Messages:
    1,829
    Likes Received:
    49
    I don't have a smartphone, so those days are still my present days. I don't have the need of a smartphone so I am happy where I am, I can make calls and send SMS and I think that what's the phone is for.
     
  4. FatesWing

    FatesWingActive Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2013
    Threads:
    6
    Messages:
    146
    Likes Received:
    0
    Life before smartphones... Man that takes me back (starts to light an imaginary pipe while crossing one leg over the other next to the fireplace).
    In all seriousness though, life before all of this technology had its pros and cons. The good part about it was that we were not so dependent on our phones to think for us. Without a smartphone you would actually have to know how to use a pay phone and a phone book and a map and.. well you get the point. The cons though, are the fact in some ways it has made us all connect a bit more than before and can help us out if we're in a tough spot or lost. At the end of the day, there are so many cons and so many pros to technology, but the key is to not get lost in that technology and remember we are human beings that still need real human interaction at the end of the day to survive and function properly.
     
  5. andrew172

    andrew172Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 19, 2013
    Threads:
    8
    Messages:
    103
    Likes Received:
    1
    Most of my life was before smart phones, so yes I remember it quite fondly... life was so much happier and less stressful. These days I can't go anywhere without being followed around by anyone who want to contact me in any of the five million ways they're able to... 5 e-mails, facebook, twitter, instagram... if I'm with my fiancee, or anyone else I like, then I like to switch my phone off, so I can actually spend time with them in the real world and not have to share my attention between them and a screen. Though I think perhaps... the great irony here... is that I'm a smart phone developer.
     
  6. mikelouis

    mikelouisActive Member

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2014
    Threads:
    8
    Messages:
    444
    Likes Received:
    5
    Smartphones can be great but I think they are overrated sometimes. We have been using feature phones until recently and still some companies are making them. I know that we have now got used to them, it might be hard to live without. But it is not something you must have.
     
  7. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2012
    Threads:
    52
    Messages:
    3,093
    Likes Received:
    240
    Me too, I just have a feature phone for calls and texts, so I'm still living in the time before smartphones. I find it funny that some people in this forum are too young to remember when people just had regular cell phones without internet access. I was in junior high school when CDs first came out. I didn't own a DVD player until 1998 and they were expensive back then.
     
  8. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2014
    Threads:
    308
    Messages:
    2,880
    Likes Received:
    727
    People kept to their appointments in those days because they had to! Dates turned up on time and you made arrangements to meet people in advance rather than on the spur of the moment. Sometimes I feel we have no control as smartphones are ruling our time and lives as soon as we get up and before we go to sleep.

    Back then we were more patient waiting for a response, where now people expect you to have your phone on all the time and to reply immediately.

    Now, I try to limit my phone use so I am in control and I use it for me to contact people rather than for others to contact or find me.
     
  9. Parker

    ParkerWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Mar 31, 2012
    Threads:
    38
    Messages:
    2,118
    Likes Received:
    59
    Yes, I remember the time before smartphones, dumb phones and even pagers. Pay phones were all the rage! I am amazed at how technology has changed society and sometimes it's not for the better.
     
    #29Aug 23, 2014
    Last edited: Aug 23, 2014
  10. wvboarder

    wvboarderMember

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2014
    Threads:
    17
    Messages:
    94
    Likes Received:
    2
    I miss life before smartphones. In all aspects they have made us dumber. I honestly miss when you had to talk to people face to face to interact. Something has been lost and it's just going to get worse and worse the longer time goes on. Thank god Google Glass didn't really catch on. It could have gotten really big and I would've hated it.
     
  11. TuRon Davis

    TuRon DavisActive Member

    Joined:
    Aug 10, 2014
    Threads:
    26
    Messages:
    207
    Likes Received:
    8
    I'll make this short and simple, what we did before smartphones was text message. i remember sitting up all day and night sending text and if you were lucky you had mobile web where you could at least look up thing as a reference. Overall, it wasn't too bad, we could still have internet at home to substitute what we can do now today from a cell phone.
     
  12. MindyT

    MindyTActive Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2013
    Threads:
    11
    Messages:
    341
    Likes Received:
    7
    I remember when it was a big deal to have a button, touch-tone phone in your house and not the rotary phone. It was a big deal to have a landline phone base in your living room and not the rotary phone with the long cord hanging up on your kitchen wall. I remember it was a HUGE deal to have more than one phone base in your house and call waiting on your landline. Times were simplier, less hectic.
     
  13. Nickchick

    NickchickWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2013
    Threads:
    8
    Messages:
    1,076
    Likes Received:
    34
    I remember a time before cell phones period. For a long while I didn't get a cell phone because I always hated talking on the phone so the first thing I did on the phone was text. Since I'm not into talking, I have come to rely on my Iphone but I mostly just use it for texting or earning gift cards. Games are nothing on a smartphone compared to the ones on a handheld gaming device.
     
  14. mariee

    marieeActive Member

    Joined:
    Jul 24, 2014
    Threads:
    17
    Messages:
    276
    Likes Received:
    8
    I'm still living in life without smartphones. I have a basic phone that also does messages (but my plan doesn't include messages so I don't use them). I want one, but I consider it a luxury that I can't afford to pay now. My phone is on a family plan and it's about $90 a month for 4 phones. The cheapest smartphone plan I've seen is $65 and usually they are about $80.
     
  15. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2013
    Threads:
    991
    Messages:
    4,335
    Likes Received:
    790
    I thought I was the only person who hated phones. The last phone I had was used for doing some light-weight browsing when I was far from home and badly wanted to look something up.

    Nowadays I don't have a phone because I don't need one. I hate calling people and hate having anyone call me. So to avoid all that, I prefer not to buy myself a phone. So to be honest, I haven't noticed much of a difference between the days of 'dumbphones' and the age of smartphones.
     
  16. Brian3265

    Brian3265New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 24, 2014
    Threads:
    0
    Messages:
    14
    Likes Received:
    0
    There was life before smartphones?
     
  17. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 15, 2012
    Threads:
    154
    Messages:
    2,561
    Likes Received:
    233
    One thing I love about smartphones though is for navigation while traveling, as well as being able to search for store or restaurant info on the fly, as well as see street views so you can find exactly what you are looking for. I feel so much more free now to go for rides around areas I am not familiar with now, because I can just navigate my way back home easily. I used to dread trying to figure out directions somewhere the old fashioned way and hoping for the best, especially when you are lost in a high traffic area with cars flying by you on all sides. One time, we were trying to find a small museum in Pittsburgh called The Mattress Factory, which is literally in an alley way. We drove around the city for nearly two and a half hours and could not find the place and gave up. Now with a navigator on my phone I can find it instantly.

    Of course one of the downsides when you are on a trip, is that people can still reach you, and they will, call you for every stupid little thing, even if you are on a vacation and want to be left alone. One of the last times we were in Vegas, a bunch of us from our office all went together, leaving behind a skeleton crew to keep the place afloat. OF COURSE there was a lightning storm back at the office while we were gone, and it wiped out several computers. So they were demanding that we hurry up and get back from our trip to deal with all this crap, and kept calling us and nagging us.
     
  18. wowtgp

    wowtgpActive Member

    Joined:
    Aug 14, 2013
    Threads:
    18
    Messages:
    155
    Likes Received:
    1
    Oh man, don't make me think about those times. I definitely remember those times when we didn't use to have phones in our hands. he only means of communication was landline phones back then. It's really surprising to see how much progress we have made in last couple of years.
     
  19. megadelayed

    megadelayedMember

    Joined:
    Sep 5, 2014
    Threads:
    13
    Messages:
    97
    Likes Received:
    0
    I remember the days where you don't use your phone for anything other than calls, texts and maybe an occasional game of Snake. Thats also the good days of not having to charge your phone daily. Now, information is so much easier to obtain though, unlike the old days of if you needed to research, you either do it at the comfort of your home with a 56k modem screaming, or for some, even have to head out of the library. Today, I think that the libraries are getting quieter and quieter since eBooks and that the internet is now so widespread.
     
  20. deathbyprayer

    deathbyprayerActive Member

    Joined:
    Mar 14, 2014
    Threads:
    58
    Messages:
    869
    Likes Received:
    18
    To be honest, I actually like my life before Smartphones. It was pretty simpe, I don't have to check on my phone every once in a while for emails and alerts. Back then I can make an excuse like "Hey I didn't read your email sorry" but now there's practically no excuse for that.

    Also before Smartphones most people would actually talk to you when you're having dinner rather than just staring at their phone and vaguely laughing at what you just said.