Recently, I lost my mobile phone. I have been without one for the past few weeks and have no regrets. I am thinking of starting a new organisation with the title MFS, the letters standing for Mobile Free Society.
Owning a mobile phone automatically puts one in chains. Think of all the obligations involved. Firstly, not losing it. Whenever I went out of the house I had to remember to take my phone with me. If I forgot, there was the worry of not being available to receive calls, and the obligation, later, to reply to all those accursed, accusing, text messages. Then I had to remember at bedtime to put it on my bedside table. Secondly, when I went out I had to remember to take my phone, then regularly check it was still in my pocket (I think the old one fell out somewhere, sometime, and whoever found it, used or sold it, instead of ringing and asking me to collect it). And when I had it with me, I had to hear the ringtones, wherever I was, grab it and reply promptly. ” I called you but you did not answer” was a common accusation, the caller failing to understand I was on the loo, or eating, or strap-hanging on the train, or driving. How many times have you dropped your phone and cracked the glass in your frantic effort to reply in time? Thirdly, the problem of keeping it charged up. I expect you, like me, can never remember where you have left the charging cable and when it was last charged. Fourthly, the latest annoyance is the new habit of banks and other serious organisations, for the sake of their security, asking one to read a code on one’s mobile phone and reply with it, before allowing any transactions. Some of my friends use their phones in a variety of ways, including finding and storing information and pictures, as well as recording financial and contact details. This is putting all one’s eggs in the same basket. The thought of losing such a resource, for me, would be too stressful.
All these irritations are of course minor compared with the problem faced by we old codgers, in using a mobile phone effectively. The myriad of apps, the overabundance of mostly unnecessary uses, the need to stroke the face in a particular direction to make it work, and, of course, the total irrationality of trying to text using a keyboard designed with letters barely large enough to be read and tapped by an 8-year-old.
The feeling of freedom – of not owning a mobile phone, is wonderful. If I need to have a conversation with anyone, I have a home phone. If I want to check the weather forecast, or explore something in depth, I will use my computer, TV or a library, and I am looking forward to many more real live conversations.
An old codger's comments 