I survive two decades in the early 21st century without a cell phone
For various reasons I don’t own a cell phone. (The article could almost be called: I’ll survive without a cell phone until 2023, but there were a few months in 2002 when I didn’t have my own apartment but did have a cell phone.) Since I’m now close to owning a cell phone at the end of 2023, Is this a good time to document my life without.
Actually, from my perspective, life without a cell phone is relatively easy, at least considering the disbelief I occasionally encounter when I say that I don’t have a cell phone.
For some cell phone tasks, I continue to use the classic devices that are already available in my household: landline telephone including answering machine, camera, etc. Sometimes also in the completely analog version: pocket calendar, folding city map, etc. I do digital things on my laptop: research, emails, occasional shopping, Banking transactions.
Because I have an office job, I can almost always be reached by phone, as there is also a landline phone on my desk. I reliably call back when I am asked to do so on the answering machine. Dates work well even without a cell phone. Sometimes I wait for fifteen minutes without knowing whether my appointment is still coming. Only in 2-3 cases during 20 years no one comes, but we clarify why shortly afterwards.
You can also reach me via SMS. Until about 2015 (I think before landline service switches to VoIP), I can simply receive and read SMS with my phone, and I can send SMS. After the change, I can no longer send text messages, but if someone sends me a text message, I get a call and the text message is read out. Private text messages are rare and only come accidentally.
This function has been practical since I started using PayPal because they also send their authentication codes to landline numbers. In contrast, my credit card online payment method only accepts mobile numbers, which means that I never pay by credit card online. An online ride-sharing service is the only service I would like to use but am not allowed to use because of the lack of authentication.
It only gets a little more complicated when I travel. I take the laptop with me when I know I need to be reachable or probably need to research things at the travel location. For appointments in my old hometown, I use my parents’ landline phone and also pass on their number so that I can be called. When traveling without my family, I regularly leave the number of the accommodation or people I am visiting at home in case the family has an emergency and needs to reach me. This option is never used.
At some point everyone around me will have a cell phone, later a smartphone, the last of my children since autumn 2022.
The reason why I decided to get a smartphone was a new job situation in which I wanted to be reachable via mobile, and the change in communication among my friends, because I had the impression that invitations and appointments sometimes simply no longer reach me.
(12einviertel)