I do not have one, and never have. I admit there have been times in the car when lost or running late that my wife’s phone has come in handy, but only a few times in several years.
If an urgent need arises, I find a pay phone, though that is becoming harder and harder to do as phone companies continue removing them.
I can almost buy the “it could save you in an emergency!” argument, but it never resonated with me enough to convince me to get a phone. I somehow lived all my 44 years without one, and I feel confident I’ll continue fine without one. If not, so be it – the drawbacks of paying for and carrying one of those things around for decades just on the remote chance I find myself in an emergency? I’ll take those odds and remain unencumbered.
Those phones have definitely changed us, though. I have noticed that my teen daughter and her friends plan NOTHING. All arrangements are made on the fly over the course of multiple phone calls. “What time are you meeting your friend?” “I don’t know, she’ll call when she’s ready.” “Where are you meeting your friend?” “I don’t know, when I get there I’ll call her and tell her where I am.” Sheesh!
I do take some vain pleasure in telling people I don’t have a mobile phone. Some people cannot believe it. It’s like I’m from another planet.
I have heard about people using Skype for free on a Wi-Fi enabled device, like the iPod Touch. That is something I would consider, because it’s free and I can make outgoing calls, but I can’t be called/hassled. But that’s about as close as I can see myself coming to carrying a mobile phone.
