Seniors and cell phones - could you (or do you) get along without one? (coverage, friends)
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The battery in my cell phone went dead about two months ago. I haven't bothered to replace it or the phone which was banged and battered. I do have a satellite phone for real emergencies. I make a quick call to my landline every year to see if it's still working. It's prepaid. I'm 72.
I know a couple in their late eighties. They had cell phones for a while, then dumped them.
I was talking to an old man at Walmart who told me that his landline, his only telephone, was a rotary. He told me that it was relaxing as he would be transferred to a live person fairly quickly.
As I stated in the SS thread - I am still working at 62 and have to respond to my work phone all day. The last thing I need is to be tethered to a cell phone - dumb or smart - for the other 16 hours in a day.
My dumbphone remains in the OFF position. I use it for road emergencies and that's pretty much it.
I hate texting and will never do it. TALK TO ME if you need me. I have a landline at home and most friends and family have that number.
Also? We have no children. No need to "facetime" with the grandkids.
Our total phone bill - including landline - is $65 a month.
I had a flip phone for many years but this year I bought a smart phone. Mostly I wanted a really good camera on me at all times and the ability to make calls on the road in an emergency. But I got sort of addicted to using it for internet too. It comes in handy in dr's offices when there are only boring magazines. I only have wifi though because I refuse/can't afford to pay for those sky high plans that I would barely use.
I still have a landline. Right by the ocean where I live, the cell phone reception is almost nil. But even if I move away I'll probably keep the landline. I feel that as we get older and have more medical problems, I want ONE line that doctors' offices could use. My thinking is: what if dh got sick and the dr's office left messages on HIS phone? (that I might not be able to locate!) Or vice versa? For those emergency purposes I want one line that is easily accessible to both of us. I don't know how much sense that makes.
I don't have many older relatives except for an 82 year old cousin. She must have a cell phone but I don't know if she has a smart phone. She certainly has laptops and she puts pictures on facebook.
For many years I did not have one and did just fine. I didn't need one. Then I decided to buy one. I had it for a long time before it died. Then I bought another, a flip phone that just made calls and did texts. It got a couple of websites like the weather and news and I think I could email on it but I never tried.
I has the second one for six years then it died. So last February I decided to get a Smart Phone. I decided it would be nice to have something to play with while waiting for the bus or in the waiting room at the doctor's office. I could log on to CD anytime! My phone is an Iphone 5s. It's nice to be able to take pictures but I don't think they come out all that great.
I'm teaching myself how to use it by using a book. It's frustrating sometimes but I'm getting along. I have found I'm using it for more things than the phone from which I've only had one text from my dentist. I use it to get the news as I eat breakfast, check my email, FB to see what my friends in Portland and family in Toronto are doing and list my grocery needs. It's become handy but you're never going to find me playing Pokemon Go.
My philosophy on electronics is that they should be used as needed, not as status symbols or because someone feels they have to have them. Conversely, no one should feel superior to those who have them because they themselves choose not to. These things are just...well....things. We shouldn't let them define us either way.
We have cell phones for many years but only use them sparingly during trips. Our main phone is the landline which Verizon 'pays' us to use (get $35 monthly lifetime discount for phone + internet with the cost of the phone at $30).
In our last trip to Europe, we bought a SIM card but only used the phone frustratingly twice with poor reception. We found emailing the more sure way and effective way of communication with B&B owners before our arrival.
Access to the internet is pretty essential to our life but not so with cellphones. I bought my husband (who fits ER's criteria of older than 65) a smartphone but he continues to use his 'dumb' phone. He finds the smart phone more complicated to use, short battery life and harder to dial numbers let alone surfing the web or reading/typing text messages. I have my smart phone for a long time but very rarely use the text features or web surfing.
IMO, the decision of SS office to insist on text message verification is a poor one. Not every senior citizens have smart phones and the ones who have them (like us) may not be fond of reading/typing tiny letters on the phone.
We have cell phones, no landline. My wife could definitely live without it as most of the time she leaves it home anyway. A friend of hers also has a cell phone, a flip phone. She says it is a PhD phone (Push here dummy).
I turn 85 this year, and my wife is 87. Been married 64 years. We live in a big home on 5 acres across the county road from the best part of the city.
We have had a cell phones for many years, but never give out the phone number except for family or as need when traveling.
We have a VOIP land line (phone operates over the Internet System) with 4 handsets around the house. Cost on a monthly basis is $3.75 per month with unlimited calling in U.S. and Canada, with normal features offered by the phone company. It does not get into those call lists, so we don't get telemarketers any more. Works even better as to clarity of the calls over the former phone which was one from the telephone company. No matter how much we use it, or how long we stay on the phone there is no extra charges.
I recently changed the cell phones to Great Calls Jitterbugs for one reason. They each not only are an excellent cell phone, but each has an emergency button as you probably have seen promoted for the elderly. In any emergency just press the 5* button and hooked into help, which may connect you to 911 or if you need emergency help they will get you an ambulance, or many other things. If you are lost, press the button, and the operator will define exactly where you are by GPS built into the phone and direct you out of there, or call help. Can even call family members if you have problems and let them know for you. Just under $35 per month with way more minutes than we will ever use.
Just about everything in a society has sociological, anthropological, and psychological meanings, and become a part of social and cultural mores or norms, and are part of cultural and sociological development of societies holding meanings, with anthropological meanings assigned.
I have a smart phone and use it for e-mails, texting, and some calls to family. Also have a landline because I can hear better using it. Also, my DH has dementia but still can punch 911 in an emergency. The smartphones are difficult for him to use (or my 3 yr old grandson). I will keep the landline until DH cannot use and grandkids have grown up a bit.
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