I don’t carry a cellphone around with me like most people in this country these days because I don’t own one and I don’t rent one. When I tell people I have no cellphone they look at me funny, like, you poor man can you not afford one? Little do they know I was the most connected man back in King County, WA. I once walked into a bank with a two-way radio, a NextTel push button device, a company phone and my personal phone all strapped to my belt (I was a transit supervisor), and the teller just stared at me and said really?
I got my son Riley and my mistress Stephanie phones on a family plan so we could stay connected, long before the internet was available on a screen. Hell, I was writing computer code before most people I know were born, so don’t feel sorry for poor me.
As of last year Steph and I had both bought into our local providers phone deal and we were carrying around state of the art Galaxy 8’s. After two months of absurdity where they couldn’t get their texting act together we said screw you and returned the phones. Steph ended up getting a tracfone and I did nothing.
The purpose of this post is to tell you how great it is to be phoneless. We kept our internet connection with SilverStar (obviously) for $58 bucks a month. I hooked a VOIP phone up to it here at the house which uses my Google Voice number and functions just like a landline. I have a phone number.
The Google Voice number is also my texting number, using my variety of mobile tablets. As I travel about all I need to do is find a hotspot, check my text messages and respond. I am connected.
What I don’t have is an obnoxious device that I have to carry with me everywhere. I drive for a living but I don’t have to worry about a call or text coming in. The only social media I indulge in is Twitter and I do that at home on my desktop. I feel like I’m just as connected as everyone else, I just pay less and hassle less.
Being phoneless is the new form of freedom!
btw: If I need to take a picture of something, I have a real camera.