esrosedotblog

The worm has turned; back from whence it came.

Pass the Word: The Phone Call Is Back

Let's face it. Email is the only successful alternative to voice. Even then it is subject to all kinds of typos and other weird errors. It takes time to type it in.

Text? No way. It is well out of my territory. I never started.

Basically, I am a die hard voice guy. I want to hear yours and I want you to hear mine. And I like the interchange of voices deciding in the here and now (hear and now) what is going on with each other.

Sure. A long email message is helpful. I use it to "call" all my kids. For one thing I can email them all at one time. Five separate emails? No. They respond in the same way. Never text.

But day to day contact? No way will I text. I am an easy study in the use of texting. I never started.

Oh, I will grudgingly indulge in a bit of back and forth. But I will quickly say, "hey I will call you".

Call me old fashioned.

I amaze some young friends when I show them my phone. A clamshell. Old style.

Of course, that makes texting more difficult for me but that's the way I like it.

I don't even want to get used to doing it.

I think that my aversion to texting arises out of several places. One is that it is just fucking inconvenient. Calling? Easy. Hit the fast dial and get a connection. Even if the person is not there I can leave a voice message.

Is it OK to say that I just enjoy it more? Intertalk is much more satisfying.

Another thing. Texting is all about abbreviation. A sure sign that it is a tedious chore. This leads to even less communications.

I could use Skype or iChat more if I had partners who wanted to do it. It is unhandy. Appointments required. On the desktop, well, I have to be at my desk. On my iPad you have to sort of hold it out like a book, arms length. Maybe the "phones" are better for seeing but I doubt it. I don't even want to try.

If the phone phone was good enough for Alexander Bell, it is good enough for me.

Labels: culture, phone