They’ll get you in the end

They say you can lead a horse to water but can’t make it drink. A way round that might be to take the water to the horse and just wait for it to give in.

I don’t own a smartphone; all I can do with my phone is make calls and send and receive text messages. It’s not because I’m cheap that I won’t buy a smartphone, it is because I can foresee the consequences that would inevitably follow from my getting one and I don’t like what I (fore)see.

When I am at home I can’t stay away from my computer. Even when I am busy I keep stopping to check on something or look something up. When I leave the house it is a relief to get away from the damned thing. The last thing I would want to do is take it with me when I go out, but, if I had a smartphone, that, in effect, is what I would be doing.

Last week the company I work for told us that all the drivers were to be issued with smartphones. doh
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Comments (52)

But they're so useful! sigh

I no longer have a pc or laptop (although I use my work lappy at home sometimes), I do absolutely everything on my smartphone. . emails, netbanking etc conversing

And my job involves lots of driving, I couldn't survive without Google maps telling me where to go laugh

PS. I never take my personal phone out with me on days off thumbs up
Find out the purpose of the smartphones.
If they serve no other purpose than what your regular phone already does, then tell them that, and save them money by not taking it.

If they insist, turn off the Internet connection on the new phone, and hey presto, you are not connected all day.
I know they can be useful, serene, but for as long as I can function without one, I would rather not have one.
Molly this may be for security purposes, tracking drivers' locations plus mileage claims etc conversing
But what's to stop me turning the internet connection back on, molly. Please don't say "self control". sigh
Harbal although it may be mandatory for work use, on the flip side it will be expected that you will turn it off outside of work hours conversing

Nothing to worry about really
Serene, if that is the purpose, he can then find out if it's a necessity. I'm sure trucks are already fitted with some device anyway, aren't they? Or maybe I watch too much TV laugh

Har, only you can control your willpower grin
But, serene, it is having it with me during working hours that is the problem. I am much too easily distracted.
Yeah I'm not sure Molly, are we talking CB radios and Rubber Duckies here laugh

All I know is that my role involves driving to various locations, entering people's homes, sometimes working in the office and sometimes from home conversing

And we MUST be contactable all day, by phone and email thumbs up
Molly, the smartphone will replace an electronic device that we already have and the cab phone. It will perform several functions and needs to be connected to the internet all the time. There's no escape. uh oh
Well Har, it sounds like it is all down to you and your willpower



You're dooooooomed grin
laugh Molly

The thing is Harb, your usage will be capped and monitored so willpower doesn't really come into it, just commonsense conversing

Yes, they will be watching you wow laugh
I don't want to turn into one of those people, Biff, but the dark forces are gathering against me, I can feel it in the air. Like little Frodo Baggins, they are coming for me. help
I'm thinking you're gonna love your work phone and next you'll be one of us who gets one for personal use and can no longer post music vids and pics on CS laugh

One day this site might move into the 21st century, not holding my breath though laugh
They are already watching us, molly. A while back they asked one driver why his engine had been running for fifteen minutes without the vehicle moving. They probably even know what I'm listening to on the radio, and if it gets round the warehouse that it was woman's hour, my life won't be worth living.
Frodo was a wuss.

Be Aragorn smitten
Now the truth comes out cool lol
Don’t think I’d be able to survive without a smartphone help
Harb, one tip for you, I have just learned that toothpaste can be used to gently clean your smartphone screen professor

3. Cell Phone Screens. Unprotected mobile phone screens become hopelessly scratched over time. No problem. Lightly rub the screen with a touch of toothpaste and your finger. Rinse with a damp cloth and dry, but be sure to not get your phone too wet.
MiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiihandshake
That tip will come in handy for after I've thrown the phone on the floor a few times, Biff. thumbs up
Harbal.

Change jobs...that doesn't require phones.....problem solved....simples.


You're welcome and the bill is in the post lips
I agree Serene abt the truth.

But unrequited love is a killer I hear laugh
Pass your smartphone to the horse and drink water yourself.

The whole bucket :)

Cheers!
Not as simples as you think, dee. I'm already on the lookout for a job that doesn't require me to depend on having a car, and that is proving fruitless. If I could achieve that at the cost of having to put up with a smartphone I think I could live with the deal.
I'm not sure how helpful that advice is, Tule. I'll run it through my mind; see if I can wring any wisdom out of it.
The best thing about smartphones is their camera, that will allow you to record some funny and interesting moments or things you came across unexpectedly. In all other ways - it's just a telephone that can access the internet and you can use it as such - for free or inexpensive phone calls and messages and surfing when you have nothing better to do. Just like a computer.

Someone has already said and it's true - the novelty wears off pretty quickly and it becomes just another useful device. I don't think you should worry too much.
Harbal,wave

Now you will be like a dog with a chip. If that makes you feel better. You will never get lost. Even if you escape, they will track you down with an app installed in the phone.
uh oh
When I'm driving along, Xanthea, and see all the pedestrians tapping away on their phones, instead of looking where they are going, I will now be wondering when the novelty will wear off.

wave
They already track my vehicle, usha, and wherever that is, I am never far away.
Every post of mine here @ CS was done by fone. Some by voice. Useful yes, but Biff's comment reminds me of a time I was in a Jack-in-the-Box fast food establishment and heard a high-pitched chirp. It sounded like it was coming from behind me, and so I looked around and saw nothing aside from every other patron with their faces in their phones.

I went back to eating when I heard it again, looked behind me and still couldn't find the source. Then, I saw something fly over my head and slam into the window in front of me with an audible thud and then land on the counter.

It was a small bird and had knocked itself out, so I got up and took off my sweatshirt and used it to gather up the little critter and I took it outside. After a minute or two, it regained consciousness, shook it if and flew away.

I went back inside and as I sat back down I asked a woman sitting next to me if they saw that. She looked up from her phone and said "saw what?" I just shook my head and went back to eating my meal
Badly - thumbs up re bird thumbs down re zombies
All I use is an old Nokia phone for texts and calls, anything else is using the laptop computer at home - there's no need to be available all the time. I don't understand why, with you being a driver, that a company issued smartphone is even necessary? I think they should be called stupidphones because they don't make anyone any smarter at all! laugh
I don't have any decisions to make, Fay, my company has already made them. sigh
Well, fiorenza, the office need to talk to me occasionally so I have to have a phone. Secondly: all my deliveries are recorded electronically, as well as having paperwork, so there will be an app on the phone with all the details of the delivery and a facility for the customer to sign for it. Also, I am required to photograph everything I deliver. The smartphone will facilitate all this in one device. Voila.
I understand. It's all going the same way with everyone's movements being tracked. No chance of a cheeky one in the pub then, unless you're delivering beer! laugh
I can't even adjust my underpants without head office knowing about it, fiorenza. uh oh
My ambition, viking, is to not use the bloody thing for anything other than what I have to.
The only thing they don't know, fiorenza, is what I'm thinking.
laugh That's it! The only freedom we have these days is our own thoughts! You'll get used to being a smartphone owner I'm sure,wine
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