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View Full Version : 4.9 rant...if MAW can do it so can I....



casil403
03-09-2010, 04:21 PM
Mine involves Blackberries, IPhones and any other device that does not allow people to actually look up and eyes forward when they walk! :wall-an:
What's up with that? Since when did people stop looking where they are going while walking? And when did whats on the teensy tiny screen in front of them become more important than where they are going or what's happening around them?
I swear if one more person runs into me because their eyes are down buried in their Blackberry/IPhone/etc. and they are not looking where they are going while walking, I am going to scream...is there some protocol on this I am not aware of?
Do they honestly expect people to move out of their way at all times? Does having a BB make you more important that you are allowed to forget basic decency like saying "excuse me or sorry for bumping into you"?
And when did work become so important that we have to be chained to those things 24/7?
Beeping from cameras has nothing on this IMO....end rant. :headslap:

Marko
03-09-2010, 04:25 PM
You go girl!
...and what about those same buttplugs that check their phones at the cinema (thereby stealing my attention because the phone is bright) in the middle of MY movie. I could kill them all. No trial. Off with their heads. :evil2:

casil403
03-09-2010, 04:29 PM
Yay Marko... way to Give 'er! :highfive:
Hey....we should start a forum..:clap::clap:

casil403
03-09-2010, 04:35 PM
Ive seen it personally happen...I've seen normal people get sucked into working 24/7 because their employer gives them a free BB. It's Like Pavlov's dog experiment/conditioning. Every time that silly thing buzzes, no matter what time of day or where they are (even in the car), they just gotta look and then gotta reply...rinse repeat...then they wonder why they are so stressed out....they have no life outside of the job or the BB...and they don't even know it. :shrug:
I used to purposefully try to go vacationing places with my ex that were out of BB range....he never knew it either.... :D

AntZ
03-09-2010, 05:59 PM
Same happens on bike paths with pedestrians.:wall-an:

Apparently there are apps for some platforms which use the camera to show user in front of the so they can type AND see what is happening in front of them.

JAS_Photo
03-09-2010, 06:09 PM
Lol, ok so now we know what this is really about.

Marko, I can't believe you even went there, Mr. Twitter man. I am of course teasing. I know that when you go to the theatre, you are specifically asked to turn off your BB or any other phone for just that reason. That little light in a dark place is a distraction. There will always be inconsiderate a-holes because no matter what the technology, they just are there. If its not cellphones they are knocking the back of your chair with their knees or some damned thing. Lol.

I love my BB, I have never bumped into anyone texting and walking yet. But I stick to my side of the sidewalk. I have been a text addict from long before the BB was even on the scene, since 2002 and cell phones were just barely making it mainstream back then.

As far as walking goes, I find it way more annoying when I am walking along, on my own side of the sidewalk, minding my own business and two or three people in a group approach and they do not have the common courtesy to move over so I can get by without stepping off the sidewalk.

I am addicted to my phone and none of it is work related for the most part. I text one of my co-workers when we need him to work as a backup just beause it is easier. He can read it and respond at his leisure and that goes for all texting too.

I can text someone anytime and it does not matter what else I am doing because it does not interfere with the conversation. I do not even have to respond immediately because the convo exists to be continued when I get a chance. Someone else can text me at the same time and I do not have to hang up on the first to talk to the second. Ok, I am mostly talking about the blackberry to blackberry chat platform. Oh yeah, it does not use up my cell phone minutes nor do I get charged for long distance.

Well, the predictors are saying that pda's will be taking over. You will see less home computer use among the masses and more pda use or so they say.

Also, already on my BB, I can surf the web. I can read this forum for instance. I can visit Facebook, ebay, flickr or most any other popular application. You can listen to music, watch TV or listen to internet radio. You can even watch Youtube for heaven's sake. When I first was doing the wap thing on my cell phone there was not even color and pictures if they even existed were primitive outlines at best.

Lol, remember boom boxes of the 80's? Ha!Ha! Now that is annoying.

Ok, I am done.

Sent on my BB. (Just kidding!)

casil403
03-09-2010, 07:05 PM
L
As far as walking goes, I find it way more annoying when I am walking along, on my own side of the sidewalk, minding my own business and two or three people in a group approach and they do not have the common courtesy to move over so I can get by without stepping off the sidewalk.

That's just as annoying as getting bumped into.

So many times I walk home after classes, if I take the + 15 (usually around noon when they empty out for lunch) some through the office towers and some dough-head bumps into me because they are busy checking the BB and unaware of anything else in their surroundings. OR if I'm going the wrong way to school on an emptying C-Train to get on the platform while the masses are getting off ....and there is no where to go in both situations without running into someone else.
I guess I would not do well in Japan. :D

Marko
03-09-2010, 07:08 PM
A good post fer sure jas...!
Sure I tweet - but maybe 1-2 times a day....that's nothing compared to the majority of techies I know. I too marvel at technology and yup, I'm addicted.

But casil's point is strong, technology is making people ruder. Some of the techies I know will text, tweet, check the crackberry/iphone - WHILE they are talking to you. That's bloody rude.

casil403
03-09-2010, 07:12 PM
A good post fer sure jas...!
Sure I tweet - but maybe 1-2 times a day....that's nothing compared to the majority of techies I know. I too marvel at technology and yup, I'm addicted.

But casil's point is strong, technology is making people ruder. Some of the techies I know will text, tweet, check the crackberry/iphone - WHILE they are talking to you. That's bloody rude.

There's a girl I sit beside really nice gal...one of my faves, who texts very discreetly yet constantly during lectures and yes as nice as she is, it is a bit distracting sometimes. :)

Mad Aussie
03-09-2010, 07:18 PM
'buttplugs' !! Now there's a surprize choice of words from Marko :)


As for the topic ... sign of the times. Society is speeding up in every way. The way to make a dollar is to turn it over faster, do more hours, churn through more clients, make more deals etc etc. Time has become a premium. Texting anywhere at anytime helps to make use of that precious time. I think it's wrong too.
You should see people look at me when I ignore my phone and don't even look to see who it is. "Why not?" they ask ... "because I don't want to thanks" I answer. I'm not anyones whipping boy and I can comfortably turn stuff off and walk away from it. We shopuld be in control of these devices, not slaves to them.

We used to cruise to work, now we can't know how long it will take. A trip into the city center for me can be between 25 mins and 1 hr 15 mins depending on time and unforseen traffic conjestion. So we hurry, just in case.

Simpler life was nicer I think.

I hate Sunday and Saturday afternoon Trading. We used to have that one day (and Sat arvo) where life slowed up, and the streets were so full, and people went walking with their kids. Now a walk with the kids is described as dragging them through KMart.

JAS_Photo
03-09-2010, 07:51 PM
But casil's point is strong, technology is making people ruder. Some of the techies I know will text, tweet, check the crackberry/iphone - WHILE they are talking to you. That's bloody rude.


Ha! Ha! Sometimes at cocktail receptions two guys will be standing next to each other both on their BB's texting and I always ask them if they are texting each other!

Well, it's not as annoying as having someone talking loudly on their phone and making everyone in the room privy to their convo whether you want to be or not.

Michaelaw
03-09-2010, 09:43 PM
My BB has two functions...It's a telephone and an alarm clock. The phone I use for work mostly to get info from people. I answer it because 90% of the time it's a tech booking somewhere. The darned thing has aps coming out the yinyang, I don't use any of them. I got an e-mail from my service proder the other day saying my BB comes with free text messaging and they notice I'm not using the function. The message came with a link to a texting tutorial. I text three words...Yes,no and OK:D

Bambi
03-09-2010, 10:31 PM
the problem with cell phones and e-mail is that everyone expects an instant response. when I go on vacation I can expect over 100 e-mails on my return. I've gotten smarter: when I see an e-mail I then sort by subject so I can see if it has resolved without me. Most of the time that happens.

But since we are on pet peeves this is what happened to me this week while I was walking the dogs:
Someone calls my cell phone and when I answer they demand "Who's this?". so I ask (reasonable question I think) "who are you looking for?" "I'm looking for my son! Don't tell me that this is the wrong number!" "Well I'm not your son and I don't have him" *click*she hangs up. whatever happened to politeness?

there I feel better.

Greg_Nuspel
03-09-2010, 11:26 PM
I hate when someone you are talking to answers their cell half way through a conversation. I have and will walk away when it happens. So many people are slaves to their electronic leash. Once a boss figured I should carry a cell phone at all times, so I suggested $15.00 an hour while it's on is only fair, I think it works out to just short of $100,000.00 per year. He didn't think that was fair so I agreed and suggested $20.00 an hour, I won no leash :clap:

Fortytwo
03-10-2010, 03:16 AM
LOL! :) I've owned a smartphone all my life. Well, almost. I started out with a huge Nokia 9110 and I've had these things ever since. But I sure as hell didn't let the damn thing take control of my life. I have no problems with letting it ring of beep without looking at it if I don't feel like it. If it's really important, they'll ring again. I bought my phone to entertain ME when I'm bored, not to give other people instant access to my attention. If I don't want to look at the phone, I'm not going to. It's my life...

casil403
03-10-2010, 02:49 PM
I dunno...makes me wonder...how did we ever get along for the last 100 years before we had all this stuff. :shrug:
Also...these things like smart phones that are supposed to make your work life simpler actually can create more stress, anxiety and cause to some people be away from the rest of the world,their lives, and family even moreso....I hate it when I see parents that take their kids to the zoo or on an outing and are busy texting, checking emails or talking away on the phone and ignoring their children...and the children are sometimes doing the same.:headslap:
It think the world is seriously heading the wrong way and life now is about disconnecting from people rather than connecting.
Maybe I am just old, but I don't get it. :confused:

Wicked Dark
03-10-2010, 02:57 PM
It is, but it isn't, I'm reading a biograpy of Ben Franklin and he was a great communictor, the only thing is it seemed to have taken forever to get anything mailed. And if it had to go across the sea, more than forever. Franklin seems to have been somewhat frustrated by it and when he became Postmaster General in Philly, he made a lot of improvements and service speeded up. Couldn't do anything about the Atlantic crossings though.

Mad Aussie
03-10-2010, 03:09 PM
...I hate it when I see parents that take their kids to the zoo or on an outing and are busy texting, checking emails or talking away on the phone and ignoring their children...
I agree. But I also see the side that allows the person to actually get out there. In about 2 mins we are out the door for a bike ride. Leanne's Iphone will come along. When we finish the ride (starting and ending from a friends place) Leanne will be able to check in to see if her staff are online and working and have any issues she needs to address before and during our drive home again. If we choose to stay at Paul's for a coffee after the ride she can organize business from there. Without this capability she either wouldn't go for her ride, or, it would be shorter and we'd have to be home earlier.

Some of those parents might be trapped in their jobs and the only way they could take their kids to the zoo was because they had this capability.

Just the other side of that coin is all :shrug:

Greg_Nuspel
03-10-2010, 03:19 PM
I think they are a great tool if used properly. Too many times they are the tail that wags the dog.

How about 3 teens walking down the street and they are all on their cellphones, maybe they are talking to each other :laugh:

casil403
03-10-2010, 03:24 PM
I had 2 people bash into me this morning on my way to the train. I was walking against the flow of an emptying train and had nowhere to go. Neither one had their head up looking where they were going. After #2 I snarled...."For cripes sakes walk with your head UP and look where you are going Gawdammit!" :mad:

Michaelaw
03-10-2010, 03:26 PM
What I find troubling when I observe today's youth is the majority are either talking on cell phones or have little white ear buds stuffed in their ears...Constant audio input. How does this affect introspective thought? Where is the quiet time for the brain, mind, soul? I can't have a constant audio feed like that, I'd go NUTS!

Bambi
03-10-2010, 03:37 PM
What I find troubling when I observe today's youth is the majority are either talking on cell phones or have little white ear buds stuffed in their ears...Constant audio input. How does this affect introspective thought? Where is the quiet time for the brain, mind, soul? I can't have a constant audio feed like that, I'd go NUTS!

so just beeping?? lol :p

the bigger problem with the audio input is the noise induced hearing loss it can cause.

The children are wired in. It will not change. It will be interesting to see what happens as we try to balance this as a society.

Michaelaw
03-10-2010, 03:58 PM
I am real interested in the future social implications. Once technology can produce a tiny chip that does it all, I can see it implanted at birth :laughing:

Fortytwo
03-11-2010, 03:14 AM
What I find troubling when I observe today's youth is the majority are either talking on cell phones or have little white ear buds stuffed in their ears...Constant audio input. How does this affect introspective thought? Where is the quiet time for the brain, mind, soul? I can't have a constant audio feed like that, I'd go NUTS!

Don't tell me you haven't got Marko's podcasts on repeat on you all the time. I thought everybody here did that...