Cell phone opinions/options

[rlk at alum.mit.edu (Robert L Krawitz)]

   From: dan at geer.org
   Date: Sat, 26 Nov 2005 17:19:09 -0500

   Dear All,

   Those of you who love gadgets -- how close to this

   http://www.mutantfrog.com/2005/06/30/tu-kas-new-cell-phone-for-the-elderly/

   can I get in the USA?  Really, all I want is the
   equivalent of a wireless home phone.  I like one
   month battery life.  I want *zero* features and
   would prefer the thing did not send CallerID info.

   Please and thank you.

Get with the program!  That's so 1990's!  Don't you know that it don't
mean a thing if it ain't got that bling?!

The one thing useful about an LCD panel is that it can display a phone
number, such as the one you're currently dialing (which is useful in
case you start to make a mistake) and caller ID.  Since I don't use my
phone too often, a significant number of the incoming calls I get are
wrong numbers, which I'd rather just ignore.  I'd also like to know if
someone called me while I wasn't able to take the phone, and to have
an optional vibrating ringer (in addition to a couple of volume levels
and mute) so that I can leave it on without distracting other people.
But I suppose I could learn to live without those fairly easily.

The last time I got a phone (basically it was cheaper to replace the
whole phone rather than just the battery, which wasn't holding a
charge, and I do like the flip cover simply to protect the keypad) I
actually had some difficulty getting one *without* a camera.  I
specifically did not want a camera phone.  There are quite
legitimately places where one cannot take such a phone, the image
quality is, shall we say, lacking, and they've figured out how to
charge you an arm and a leg to access your own photographs.

So yes, I'd like to know also.

PS I did once have the opportunity to see Stephane Grappelli in
concert.  One of the finest musicians of any genre.  "Smooth" was not
inaccurate, but it's not enough to convey the experience.  And yes, I
do know that he didn't write it, but his interpretations of it were
quite something.

P2S Where on earth did the word "bling" come from?  It's admittedly
onamotapoeic -- it sounds splashy, somewhat bizarre, yet completely
meaningless -- but it otherwise doesn't seem to be derived from much
of anything.

-- 
Robert Krawitz                                     <rlk at alum.mit.edu>

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"Linux doesn't dictate how I work, I dictate how Linux works."
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