I am probably in the minority here but mobile phones (cellphones) really do p*ss me off. Especially since the ability to "text" people started.
It was bad enough when they first really became popular, I was once having a smoke in the carpark at work and saw a group of guys PHONING each other just to use them! They were stood face to face and they were talking on their mobile phones to each other! What a ridiculous sight!
Now we have the TEXTING phenomina. Most of my mates have them. I can be talking to one of them and all of a sudden an annoying tune will come from their pocket. End of conversation! They can't get the phone out quick enough to read the message. Then they read out the message for my entertainment, regardless of the fact that nine times out of ten it is a cryptic private joke that only they understand. Then the person spends the next five minutes sending a reply. They also read out the reply, another private joke which is meaningless to me, and send it.
Then we start talking again and all the time they're glancing at the phone in their hand WILLING it to receive a new message. Isn't it ironic that the mobile phone is killing off conversation?

OK rant over, I do feel better now.

well thats technology for ya!

and about the carpark scene you mentioned, well i had seen my share of these ridiculous scenes and i just laugh it off

sometimes when i do have a text message, i'll put it on hold if i'm talking to someone. I think its quite rude to actually cut off the conversation and start fiddling with your mobile device unless of cause he/she excuses themselves first

I'm with you Martin - hate the damn things but they do have their uses.
Easy option - I have a phone only for emergencies. If we go out and leave our two teenagers at home, if the car breaks down I switch the phone on, don't use text at all, 90% of the time the things turned off in the glove box of the car.

Pi__es me off when some doofus tools about paying more attention to his or her conversation than the vehicle in which they are driving. Also, a considerable load of these cell-phone wearing geniuses regard the appliance as a fashion statement . What a bunch of popular-culture losers.

It is very tempting to have a short-run of bumper-stickers produced which read " Hang up and drive - you're not that important". How long do think the windows would stay in the car?

Cody

You know, many of my friends have them, and good luck trying to talk normally to them. Yesterday I was talking to my friend and she whips out her phone and calls this woman she works with. Without even say sorry, or excuse me. She left a message and told me she had to do it before she forgot.

~Chip

Only phone I have is a cell phone, figured it was rather stupid to pay for two phones when 90% on my calls came on the cell phone. Oh I don't use text, nor is phone set up to receive text, and I never answer it during a conversation.... that's why it vibrates instead of ringing. I may miss a few calls, but then leave a message, and I'll call back. Oh it's also against the law in NJ to use it when driving with out a headset.

Funny thing... a month or two back I saw a sticker similiar to that., I think it said "Hang up and drive." Only problem was the driver wa talking on his phone and driving very poorly -- weaving in and out of traffic, cutting people off, etc.

Wish I could have gotten a good photo of that.

I love my mobilephone ... couldn´t live without it!

I bought it new for 300 sek (£20/$33). It costs me max 300 sek a year for the calls I make. Nobody rings me unless they have to, cause they know I never answer. The only one who gets through is the wife, as we both work and have to pick up our daughter and sometimes plans change. When we go to town, I hit the hobby stores and get a call when its time to go home. When somebody sits beside me on the train, that I want to annoy, I play silly games with lots of beeping until they leave. When my boss comes looking for someone to help with some tedious job, Im engaged. Its my second alarm call every morning. Etc. etc.
As for people who want to sit and type text messages ... Its them who miss whats going on while they´re writing! :-)

Somebody after my own heart.

Cody

You should see some of the people in my high school donntt need to look at the phone the type there messages without looking then glance to see the response. Its mostly girls since they cant chat in classs the use that to get "Vital" informtation around. ITs kinda amusing to watch when one of them forgets to turn there rign off. Even better if its a phone call and the teacher answers it and its the mother of the student

I like my cell phone and the fact that I can receive text message on it. That feature is very useful especially when one of the computer systems at work goes down. I immediately get paged via text message.
I find people talking on the phone more annoying than people writing text messages. At least with a text message I do not have to listen to his/her conversation.

HAHAHAHHA :-) :-) :-) oh man so true so true, lordy in the mornin, everything you said was true

amen to martin, haha, i've gotta put that in a book of quotes or something haha, yes i do hate cellphones, the reason i got rid of mine

you said it right, in my highschool it seemed like an obligation to bring a cell phone, and then there were these guys who brought cell phones that didn't even work!!

heh thats a good one brining broken cell phone to school. In high school its all about cell phone, i admit i have one bearly use it though sits in my room or pocket "just incase". WHAT REALLY gets me is the 10 year old you see running arround with cell phones talking to there friends that just blow me away when i was 10 i have no reason WHAT so ever to have a cell phone. Then they go around acting like high schoolers its rather amusing but yet annoying.

My family forced me to get one I have a heart problem and im out on my push bike alot so it could come in handy in a emergency,Ive got a pay as you go put ten quid in it six months ago still got 8 quid credit I detest the things When I used to travel on the tube I had to suffer such worth while conversations as "Im on the train Yeah whats for Dinner" or the cretin who sits there going through every ring tone known to man.Rant over bye now

Cell phones are wonderful tools. They have thier strengths and place.

What yanks my chain is the attitude that the large majority of cell phone owners have. The attitude that 'the phone call coming in is more important than what they have in front of them.' or 'The person on the phone is more important than I am standing in front of them.'

My take on ANY phone is - 'it's thier for MY convience NOT YOURS' If I'm busy - I won't drop every thing to answer it anywhere.

Amen Brother!

Hit it right on the head

We're the texting capital of the world with a few million messages sent EACH DAY. Almost everyone has a phone from the tycoons in their limos to the street cleaners. The police is just (hopefully) a text message away.

It's a time saver because you don't end up waiting if your date is caught in traffic. It's a quick way of letting a pal know that the kit he has been wishing for is already available at the LHS. With MMS (that's Multi-Media Messaging) you can take a pic of your lovely date and send it to all your friends. Unfortunately your boss can call you anytime. And with the cell locator pinpointing your location to within a few feet you better tell your wife the truth about where you are

Oh it's also against the law in NJ to use it when driving with out a headset

Same here in NY..... Like half the people do anyway......

Unfortunately I have used mobile / cell phones since their inception. Even before them I had a pager and car phone, nature of the beast (Job that is).

It is not the mobile phone you should be angry with, it is the BAD MANNERS associated with its use!

Funny how ‘I’m sorry please excuse me for a bit, I really have to get this’ (when it’s important) or ‘please continue, I’ll get it later’ (when it’s not important), goes such a long way during a conversation.

Plus putting your phone on vibrate and using the same manners as with a normal land line i.e. an apology before taking and after receiving a call, during a conversation etc... Stepping away from the person you were talking to (after they have acknowledged the interruption and apology), to actually take the call and stepping back (with the appropriate apology) to continue the conversation.