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RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to Estevan)
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ORIGINAL: Estevan
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I just check the foro when I'm on the toilet.
You have the latest iToilet?
Sure iToilets are super. And you get to buy your toilet paper direct from apple at only five times market value. And if there is a problem you have the option to updade your whole house to apple components so the replacement toilet with all new fittings can work. I love Apple products as they make me feel trendy and not in the least bit gullible.
RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to Estevan)
I read an article about cell phone use in restaurants which claimed, and also used video to show how cell phone use increase over the last decade has slowed service in some venues.
The restaurant was in NYC, the management began to investigate why customers complained of slow service. They looked carefully at the duration of time it took for customers to be seated, order, eat, pay the bill, and finally rally the group to leave. They came up with a number, for example 55 minutes. Customers were saying/complaining it takes so long to eat in that establishment.
Here's is what they found after comparing security video from ten years ago with security video from today. Ten years ago customers did not phones at the table, it was still considered rude and phone culture was different. I remember that one did not for example talk on the phone while in line at the grocery store, this was socially very rude. The video from today was an eye opener for the waiters and management because it showed customers going through a routine at the table that included the phone as a social element at ever juncture, thus taking up more customers time at the table. The average table time was 20 minutes longer than it was ten years ago.
The reason is that the customers would sit down and take photos of each other, or check email before taking a break for lunch. This activity would happen when the server would come to greet the table. It would often stall the drink order or get in the way of asking questions about the menu. Then customers would fidget with smart phones while looking at the menu often looking up dishes online to see what they were. This caused a time lag in ordering and the server would have to make more than one trip to the table t take the order and then firing the order with the kitchen would also be later in the seating. This of course sets the whole meal behind in average time per meal. Ten years ago the video showed the food order on average being fired several minutes earlier in the customers visit. This makes a big difference in terms of how long a party is at a table.
The customers also dallied longer after the meal to take more photos or check email before returning to work which in turn would the tie it took to pay the check. Not to mention the trip the server had to take to the table during the meal to snap a photo of the whole group together, which was a minute and a half of wasted time when the server could have been picking up food.
Fascinating. It made me think how much these phones do get involved in how culture works today. A smart phone is a good thing, however if used with common sense and not like an addiction. When I switched from the Motorola Razor flip phone which I really liked to big smart phone I was lost for a few weeks. But then it began to make sense and I could set up meetings, check email and annoy baristas and food servers as much as any person. But when I get another one in the future I will think where to use it according to that article.
In reality you really don't need to take a photo of everything you eat and post it to Facebook or Instagram.
Posts: 1531
Joined: Nov. 7 2008
From: New York City/San Francisco
RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to ToddK)
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Just curious about Foro members smart phone use.
I do not have a cell/smart phone. I only have a landline.
I made a decision years ago that i did not want to be one of these people that i see everywhere with their phone in their face constantly.
Thanks for voting! TK
If you negotiated international deals among 10 different time zones, 24/7, you would have it glued to your face/ear, as well, as I necessarily do. It is a very efficient portable office, but above all, it allows me to enjoy a few moments of life between calls and emails, without the anxiety of missing either.
However, I do envy those who have the luxury to only hear and read music, instead, and are not on their clients' (iPone) leash.
Posts: 6447
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy
RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to gj Michelob)
For the business and travelling community, a smart phone is an essential tool with unparalleled capabilities. Email, photos, video, calendars, web, maps, GPS directions, city guides, airline check-in, foreign language translation, hotel and restaurant reviews and booking, taxis, flight-train-bus status... the list is very long. Add them all up and there is a lot packed into a very small piece of hand luggage.
However, one will miss out on so much by not wandering aimlessly around a new place, not asking locals for directions, not picking up a few words by engaging in conversation, not popping into a dodgy bar, not getting on the wrong bus etc. Where a lot of my adventures started and are the stuff of memoirs.
Posts: 3497
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to estebanana)
Aside from my aversion to being tethered to a cell/smart phone and immediately available to anyone who wants to call, there is another reason I much prefer land lines to cell phones. When I am on my land line talking to someone using a cell phone, the cell phone invariably begins breaking up and coming in and out at some point in the conversation. It is really annoying (and highly inefficient) to have to ask one's interlocutor to "please repeat, you're breaking up" several times during the call.
Bill
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And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
Posts: 1607
Joined: Dec. 24 2007
From: Siegburg, Alemania
RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to Escribano)
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However, one will miss out on so much by not wandering aimlessly around a new place, not asking locals for directions, not picking up a few words by engaging in conversation, not popping into a dodgy bar, not getting on the wrong bus etc. Where a lot of my adventures started and are the stuff of memoirs.
I have a smart phone and find it great. I only use it when needed, still ask locals for directions and get on the wrong bus But, as you said it's great for re-booking flights, hotels etc. ...
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the cell phone invariably begins breaking up
Yeah, I hate that too. Plus you usually use land lines in a more quiet environment (i.e. not on a bustling street). I called Morante in Cádiz a couple of weeks ago (from the central plaza) and said I couldn't understand him very well (I do have a hearing problem ), so he asked "Do you speak Spanish?"
Here in Germany they're going to switch all "normal" land lines to VoIP-lines by next year. Up to now these don't seem to work any better than cell phones ....
Posts: 3487
Joined: Jan. 20 2004
From: Austin, Texas USA
RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to Estevan)
Speaking of iToilets:
We were living at Kwajalein, so we had no cellphones when we visited Kyoto. We had to use my clunky 17" Mac PowerBook G4 to search for an instruction manual. All we could find in a language either of us could understand was an ad in Russian. Apparently the oligarchs also enjoy having their nether regions sprayed and perfumed, with programmable water pressure.
RNJ
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RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to Estevan)
Richard,
Do not even get me started on Japanese toilets. They warm your buns, they sing to you, they offer you all kinds of services, and I'm sure some where there is toilet in Japan that has a smart phone built into it.
The most common public toilet sound is the mountain stream loop. The toilet has a speaker on it that when you sit down begins to play a babbling brook sounds track to cover up your own peeing noise.
Posts: 3532
Joined: Oct. 20 2003
From: Phoenix, AZ
RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to ToddK)
I have a new Moto G. Love it!
I use it to check email and (primarily for clients and gigs) and also make liberal use of the GPS/Map functions on my way to places I've never been or don't quite remember how to get there. This often includes private homes in communities many miles away. Because so many people in the musician-hiring business are young, it makes sense to communicate with them at their pace (in other words, don't make them wait a day before answering--they don't like that).
I have a kindergarten-age child and the messaging function is essential in communicating with just about any parent under 50. They rarely call or check phone messages and email is apparently passe. Given that I have to interact with these people for playdates, volunteering, or other joint activities, forgoing text messaging would simply be stubborn and inefficient.
My phone has a nice screen and I can look at websites fairly easily. I use it to catch up on forum things. Probably the biggest change is that whenever a question of knowledge occurs to me, I can use the voice recognition to ask it a question and see what Google has to say. It's sort of the same idea as looking up the definition of a word in the dictionary. I probably do this at least once a day.
I use the camera to take kid pictures. I also find that the video camera is the handiest way yet to take videos of myself for self-critique. It's a matter of propping it up against something, touching the screen a couple times, and then playing. In another two touches, you can watch/listen. It's a very fast way to record oneself, and the fewer hindrances, the better.
I do not use the phone in the car or in the presence of company, and despise those who do! I check it about once an hour, like when I'm on a break at a gig or when I get into my car--natural breaking points.
I do have a Facebook account which I can access on my desktop, but not my phone. I check it about once a month, and that's probably too much. Nor do I mess with Twitter or any other social media. They aren't for me.
I think the new phones are rather amazing tools--essentially mobile computers. However, they can be very addicting. Not using social media is the biggest thing, but you also need to make a conscious effort not to use it too much or else it will become a habit.
Posts: 6447
Joined: Jul. 6 2003
From: England, living in Italy
RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to Escribano)
I am awaiting a Pebble watch to try some ideas regarding travel and the like, as discussed and will be looking at the Apple Watch developer tools when they are released in November. Although a niche market, there will be some demand for serious apps on smart watches that communicate with your phone. I'll let you know how it goes.
RE: Do you own/use a smart phone? (in reply to Estevan)
I have had a smart phone (Android) for about 2 years now and I love it. If I have to go somewhere and don't know how to get there or think I'll get lost before I would print a map from Google Maps and bring it with me. The map could not always be printed to a reasonable scale so this could be a problem. Since I got the smartphone, goodbye printer.
I also have long commutes during which I like to listen to music so the smartphone replaces an iPod or whatever you use for music. It's also nice for having it in those situations when you do need to talk to or text somebody in order to meet up. You don't need to make yourself available 24/7. In fact mine is on silent 90% of the time so by having it I feel like it's actually harder for people to intrude in my life than before. If I don't want to be disturbed I simply don't look at it.
I actually don't enjoy using technology very much (even though I work with it and enjoy my job) and have never had a laptop or tablet. In fact I really hate tablets and would never get one. Smartphones though I think are great if you have some self-restraint. It's a phone, email, morning paper, walkman all rolled into one. I feel that I actually have less stuff now because I have one. Yes some people use it situations that are inappropriate in my opinion and get too attached but at the end of the day it's your choice how to use it.
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), so he asked "Do you speak Spanish?" 
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