“Rachel Crosby speaks about her BlackBerry phone the way someone might speak of an embarrassing relative. ‘I’m ashamed of it,’ said Ms. Crosby, a Los Angeles sales representative who said she had stopped pulling out her BlackBerry at cocktail parties and conferences. In meetings, she says she hides her BlackBerry beneath her iPad for fear clients will see it and judge her.” Other products many people own but feel ashamed about: sex toys. So essentially, the BlackBerry is now the equivalent of a vibrator. In all seriousness though – why feel ashamed because of a phone? Are people really that shallow? I’m really getting too old for this stuff.
Some people are superficial and, if you’re that shallow, you’ve got other things to be embarrassed about. Why, exactly, is this news?
It is getting more common. People used to think being shallow was bad, now they think it is hip, and they line up to all step in line to be 100% rounded hipster squares.
An Apple fanboy once said to me “You should be proud about your phone”.
“Proud” is such an odd choice of word. I was proud of my wife when she got her first job in her new career. I was proud of my younger brother when he got engaged. I was even proud of my best mate when he graduated. And, I wont lie, there’s times when I’m vein enough to be proud of my own achievements. But I’m never –and I repeat, NEVER— proud to own a mass-produced consumer electronic. That’s not an achievement. It’s not even an interesting topic of conversation down the pub, let alone any kind of footnote in ones life that one should be proud of.
I don’t mean to single Apple out like this and I know you get idiots like that outside of the Cupertino’s RDF as well. But that was just the most recent example that sprung to mind.
Edited 2012-10-16 22:56 UTC
It’s a social and regional thing. Where I live, whenever I go on the subway, I see people using all kinds of phones, from the latest new and shiny to some 10 year relics. Yes, people still use them.
The phone is just a tool, a few levels above a hammer, but still a tool.
I remember when I was a kid and got my first electronic watch, they were a big thing back then, I would sleep with it, on my pillow, keep it where I could look at it, when I see people, adults (not just Apple users, though they make good targets:)), doing the same with their phones …
… and on the other corner of the street you see three young twats bragging about who’s completely equivalent eyephone is better :]
sadly shallow is the monkey creature…
Aye, well, I *am* one of the people who uses a phone that’s approaching a decade old. Seven years, to be precise – an HTC Wizard. I bought it because it had a phone, keyboard, diary and note-taking-thingie, and I could get Telnet and Usenet clients for it. All the above still work, so I’ve never really felt like I needed a replacement.
I can’t say I recall ever having gotten any odd looks when pulling it out – although I did get asked last year whether it was the new Nokia(!) – and I find it hard to imagine anyone laughing at me for my choice of phone.
Well yes but, since it’s getting so common, how is it news?
Yeah it is really sad.
Especially for women, all you get are messages about how your entire self worth should be based on how you look and are seen.
It is one of the worst degradations in society I have seen in the past 30 years.
You can see it even in things like Gundam. First series it was an equal opportunity fest for the oddly shaped and ugly. Now it is just a parade of pretty boys and girls.
Everything is twisting this way. We don’t even accept oddly shaped fruit or veg these days. It is so perverse.
Don’t look at the past through rose-coloured glasses (what do you think, say, folk dresses were? A lot of effort and/or resources wasted on such by our ancestors, instead some loftier pursuits; past people just had less and/or different means towards vanity)
So maybe Gundam changed, but there’s plenty more media tackling the “uncomfortable” stuff.
And modern societies do MUCH better WRT treatment of the “imperfect” people…
Well, for you and others that looks to be at peace with who they are, and have the self confidence to not be ‘shallow’ it won’t be news but a common fact that you accept/dislike with society nowadays.
But if we think of this as a tip of the hat to the sociological issue pertaining to technology and our society in general, then it has some merit as news still.
It sort of points to the question:
Are we fully in the era of the ‘Rise of The Sheep’? Is the Thinking Individuals Era done?
…enter Foundation Series references as applicable
Thom, we _are_ getting too old for this stuff.
Kevin on CrackBerry has http://crackberry.com/crackberry-asks-are-you-embarrassed-your-blac… , and a survey on user shame, skewed well towards unashamed.
Speaking for myself, I just shake my head when seeing personal worth being measured by what devices a person uses. As for the complaints, I wonder how many of those are due to experiences with older devices, or just iPhone envy.
*BlackBerry by choice!*
Funny read. We have iPhones (4S) for work phones and I was always embarrassed to pull it out of my pocket in public. I generally don’t want to see myself as an Apple supporter or someone 30 years my senior who use these things. I scored a HTC Desire S, dropped ICS on it and am proud to pull it out of my pocket. Where I live all the iPhone users (the majority of Sphones) look down on everyone else – pricks.
It pretty much shows how this whole business works.
Really few people have any need for the most advanced smartphones, still the average consumer will go for them just not to be told by the average asshole how stupid (s)he is for not buying an iPhone.
I use a “dumbphone” after owning a HTC desire. I hate all the smart phone stuff and people look down at me as I am sort of Dinosaur … I am a 29 year old, web developer.
With patents such as this:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u…
I’m keeping my Motorola v9m.
Heh, amen. I have some old Nokia “dumbphone” (I don’t even know the model) but that’s nothing I’m ashamed off.
Sure, it could be fun to have a fancy smartphone but it’s not really something I want to spend that kind of money on.
My phone works as a, oh wonders, phone and has sms texts. It even has two games for killing time and can play MP3’s. It’s already doing more than I need it to.
Type *#0000# when in main screen.
….first-world problems.
this, a thousand times!
Really, you hit the nail on the head.
Miss Something Orother from LA is worried what people think about her phone OH NOES!!11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3dKWB8mKt0
Maybe, stop pulling out your phone to show off? Anyone who pulls out their phone to use conspicuously is nothing more than Mr Bean flashing his credit card around every time he gets it out to buy something. The only word for these kinds of people is: arsehole.
OK so “proud” may not be the best word to use for some. When I said proud I meant “feel good/glad not to be an iPhone user like everyone else”. To me it’s just a tool for work. My personal phone is an old Nokia N73 so don’t get me wrong I’m no hi tech consumer: E.g. My family TV is still an old CRT in the lounge room with a shitty no name STB and a universal remote LOL! My kids don’t care, neither do I…
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1756.html
The BB is loved in the Philippines? More than other smart phones? Wow, really? I live here and I didn’t know that. Maybe in the corporate space but for private use? I don’t think so.
I’m not sure fictional cartoon characters provide a reliable source for statistical information, but it’s not rare for “facts” to contradict personal experience.
Who the heck is Rachel Crosby and why should I, or anyone else for that matter, give a rats ass that’s she’s obviously a dumbass?
Edited 2012-10-17 07:19 UTC
What gets me is that she is worried about what people think about her because of what phone she has … not the substance of her actual character.
This type of shit has gone on since the start of human history … there are those that are insecure and follow the herd and there are those that are secure in themselves and do what they please.
Edited 2012-10-17 19:22 UTC
http://www.kyon.pl/img/21554,women,photo,facebook,.html
And yeah, “has gone on since the start of human history” – quite a few posts above express the sentiment as if that’s something ~new …but we have a long history of positional or even veblen goods, make-up, fashion, and so on. We even cherish many of those as parts of “good old culture” – monuments or folk dresses for example, which typically required great effort and/or waste of time & resources …basically largely just to show off, and certainly taking time & resources from more lofty pursuits.
If you’re going to make that statement you should probably give examples from, you know, the world and not only the U.S.
“Hatchet Job” is a pretty accurate description of this article and I don’t even like the BB (had one at my previous employer).
It’s a sign of the times. You better speak “cool smartphone” or else you are a thing of the past. Join or be left behind.
I do speak “cool smartphone”, but I’m a dinosaur when it comes to twitter, facebook, instagram. At a certain age you stop making sense of new phenomenons.
I miss Instant Messaging. It was quick, personal and far better than self-publishing every boring minutiae of your life on a site where others leave feedback by telling you if they like it. Sadly, in my nook of the world IM seems completely dead.
I couldn’t agree more. In the past year or two, I’ve done a few installations of a PHP/MySQL app called AjaxChat – it’s essentially a clone of the basic functionality of IRC. And it’s always amusing to see the first reactions from people who are more accustomed/only accustomed to “modern” social media.
There’s almost always someone who comments “oh wow, it’s like twitter, but instant!” And occasionally, there will be someone who’s slightly more tech-savvy and will instead compare it to MSN Messenger, “but with multiple people”.
As they say, “everything old is new again” – at least if the majority of the audience has forgotten the “old” (or was unaware of it to begin with).
A chap said to me “Lets face it, your real mates are people you go down the pub with”.
The British drinking culture aside … he was completely correct. Your real friends are the people you spend time with.
Or you mostly try to avoid new phenomenons, them sucking out your time for little perceived gain really (as concluded after some period of more active usage) – I mean, does “making sense” requires now constant participation?*
But did IM ever really left? Well, I wouldn’t know about your place, but maybe look beyond the “classic” IM networks of ICQ (which does live on in CIS), AOL, or MSN… (none of which was really very popular at my place BTW; we have our own monstrosity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gadu-Gadu )
…first, there’s SMS. Which is IM, really, especially considering it often has conversation view on more modern phones. On those you also have more overt “mobile IM” networks (BBM, Apple one, Whatsapp). And IM tied to other services – like FB or Gmail/Gtalk (which is also integrated into Android, and can be used from any native XMPP client). Also Skype – perhaps used mostly for voice & video, but from what I see people do use its IM capacity (at the least, when explaining why they can’t do VoIP at the moment)
*and twitter & co. are a good supplement to IM & mail – a place for all the “interesting spam” people sent via mail or IM to buddies. Now, when they contact somebody directly, it’s more likely to be something really pertaining to that person.
Edited 2012-10-19 20:28 UTC
I remember a friend telling me a story that he worked at an advertising company and that he “had” to have an iPhone or his clients would not take him seriously, or think that he was not “creative” enough. So he 2 phones: the work iPhone and a regular dumb phone for personal use.
When it comes to shame and embarrassment I think nothing can beat ring tones. Especially the “funny” ones. It doesn’t matter what type of phone plays them.
Often they are not funny or only slightly funny, but after you heard them a number of times they become very annoying.
I do think you always need to change the default ring tone to something else, otherwise it seems you haven’t read the manual or just not plain smart enough to figure it out yourself.
DIE CRAZY FROG, DIE!!111 (especially for hijacking Popcorn; quite a few people seem to connect it mostly with Crazy Frog – when they hear Hot Butter or M & H Band versions, it’s ~”oh, somebody remade the Crazy Frog song?”)
BTW, recently I had an idea of using as a ring tone a ~16s music composed by myself :> – in the demo of 1998 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_(software) (~16s or so being the demo limit). It came out rather nice, especially for a ring tone; also has a short section very suitable for “SMS sound” – and it would be, you know, unique. :>
Now, if only I could find it… (on a compact cassette or… notes scribbled on a piece of paper :p )
As a side note, on the topic of ring tones and stupid relatives (which we sort of discussed once, IIRC) – imagine a couple who knows how to change ring tones in their mobiles, I definitely heard one day the effects of such change …but they reverted it to (horrible IMHO, but NVM that) operator-default one. Yes, both use the same operator. Yes, it usually ends up with “who’s mobile is ringing?!”
Never took you for a musician, then again 16 seconds doesn’t really qualify you as one I guess.
A number of people have iPhones at work, even if some manage to change the ringtone they still get confused when they hear the old one.
I’ve used tunes from C64 games on a number of occasions.:
http://www.hvsc.c64.org/
Wait, what is that supposed to mean?!
(especially since judged just from the handful of comments we exchange)
And you know, being a ringtone composer might be nothing to shrug at – Nokia tune is heard 1.8 billion times per day… ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_tune )
Though TBH, my composition might be not particularly well suited to a mobile phone – it was relatively bass-heavy (not some “dance club thumping” – just the overall arrangement)
A buddy of mine set his “SMS sound” for Windows error sound – apparently it was often quite disturbing for other passengers in trams, buses, etc.
One thing I often get is why I don’t have the latest in laptop/computers.
My response is “Show how you will solve this problem on your up-to-date super computer” then point out one of the weird problems I work on for fun.
Of-course they can’t since people who do ask such questions are usually the people who know the least about computer.
I can answer that question wrt phones 1000 times over.
A series of examples from this very morning: I take banjo lessons. My instructor lost his tuner so he used a tuner on his iphone that worked great. I then made a recording using a free app on my S3 and instantly uploaded it to dropbox so he could listen to it also. On my way home I listened to the mp3 I’d made by streaming via bluetooth to my car stereo.
None of that would be possible with a crappy phone from a few years ago.
Having said all that, I totally agree wrt to laptops. I think real computers are stuck in a timewarp circa 1999. Hardware improves but nothing of importance really changes.
Seriously when you use a blackberry it does say something meaningful about you, your technical acumen and how in touch you are with technology trends.
Blackberry fell because blackberry sucks and because their phones from a year ago might as well be from the 90s compared to a Galaxy S3 or Iphone 5.
If your job has nothing to do with tech, who cares. However if it does, I think you are right to be embarrassed and other people are right to judge you as “out of it”. Not as a bad person but probably someone I would wonder about in a work scenario.
It’s like all the jokes about how people with @aol email addresses are perceived. It is *totally* valid.
I can see where you are coming from and in a small part I agree with you.
But I don’t think that keeping up with technology trends equates to technical acumen most of the time, as actually witnessed with a lot of people nowadays.
I have known too many people – please see my handle ;-), who thinks they are using these new ‘technologies’ and they think they are part of an elite ubergeek ubernerd fashizzle squad. But when tested, they fail miserably when their technical acumen is tested at a deeper-than-user level. In fact, they bolster their technical deficiencies with ‘user skills’ not ‘developer skills’.
There are people who _purposefully_ choose not to adhere to these technological trends wholesale, or they do so in a slow incremental way, because they see things differently.
Side Note:
Heh, after lurking for so many years in this site, I have finally registered myself and actually am now conversing with fellow users – must be me getting sentimental with these ole bones.
Well, this whole thread ended up a bit in the “grumpy old men” fashion, it’s only apt you chimed in ;p
i used to pull out my iphone a bit more and set it on the bar/table than i do now. i had all the treo’s from palm and those used to really intimidate people and get them talking.
part of it is because now 70% of the room has the same iphone i do but with an uglier case.
part of it is i stopped being ‘amazed’ and ‘proud’ of these things years ago (well ok i am actually still amazed by it, and proud of apple’s engineers).
when you are either proud, amazed, or looking to boost your own fragile ego, you show off your shiny slab.
when in public i generally keep mine in my pocket, in it’s case, because it is very very very very very important to me and i don’t want all the judgmental arseholes who hate apple customers indiscriminately giving me the evil eye. you are just jealous of my freedom from rebooting. ever.
after all, i run several of my lives from this 100g piece of glass and aluminum in my pocket. proof is in the pudding.
Edited 2012-10-17 21:18 UTC
This crap (the smartphone-as-status-symbol) has become completely absurd, I’m tempted to start carrying my old Treo again just out of contrarianism.
Personally, I get a kick out of the odd looks & other reactions when I use obsolete tech in public… not sure if that’s a geek thing, or just my inner child/troll at play. There’s this ancient NEC “portable” that I like to haul down to the coffee shop sometimes and when people ask about it, I *usually* manage to keep a straight face when extolling its virtues. Dual floppy drives AND a “naturally-lit” screen (aka it has no backlight).
I’m tempted to find some old rabbit ears and try to convince people that I have it connected to wifi.
Outhipping the hipsters?
Coincidentally, recently I dug out and repaired (the belt needed a replacement, old one ~fossilised after a decade) my old walkman… unfortunately, using it is not very visible (has auto reverse, controls on the headphone cable)
Hm, now I’m thinking about bringing to ~Starbucks my Groma Kolibri :> ( http://typewriters.ch/collection/groma_kolibri.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJvGiU_UyEQ possibly the smallest mass-produced one; a proto-ultrabook
)
http://www.csectioncomics.com/2010/11/iphone-vs-android-vs-blackber…
People are ridiculously quick to judge others based on trivialities, just as they are ridiculously thin skinned as to what others think.