Blessing or Curse

Is your cell phone an occasional convenience or a constant necessary business tool?

Do you like to be constantly available to all and sundry who might decide to call you or do you like being having time free from interruptions?

How essential have they become to everyone from kids to grannies?

Everyone has their own answers and reasons why they want or don't want such a convenience.

I like having one, although I can go days without sending or receiving a call or text. Sometimes I even forget to turn it on. It'd be different if I depended on it for business, but it's just for my convenience when I'm out that I have it. I've had several different models and now have a Samsung Galaxy S, which is more computer than phone I'm thinking. Someday I'll learn to use more of the functions and download more 'apps'. In the meantime, I'm thankful for a son-in-law who is a computer guy and comes over to solve my problems.

My husband, on the other hand, lives and dies by his Blackberry. This past weekend was a real challenge for him. His phone 'white screened' on Friday. He couldn't even turn it off without taking the battery out. There was no place open all weekend where he could get it fixed. One outlet told him that when the phone white screens it has to be totally reset...meaning that he'd lose all his data. He went into withdrawal...depression...frustration...you name it. Easily 80% of his business is conducted via Blackberry. The chiefs call and text him at any time of the day or night. All his contacts (and he has hundreds), all his appointments, travel claim information, etc. are in his Blackberry - with no backup or easy paper source. He was lost. On the upside, he had a peaceful weekend without the nuisance of phone calls and text messages. Finally on Monday he was able to take his phone back to where he bought it only to be told that the software had crashed, as we had already been told. They fixed it - loaded new software - and gave it back to him, completely empty of all his important information. He'll be spending hours inputting his contact list, contacting his assistant for his appointment schedule (he has missed several appointments already) and recreating his business life.

I think we have become too dependent on these little tyrants. When they rebel and trash our vital information, we're lost.

I'm going to use my phone for fun and convenience. I still have an old-fashioned paper address book, and write appointments on an old fashioned wall calendar. While I love and appreciate all this new technology, I'm going to remember to keep paper backups of important stuff. No paperless world for me!

And Lloyd's happy now and looking forward to retirement when he can use his cell phone for enjoyment rather than as a business tool.