Cell out
Comments: 9
I finally caved and got a cell phone. Yes, I feel dirty, but I’m working away from home now and want my daughter to be able to reach someone if need be (my wife never answers her phone, god bless her). Plus my quest to become a more social person is hampered without one: you ask someone when and where to meet and they look at you like you’re stupid and say, “Well just call me when you get close.” Right. Try finding a public phone these days.
But these are mere rationalisations. I really just wanted to be cool. And now I am. It feels great. I got a Sony Ericsson W21s, whatever that means. Turns out these really are cool. It has a camera and everything. The picture above is a view from my office window. Don’t worry about the picture quality — the camera was being faithful to a very grey day.
It’s quite weird that a telephone can play Flash and QuickTime media, but it can. And it has a GPS. And built-in pepper spray in case I get attacked by a bear. And a can opener. My favourite feature is the mood sensor. When I’m down and things aren’t going so well, a soothing female voice that sounds like Lauren Bacall whispers, “Don’t worry. You’re the best. Everything’s going to be OK.”
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Posted to Oh, the Humanity • 2004.09.10 (Fri) • 22:15
Comments
Posted by habi 2004.09.10, 23:36
i want that phone (mostly for the female-voice-part)
Posted by Kristen 2004.09.11, 07:08
You ought to have paid the extra 2000 yen for the corkscrew model. Unopened cans just don’t cross one’s path as often as unopened wine.
Posted by jh 2004.09.11, 08:01
Oh, I can subscribe to the corkscrew on Ezweb for ¥105/month.
Posted by Donnie Jeter 2004.09.11, 08:31
Sadly, I just got my second cell phone. Apparently the business I work for needs me to be available at all times! Oh Thank GOD!
Posted by Zelnox 2004.09.11, 12:03
It’s funny, because I thought almost everyone in Japan had a mobile phone. Hehe.
Posted by Paul 2004.09.11, 14:14
Not everybody yet. 86M out of 120M, but the missing 34M are all probably over 80yo… and who needs a mobile at that age…
Posted by David Hooper 2004.09.11, 15:51
Now that you’ve got the phone, go to Ebay and get the attachments that make it as annoying as possible. The ring tones, the keypad that looks like a Vegas casino when it rings, etc. Makes you really feel dirty…
Posted by Kevin LaCoste 2004.09.19, 13:19
Welcome to the herd Jeremy. What ever you do, don’t email or play games while you’re walking down the street and you’ll be fine. I hate that!
I’m also on the prowl for a new phone now. I think I’ll be settling for an older model at that beautiful 1 yen price point. For my money, Vodafone has the best designs but my office is one level underground (I know, the horrors) and only AU and DoCoMo get reception there.
Posted by jh 2004.09.19, 13:31
Kevin —- I can’t even talk on the thing when I’m walking down the street: I park myself off to one side and look sheepish.
To be honest, I generally keep it on silent mode and in my bag. If I remember, I’ll check it to see if anyone’s called. Somewhat ironically, the chances of anyone catching me on my cell phone are not terribly good. ;-)
I’m a big fan of enhanced —- rather than enforced —- connectivity.
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