Schools Urged to Ban Camera Phones

[Lee Shively]

It's not surprising how cell phones have gained in popularity. Have you tried to use a pay phone lately? That is, if you can find one? Mom and pop pay phone companies seem to be everywhere with no consistency whatsoever. My wife tried to use a pay phone last week that had a voice recognition system. Of course it could not recognize her voice. Another oddity--cell phone service areas. In some places, if you turn your phone toward the north, you are on "Roam" but a turn to the west can mean you have full "Home" service or "No Service".

I really am becoming a Luddite. :confused:

 

[Max Power]

On trips to the USA over the last 5 years I'm AMAZED at how rare phones are. Until about two years ago I saw very few even among profesionals. I certainly saw none in use in the street. The last time I was over a year ago, they were relativly common amon the attendees of the conference I was at (hi-tech, hi-salary), but still none in the street.

In the UK, I'd guess 80% of the population has them, and that increases to about 99% of under 30's. EVERYONE has a phone.
Ian

If I'm not mistaken, isn't part of the reason that mobiles are so common in Europe is due to the billing system? In NA, (or Canada at least) on is billed a flat-rate for monthly local use; there are various plans for long-distance, but it is still cheap. My understanding is that in Europe, one is billed on a per call basis and as such, mobiles become much more advantageous. Is this true?

 

[Aggie]

We switched our land line phone to one that goes through our cable line. Now it is one flat rate for local and long distance a month. It is also a whole lot cheaper than it use to be with a lot more features. There are three of us in the house and each of us has a cell phone. I for one want to go back to carrier pigeons.