Dear all, I am debating the point - are mobile phones useful or wasteful?
The answer is both. It's useful in emergencies. It's wasteful more often than useful. I have seen people becoming zoombies of mobile phones and without it in their hands, their hands start shaking and feel handicapped!! If it doesn't ring after sometime, they switch off and switchon just to check if the connectivity is still there? It hasmade us more impatient!! Many people ask me do you carry a mobile? If I say yes, immediately thay want the number, to call me at any time of their convenience and disturb me. When I tell them, you can call me on a landline 24x7 operation and leave a message, they are not satisfied. Their ego is hurt, if they think, they can't have the right to reach me directly any time of the day or night!! To me even land lines are a big nuisance. Their ring is so disturbing o the environment. Especially when someone is not at the desk and it goes on ringing!! Particularly intercoms!! I have had the misfortune of being a witness to all the drama that goes on when you call on someone. When I have just started the conversation, the phone rings - both os us are instantly disturbed and the conversation gets discontinued; he / she immediately puts out his hand and grabs a telephone receiver, only to relaise that is not the phone!! so goes on trying one after another, till he / she picks up the right one!! Most conversations are avoidable and are just mutual flattery. I think hardly 10% real business is dome over phone concversations, except by thos who are real business minded!I have been witness to many conversations, not worth mentioning. Ofcourse everything depends on the status of the caller and receiver. The telephone proves the axiom: "You are powerful before the poweless; and powerless before the powerful". Many traffic accidents happen due to mobile phones being attended while driving! The best is to have silent messaging solution so the the receiver can see the message at his / her convenience and respond!! The computer should become an auto recording of the call, answering machine and voice recorder. I may sound negative but that's how the picture looks like. It's high time, we get away from these disturbing devices in the name of promoting ICt and bridging the digital divide!! -- Kris Dev, for Tr-Ac Net, Chennai Transparency and Accountability A global, not-for-profit, Network http://Tr-Ac-Net.blogspot.com http://TrAcNet.blogspot.com http://ll2b.blogspot.com ------------------------------- With Peter Burgess, Tr-Ac Net, New York [EMAIL PROTECTED] "You are not going to have moral people until you have moral institutions. You will not have moral citizens until you have a moral government." "You are not going to have moral people until you have moral institutions. You will not have moral citizens until you have a moral government." _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
