ideas

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Privacy.. Is that too much to ask for?
At times I find it very frustrating to own a cell phone! Everyone owns one irrespective of their age and requirements. I was traveling in a bus, when I came across a school girl, say about 12 years of age talking incessantly over the cell! She spoke so much that she had forgotten to buy herself a ticket and worse she did not even realize it. Anyone standing near her would have known all about her, her school, her place of residence, her plans for the weekend, and her new crush at school. That’s all I managed to listen because after that I was lost in my thoughts.
The fact that you are accessible to everyone at all times of the day makes everyone to take you for granted. People just do not have the basic courtesy as to what time of the day they can call! Even if you keep it on silent mode and the call goes unattended the other person would be sure that you would know he had called and worse expect you to return the call. Supposing you returned the call after a few hours, they even take the right to question you as to what you were doing all the time! Once I switched off my cell and the next morning I got a message from my network operator that I could view all those who had called while my phone was switched off by sending a message! Damn these money makers! Anyways, I got down to my work and after a few days I realized that my friend was upset that I had not returned her call! She called me a miser for not subscribing to that service!
Messaging, a boon during college hours is a pain during other times. Almost all phones show whether the messages have been delivered or not! I have seen so many people staring at their phones to just see if it says ‘Message Delivered’. Moreover, even if the phone is switched off the other person will know when exactly you have switched on your cell and the questioning session begins! Doubts, to a certain extent can be cleared by way of a message but not the entire sum! If you ask the other person to call, he will tell you that since your messages are free you can message. Even if you offer to call he will say that he is outside and cannot speak freely. Apparently he is multi-tasking!
I went to enquire about computer classes in a nearby place. He was explaining the course contents, the fees and certification details which were rather confusing in his pamphlet. In that half an hour, he had got four calls and five messages which he very patiently attended to. Each time he would finish attending the call and say ‘Yeah, so any other doubts?’ Well, I did want to ask if he was the most wanted person in the country or rather if he thought so.
Fine, the guy there need not respect me but I did expect my friend, whom I had not visited for long to speak to me. But that was not so! He sat right opposite to me and would start saying ‘Hey, you know what happened?......’ As you guessed all I heard after that was a beep and he was replying to that message. The worst part of this incident was that he looked up and said ‘So, what is happening in your life?’
But I do agree that there are occasions when I felt that my cell phone saved my life! So, I very meekly decided to accept that every coin is two sided!

1 Comments:

Blogger Srinath Varadarajan said...

There is also another point.... cell phones do not allow you to express emotions,., you cannot show anger or a joke can be taken seriously. there is a lot of difference in speaking directly and over a message....you will find that some people will not talk directly on the face but will show assertiveness in a message. cell phones allow less bold and less true people to survive.

also cell phones help you to manage your time "badly"..... you can just say i am coming rite away i am at a traffic jam etc etc... "you can keep the guy informed" :)

1:08 PM  

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