h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, yes of course. It's a rather daft question really as until about 20 years ago, about 6 billion people were born, lived and died without ever using a mobile phone. I have never owned a mobile phone and the only times I've used one have been borrowing one on rare occasions from friends to make a specific call. I have a rounded, enjoyable, fulfilling and meaningful life. And no mobile phone!

I like gadgets in considerable moderation: I have an iPod, only now replaced after the original I had for 5 years died and could not be resuscitated. I have a quality digital SLR, a modern computer which will be my last unless it becomes genuinely useless or breaks irretrievably and a wonderful Hi-Fi (which I bought in 1987 and it's still doing just fine). But really, that's it - no car, no motorcycle, I don't fly, I have no freezer and I got rid of my TV in 2003 and what a relief that was!

The idea that we can't live without a luxury is a very strange modern phenomenon which really shines a light on the madness that it modern life in the minority world:

Can't live without air. True.
Can't live without food. True
Can't live without water. True
Can't live without mobile phone. Errrrrr

I suppose if you have to tell your loved one that the 6:15 train will be arriving at ... 6:15 (or more likely 6:17), then maybe you do. If you have to tell your friend that you're about to break and rearrange your 6 o'clock meeting because you can do that with a mobile, then maybe you do. If you never take a book with you on a train and get so bored that you want to ring loads of people from your address book, then maybe you do. If you have to know that you can be in touch with everyone all the time, then maybe you do.

Personally, that doesn't really fit me. So I don't have one. And there's always the expense as well.

I find my phone handy at times. But I also go for long walks in the woods without it. Just off to do that now, actually.

TRiG.

I have a mobile and I want a new one (dunno why, just do) I rarely use my mobile and I'm 14!

Yes it is possible to live without a mobile but if you urgently need to say phone the police or an ambulance because there has been an accident then yes you need one.

Quite right actually - especially as you can't find a working telephone box at all these days!!

yes you could live without.... yes I could live without..but I find it very useful living on a boat.

I'm 21. I am currently on my second mobile, and in both cases, I was forced to get one by my own mother. You know, I really envied people who begged for one. Why couldn't I have had parents who didn't want to spend the money?

Anyway, I keep mine off at all times unless someone has specifically asked me to have it on in case of some sort of emergency. Otherwise, it's just too bloody annoying to have everybody calling me 24/7 asking things like "Are we still continuing with the plans we made earlier." Bah.

Let's take a look at the questions...

* How have mobile phones affected your life?

They've made it significantly less pleasant. Before, I was living somewhat happily. The I get a mobile, and people are pestering me at all hours of the day, and seem to have a particular knack for calling right when I'm in the middle of something. That's why I was glad when my first one got stolen. Suddenly, people had to accept that once in a while, I would be unavailable.

This brings up quite possibly the worst aspect of these accursed devices. People seem think that I am never doing anything important, and they can just interrupt me whenever they feel like it. If I dare to turn it off, they get all indignant about not being able to ask me about what I might intend on eating for dinner that evening (to which the answer is always "I have no idea.")

Still, that's not the worst. The worst is when it goes off on a darkened road as I'm cycling home. This necessitates dropping down to 2/2 gear in order to stop, then awkwardly reaching into my pocket or backpack pouch, pulling it out, and unlocking the keypad. By this point the caller has generally hung up, so I end up calling back...to be greeted with "What time are you going to be home."

* Do you own one? If so, when did you buy your first mobile?

I do own one, but like I said, it was forced upon me. I got my first one when I started college.

* Are you a gadget lover? Do you hanker for the latest all-in-one superphone with the newest features? Are you the type of person who would rather buy, say, a good camera and an iPod rather than relying on the features onboard your phone?

I do like gadgets, but within reason. I would rarely get a device if there's no need to own one - for example, a mobile phone.

Often, it seems that the more features a device has, the less effective at actually performing those features it is. And at any rate, no all-in-one gadget is every quite as good as a dedicated device.

Case in point - the clock. I am right now wearing a moderately priced digital watch. Unlike a mobile phone clock, my watch can tell the time down to the second. It can also tell the time in different time zones, has a built-in alarm, stopwatch, and countdown options, and works underwater. I'm not sure how many of those features a mobile has, but I'm pretty sure it's less. (Also, my watch is more accurate. Plus, it has a compass attaced, which I added myself).

Another case in point is cameras. Now, for most people, a small digital camera in the mobile is probably a useful device. Those things have certainly come on in leaps and bounds since they first appeared. However, I am in possession of a very powerful, very expensive, and incredibly good dedicated digital camera, which I am still trying to work out all the features of. Given ownership of such a device, there's absolutely no reason all all why I might want a small, much inferior version on a telephone.

* Are you worried about the long-term health effects of mobile phone usage?

Not at all. I think they've been either greatly exaggerated or outright fabricated. I am, however, distinctly concerned about people who talk on them while driving.

* Is the wristwatch on its way out, as more and more people use their phones for timekeeping and their morning alarm?

Hard to say. People do seem to be relying less and less on clocks and watches, though I can't ever see them going extinct. I myself am a heavy sleeper, and a mobile alarm is simply to quiet to wake me up. I need a loud, proper alarm clock, though I recognise this may not apply to everyone.

* Have you ever lost your mobile phone or had it stolen? How much of an inconvenience was it for you?

My first one was stolen, and it didn't inconvenience me in the slightest. At least one person I know remarked that dealing with me was like the old days, where people made plans and stuck to them.

* Have you ever accidentally sent or received any embarrassing text messages?

I have never sent an embarrassing text message, because I don't send texts. Ever. At all. Period. In fact, I think they should be banned.

I may or may not have received some, but I delete any texts I get without reading them. People who have my number are aware of this, but that doesn't seem to stop them.

* What do you think the future holds for the mobile phone market? Free calls to anywhere in the world? Or perhaps a built-in video editing suite?

No idea. I would, however, like to nominate an area in which they could be dramatically improved: a blocked calls list. This would function exactly like an email blacklist, and would consist of a set of numbers stored on the mobile to which it would refuse to establish a connection. If a banned person attempted to dial a number from which they were banned, they would automatically receive a busy signal, and the person they had attempted to dial would never know of the incident. This, I feel, would slash the cyberbullying endemic in schools.

* Is it possible to live without a mobile phone?

Absolutely. People have been managing just fine for millenia. (It's strange...my own parents grew up without mobiles, yet they insist the darn things are a necessity.)

if you dont give out your number freely your calls will be nominal,
if you keep your mobile number off forms you wont be bothered
commercially. sensible use - no problem.. these toys/tools/gadgets are as useful or annoying as you want to make them..........