Rise of the cell phone

[cordex]

I think full cell coverage has only been a thing for about 10 years.

Full coverage on interstates, maybe, but I had to put in a microcell at my house because of lack of coverage.  There are large areas in my woods I don't get anything at all, and there are only a couple of places at neighbor's that I can get a signal.

[zahc]

Cell phones also killed the phenomena of "waiting for a phone call", which was a longstanding thing created in turn by landline phones. Video killed the radio star.

I also hate how tobacco cessation killed the smoke break, without replacing it with any worthy substitute.

[WLJ]

Cell phones also killed the phenomena of "waiting for a phone call", which was a longstanding thing created in turn by landline phones. Video killed the radio star.

I also hate how tobacco cessation killed the smoke break, without replacing it with any worthy substitute.

Water break

[MechAg94]

Cell phones also killed the phenomena of "waiting for a phone call", which was a longstanding thing created in turn by landline phones. Video killed the radio star.

I also hate how tobacco cessation killed the smoke break, without replacing it with any worthy substitute.

Every time I watch Airplane, I wonder when people will just be confused by the smoking plane ticket he bought.

[WLJ]

Every time I watch Airplane, I wonder when people will just be confused by the smoking plane ticket he bought.

Every once in awhile to mess with younger hosts when asked how many at a restaurant I'll say two (or whatever) non smoking. Some will stand there stuck between gears trying to figure it out.

[cordex]

Water break

Around here it is the 45 minute toilet break.

[HankB]

I think full cell coverage has only been a thing for about 10 years.  I recall in the late 2000's you could get good cell coverage on I-10, but if you pulled off I-10, the cell coverage dropped out within a mile or two. 
Now days, I can stream youtube videos on a cross country trip and hardly ever hit a dead zone.

I was in Big Bend National Park for a few days last month. In much of the park, cell coverage was nonexistent. The lodge DID have WiFi you could use for talk and text. I found out my lady friend's IPhone could pick it up about 75 yards further away than my Samsung phone would.

[JTHunter]

Do any of you remember those "candy bar" phones where you bought the phone then bought varying amounts of minutes?
That was my first phone from the late 90s.  Since about '04, my mother and I have been on my brother's plan, using flip phones.  He had to change us both about 8 years ago when "3 G" was being turned off.  He also switched from Verizon to AT&T so I now have an AT&T flip phone from LG.  It does NOT have internet access nor "texting" even though I have received a few text messages that I have basically ignored.
Only my brother and S-i-L have "smart" phones.

[Perd Hapley]

“The 90s” covers a lot of ground when it comes to cell phones.

Early 90s I only saw them in movies and TV. About 94 my dad had an employer-provided brick phone. I never used it and I probably only saw him use it a couple times. It wasn’t until the late 90’s that I started to see personally owned flip phones more commonly. I didn’t own my own until about 2004 and used lots of pay phones before that.

That's (vaguely) how I remember it, and why it doesn't ring true (ha-ha) with me to say the 90s is a pre-cellphone era. You definitely saw them in movies, and the self-important rich guy yakking on his cellular phone was a stock character. They were still not ubiquitous, but definitely there. The movie Speed came out in 1994, and both pay phones and cell phones were important props in that movie. That's very 90s.

Then by the late 90s, cell phones were popping up all over the place, in real life, even for those in the lower tax brackets.

[HeroHog]

We got our 1st cell when the RatShack Bag Phone was a pretty good choice for those who lacked the big bucks. As an added plus, they tended to have more power and range than the dinky hand helds.

[Perd Hapley]

Has anyone else noticed that 100% of the people having conversations over Bluetooth earbuds are black? 100%

[JTHunter]

Has anyone else noticed that 100% of the people having conversations over Bluetooth earbuds are black? 100%

Nope. I see a fair number of "non-PoCs" using buds.  My brother just retired from being an OTR trucker and uses his to answer his smart phone while driving.

[WLJ]

Speaking of cell phones Verizon was reporting some fairly large outages today and now so are AT&T and T-Moble.

[Tuco]

Has anyone else noticed that 100% of the people having conversations over Bluetooth earbuds are black? 100%

This has not been my experience. Not even close.

[WLJ]

Has anyone else noticed that 100% of the people having conversations over Bluetooth earbuds are black? 100%

Nope

[WLJ]

Speaking of cell phones Verizon was reporting some fairly large outages today and now so are AT&T and T-Moble.

found on X
Can't confirm any of it yet so take with an internet size grain of salt

Shadow of Ezra
@ShadowofEzra
According to a Tier 2 technician at Verizon, there has been a deliberate and unauthorized shutdown of the U.S. electrical grid that specifically targeted cell towers, starting locally and expanding nationwide.

Verizon has experienced the most significant impact, with other carriers also affected due to their reliance on Verizon's infrastructure.

The systematic nature of this shutdown indicates it was likely executed with ill intent rather than being a simple system malfunction.

https://x.com/ShadowofEzra/status/1840865039416226112

[Ben]

While my Verizon phone was working fine yesterday (AFAIK), I was trying to call my cow guy, also on Verizon, and got a "not available" message. I can't remember it verbatim, but it was a message type I had never heard before.

[Brad Johnson]

Verizon user here. No probs yesterday, or today... so far.

Campus did get pegged with an attempted ransomware attack yesterday, but seems to have dodged it.

Brad

[cordex]

A coworker brought his phone to me yesterday. He had no service but his family did. He had a newer iPhone than the rest of the family and wondered if that had anything to do with it.

[K Frame]

While my Verizon phone was working fine yesterday (AFAIK), I was trying to call my cow guy, also on Verizon, and got a "not available" message. I can't remember it verbatim, but it was a message type I had never heard before.

Maybe your cow guy MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOved away?

[Perd Hapley]

This has not been my experience. Not even close.

That surprises me.

[WLJ]

Has anyone else noticed that 100% of the people having conversations over Bluetooth earbuds are black? 100%

Most people I see having conversations over Bluetooth earbuds are white. Now those having the loudest and lively animated ones are usually black.

[Ben]

Most people I see having conversations over Bluetooth earbuds are white. Now those having the loudest and lively animated ones are usually black.

Same here, which, it's Idaho, so demographics.

[Ben]

Maybe your cow guy MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOved away?

Groan.

[Tuco]

Maybe your cow guy MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOved away?

Nice.
Very good.