What did people do before cell phones?

No I don’t remember being bored. Sadly I don’t read as much as I used before all this electronic stuff. I for sure read more.

As about not using computer. I still use my laptop for bills (too small on the phone) and of course for work. I also use tablets for various things like reading or watching stuff. Phone is too small to do everything on it

I was 5 when we first got internet so I always grew up with it. It’s not like now though when every kid is addicted to screens by the time they are 2. My 3 year old niece spends a lot of time on her tablet and on my mom’s phone and my 9 and 12 year old nephews have had smartphones for a few years.

But if we got bored in the early 2000s we would ride our bikes to the park or go to the pool or just play outside.

I was in my 40's when I got my first cell phone, so I had lots of life without it.

Some differences I've noticed:

The expectation that you're always available through phone or text. Pre cell phone if you were out you were unreachable and people just dealt with that.

Shorter attention span. I'm definitely addicted to scrolling mindlessly through my phone when I'm waiting or on the bus. It's like my brain can't handle being bored / not constantly stimulated anymore. And my ability to concentrate on things like a book is definitely worse.

to be honest, I'm glad I grew up without all the technology - I had to get out in the real world and interact with people and that's a skill that I think is diminishing as people hide behind their tech.

Lets see, pay phones were easy to spot. Newspapers, and magazines was entertainment at a Drs office. Video games you went to a arcade. Information was slow moving and conspiracy theories were few and far between. Radio was the big media as you could listen in cars, home, or walking. (tv had 3 networks)

3? My grandson is 3, and there’s no way anyone would give him a tablet. That’s a bit out there

Yeah she was using one when by the time she was 2. She knew how phones and tablets worked and was figuring out what Bluey episodes she wanted to watch.

My sister is a teacher so I find it kinda weird:

Also I think my niece might be on the spectrum so most of the time she is using the tablet so her folks can get stuff done.

They had these little structures on street corners called "phone booths." For a dime, you could make a call. The real question is "where does Clark Kent change his clothes now that we have cell phones!"

I don’t get how phone booths aren’t around anymore. What if you lose your phone or don’t have it. Your supposed to just go up to the Walmart counter and ask someone to call them over the intercom?

Then you get pranksters who ask you to call for something goofy.

Speaking of being paged over the intercom. I was actually paged once in an airport. I was flying home from Florida where I'd been for a sales meeting and it was early cell phone days so I didn't have one yet. The office needed information on the budget from me that apparently couldn't wait until I was in the next day, so they had the airport page me to tell me to call them, which I did from a payphone. I had always wondered about people being paged in airports and why that would happen - now I know.

We put the quarter in the meter instead of using the Passport app to pay for parking and getting ticketed if you forgot, lost, broke, or froze your stupid phone

I remember payphones, they used to be all over NYC. During 9/11 that's all we had to communicate - it's scary how dependent on them we are.

I like the days of not being able to be found - that there was just one answering machine and one house phone where people could find you.

Personally, I do less on my phone now than I used to. If I can use a PC I prefer that - doing things on the phone feels inadequate.

What did people do before cell phones? Artwork, crochet, knitting, needle work, wood carving, play games, talk in person, quilt, work on cars, fix things, spend quality time with others, walk or hike, swim, ski, etc…

People were smart and had an uncanny knack for planning and being prepared before leaving the house when there were no cell phones. We had paper maps in the cars. We listened to the weather report on the radio. We read newspapers, which, I kid you not, were delivered to our door every day.

I use my cellphone because my daughter likes to text. Otherwise, I use a landline voice phone or the computer.

I could live without a cellphone. In fact, my favorite thing about going on vacation or camping is not being tied to my phone. No one can reach me and I can pretend the world doesn't exist. My mind is active, so the reduced stimulation is relaxing.

Me too. I agree about knowing how to communicate without a device. Seems young people don’t know how to talk anymore, they need to text or use social media.

This was over 12 years ago but I still remember volunteering at this office. An employee, a young woman, sat 2 cubicles away. I was helping her with stuff m. But she sent an email to me, about the project, instead of getting up and talking to me.

We used landlines, did face to face talking and used pay phones. I don’t even know if they still have freeway call boxes for emergencies. Cell phones have unstable signals and have to be charged. It’s about money. AT&T is phasing out landlines because they aren’t making enough money anymore from them, even though they are way more durable than cell networks. And work during power outages, storms, etc.

———
Sent from my iPhone 📱

I remember old fashioned phone books. If you weren’t listed and didn’t give out your number, people couldn’t call you. Now we have databases and data mining, thanks to technology. Now everyone gets unwanted calls, whether a scam or telemarketers. When I was growing up we got few calls. Just the occasional wrong number.

———
Sent from my iPhone 📱

I use the cell phone for various apps now much more than for calling and receiving phones. And I intentionally block periods of time when I do not use it, even for music, so that I am alone with myself. It is more often driving, but can also be cooking, walking, and housework. It is a fairly recent change of internal policy for me after I learned of thr importance of completely unstructured time when your mind roams.

Until then I tried to cram listening to something, be it audiobooks or music or podcasts, in every breathing moment.

So I don't do it anymore

I have fond memories of payphones, of waiting in line to make a call. I still remember the phone numbers of some of my friends from adolescence because I used to dial the numbers for often. Now, the only phone number I know by heart is my own.

As mentioned above, that priceless feeling of being where nobody knew you were, out of reach. I remember those moments.

I also remember subway trains where every sitting person was reading a thick literary journal or a book. I wish I had captured those moments on camera.

I feel old. I remember clearly when I had a cell phone that wasn't smart and I never turned it on. It was for emergency only.

I do remember having a cell phone on 911. I was on a train (packed to the gills) and people were just handing cell phones around for anyone who needed to call someone.

My first one was the weight and size of a brick. Got it from our landlord when I was pregnant with my eldest son in case I needed to ring my ex husband in labour.