Lost my phone...

[Tom Wood]

I went online and used Google to 'find my phone'. 2AM in the morning, it showed the phone exactly where I suspected it would be. It was next to the curb in the shadow of a big tree where I'd stopped to take something else out of my pocket. What a weird/wonderful world we live in!

[Mark Gardner]

Mine always shows that my phone is connected to wifi in Idaho, but I live in Arizona...

[Vijaya]

What a weird/wonderful world we live in!

Indeed!

[bookworm]

Mine always shows that my phone is connected to wifi in Idaho, but I live in Arizona...

Mine says NYC because that's where my provider is located.

[Gerri Attrick]

I never switch mine on, unless I’m out and need to use it. Personally, I think they’ve become a scourge. After a recent short holiday in France, we were sitting in London’s Euston station waiting for the train home, and I swear that only about 1% of the hundreds of travellers milling around were NOT using a mobile/cell phone. Bah.

If you want me, I’m sat here next to the landline all day. Besides, I used to work on one of these:

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

I haven't got a smart phone, just one of the old types of cellphone, so if I lose it and can't hear it ringing I have to ask St Anthony to find it for me . He's very good at finding things. My friend once said he wouldn't be able to help me as she has got him working full time for her 

[Vijaya]

Gerri Atrick, my MIL was a telephone operator. I agree, these devices are ruining relationships. Even when I go walking with my dog, I see people outside on their phones. They miss the beauty all around. My husband was the last one in the family to get one--and only because at work they gave him one (they took away his pager).

Jan you're so funny. I try to keep my phone near me now, esp. if my daughter is at work, but most of the time it's on the charger or in the kitchen...

[Mark Gardner]

**TRIGGER ALERT: BARF**

I've been a cellular subscriber since around 1998 or 1999. I've never purchased insurance, and always buy a case to put my phone in. I'm not an early adopter, but instead always chose the cost effective smart phone. I've never had a phone be damaged beyond use, because the rugged case protects the phone from drops, etc. I always keep the previous generation of phones as a backup in the case one is lost or stolen, then donate the older ones.

Got a new iPhone for Erika in October so that she'd have a phone with a fresh battery and plenty of storage space for our vacation in early November (she's been a shutterbug forever.) Vacation went off as expected, and she took over a thousand photos of the kids and grandma. Last weekend, my youngest seemed to have a particularly nasty stomach bug. Lots of vomit. Like how can a two year old produce that much volume? THREE DAYS STRAIGHT.

Erika was cleaning up some upchuck off of the couch, and her phone was on the arm of the couch. Yep, the phone tumbled into a bowl comprised of water, pine sol, and vomit. Since we've never lost a phone to water damage, Erika didn't know to immediately power off the unit. Yep, fried. Came home, did an ESN swap through Sprint back to her old phone. At least I only have ten months of payments left of the dead phone, right?

[guest957]

I dropped my phone on a glacier in January, hours from where I live. Upon discovering this, I was able to lock the phone remotely with a message for anyone who clicked it on to call my wife's number. A tourist found the phone the following day, called the number and wound up dropping my phone off at the local police department where I was able to retrieve it, good as new. These are weird and wonderful times we're living in.

[Tom Wood]

Oof, sorry to hear that Mark.

I specifically wanted a Samsung Galaxy S7 at the time they were new because I wanted to experience the (relatively) poor-man's version of virtual reality. They gave away a Gear VR headset with the phone. That's the headset where you insert the phone to watch. Since it was all new and slick, I decided to go for the insurance so I could carry it without a case. Other than the almost-lost phone a few days ago, I haven't needed the insurance. I did recently notice my phone bill dropping by about $25/month, so I guess it's paid for now. The ability of the battery to hold a charge is what will eventually drive it to obsolescence.

[Mark Gardner]

The ability of the battery to hold a charge is what will eventually drive it to obsolescence.

I hear that. As soon as the warranty expires, I have the local Batteries Plus Bulbs franchise put a new battery in the phone. They charge about $40, so it's $20 less than mailing the phone to apple. (once the batterygate discount goes away.)

[cecilia_writer]

I hate mobile phones too. I can't keep up with the amount of charging they need, except at my day job, where I have my computer on all the time and a colleague reminded me you can charge them via a USB port!
I keep hoping I will lose it or it will break, although I have 2 friends who don't seem to use email or social media, so I would probably have to get a replacement anyway.
For about 2 years after I had travelled from Sweden to Finland by ferry my phone showed the location as being on a very small island halfway between the two, and then for 2 years it showed a place on the way to London where I got stuck on the train for 2 hours because of a broken rail, and now it shows a small town in Fife (Scotland) that I travelled through without stopping a couple of months ago.

[Tom Wood]

The ability of the battery to hold a charge is what will eventually drive it to obsolescence.

I hear that. As soon as the warranty expires, I have the local Batteries Plus Bulbs franchise put a new battery in the phone. They charge about $40, so it's $20 less than mailing the phone to apple. (once the batterygate discount goes away.)

I didn't even know that was a possibility! In the DC area stores, they charge $70 to replace the battery in my phone. That's still worth a try if I can squeeze 2-3 more years out of it. Thanks!

[Edward M. Grant]

If you want me, I’m sat here next to the landline all day.

Me too, but it forwards to my cell phone, because my boss likes to call when I'm in the bathroom. I only use the land line for outgoing calls.

The big problem I have with mobile tech is that it has all these useful features but they're extremely unreliable. It's great to have my watch tell me that a big and valuable parcel is out for delivery, so I can go home and wait for it, but often it won't tell me until an hour after the update on the website, or the notification goes to my watch but it doesn't vibrate for some reason so I don't even notice.

That and the fact that, yeah, half the population spends 90% of their waking time staring at their phone to ensure they don't miss the latest funny cat picture. Though that will be less of an issue in a few years when they're wearing AR glasses instead.