this post was submitted on 02 May 2025
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Boomer moment: I'm 30 but never got used to the feeling of modern smartphones against out ears. It's terrible and I can never hear or be heard well enough. It's to a point where I always answer in speakerphone or with headphones, facilitated by not answering the phone often. Recently I've been wishing to get an old phone-like accessory for my smartphone so I could do calls in a comfortable way.
... Then again, during covid I learned to answer phones around the lab on speakerphone, too, and these were classic-style phones. So maybe I'm a lost cause
Edit: old cellphones were fine, it's just smartphones that have the worst possible shape and texture to hold them against my ear. Sadly, my parents still see that as the primary use for a phone.
I wonder if there's anybody that's comfortable with slab-style phones being used as phones.
If you're over a certain age, you grew up with proper telephone handsets. Even early cell phones had a vaguely ergonomic shape. Like, the original Motorola Razr didn't open to 180 degrees, and had a "chin" near the bottom so you could get good contact with your ear while keeping your mouth near the microphone.
Then there's people under a certain age who grew up with texting, instant messages, etc. For them, it's not the shape that's an issue, it's that using a phone as a phone that's odd. They'd much rather do anything other than voice calls.
Nah, I completely disagree with that. I think phones were always a terrible means of communication, but they were the most used thing for a while because we didn't have anything better for communication at a distance. Phones force you into an audio-only form of communication where you don't get gestures, facial expression, or a moving mouth to watch. That cuts out a lot of the nuance of the communication. In addition, it's immediate so there's no time to think and interpret what someone is trying to say. It's also initiated by the caller and the callee has to drop whatever they're doing and respond immediately. It's just bad.
Video calls with something like Facetime have some of those issues. The positive is that you get facial expressions and some body language as cues The downside is that it's still expected that you respond immediately. But, it seems like there's a convention to ask before doing a video call, or to schedule one. That means you're generally not pulled into a conversation when you're not ready. Even more so with video meetings like Zoom, where they're almost never spontaneous, and always scheduled ahead of time. Phone calls are often spontaneous, and can catch someone at a terrible time.
Text messages in some ways are even worse than phone calls, because you don't even get tone of voice or volume as cues to what someone means. OTOH, they're not as immediate. Sure, sometimes you're watching the little chat bubbles waiting for a response. But, the asynchronous nature of that kind of chat means there's still a bit of a chance to think before you respond.
IMO, people of all ages abandoned phone calls because phone calls are just bad. Much better are either asynchronous ways of communicating where you can take a chance to think before you respond, or high-bandwidth forms of communication involving video where you can see gestures, facial expressions, etc.
Yeah to me it's weird that phones are flat slabs now. That whole concept would have looked stupid in the 80s or even the 90s.
Its cause they're all pocket computers that just happen to be a phone too.
Even this phone only mobile phone from punkt still has that form factor so it can fit in your pocket.
Exactly, I say modern cell phones are "phones" like those colored plastic data slabs on original Star Trek were "tapes".
I saw a toddler pretending to take a phone call from an imaginary phone a few weeks ago, and it really threw me that she was holding her "phone" like one would a smartphone (As opposed to putting your thumb to your ear, and outstretching your pinkie towards your mouth).
A few years ago I saw an ad for a kids workshop set, with fake tools and a workbench. The workbench had a little bracket for a toy cellphone, and the photo had the kid "playing" in the workshop by pretending to talk on the phone. Saws, hammers, pliers, etc. all around, but he's on the phone. I thought it was weird.
There are several reasons why people don't call each other nowadays. This is one.
Yes, the usability and affordances are worse.
We have a "landline" (actually VOIP) at our house and I have a desk phone in my office that I use often. This is one of the reasons. It's also nice not having to run around the house trying to find my cell phone in emergencies, not to mention VOIP service is dirt cheap.
If I wanted a bluetooth phone device I would use a headset. Why not leave both hands free?
Oh, sorry, I'll delete it
Please don't, it's cute and I'm sure some people would love it.