Well, could you?

I once went on a trip to Russia, and since you need a licence to use a mobile 'phone over there most of us didn't bother taking ours. I have to say it was probably one of the best weeks of my life, it's brilliant being out and about with no interruptions and less stress. I believe I could get rid of my mobile tomorrow and I wouldn't miss it at all.

In fact the only reason I cling on to it is in case of emergency.

How about you?

No.

Yes. No problems.

It is useful at times, but I don't use it that often at the moment...

No.

Got a call last week saying that my daughter had an accident at school and I had to go and pick her up, and take her to hospital.

How would they have contacted me if I didn't have a mobile?

Only if they invent teleportation soon

How soon do you mean?



Taken from WIKI LINKY

I do every time I go on holiday and feel much better for it. I'm on contract now, but I'm ditching that shortly. They extend to 24 months now, are getting more expensive and provide less value than they used to. A decent phone still costs money on top of the contract amount and for what?! I'm putting the £25 a month towards a new laptop instead.

Ditto, contracts are becoming too expensive for me to stay "in the market". I'm either going with an older phone so the contract is better value, or ditching in favour of PAYG next time - Tesco mobile seems rather cheap.

I do use mine a fair amount, but when I'm on holiday I'm on holiday. The phone is turned off. I may check it in an evening, to see if anything vital has been sent to me, but it's very unlikely I'll respond in any way, shape or form.

Edd

Sure, to be honest I've got too many other ways of communicating, I tend to use email or IM more than phone and text...

When I'm out, I rarely use my phone, if I'm out to get back into the 'wild' then the phone is on silent (in case someone really needs to contact me), but it really isn't used.

Mine lives on silent. If anyone who knows me really wants to contact me they'll know that, and will try alternative means if it's vital and I don't hear it. If not I'll check it reasonably regularly (say every couple of hours) in case I have missed it going off.

Edd

I don't know, but schools managed to contact parents at home or work for decades before mobile 'phones were invented.

They are certainly speed up communications, but they aren't irreplaceable.

If her injuries were so bad, why didn't they call an ambulance? Surely an ambulance can get to the school and transport her to the hospital faster than you cancelling whatever you are doing, driving to the school in an agitated state and then driving her to hospital?

I'm not trying to belittle your situation or your daughter's injuries, but if somebody needs to go to hospital, I'd arrange an ambulance first, then inform the parents and help arrange for them to meet their child at the hospital...

It is interesting, I was listening to a podcast with Andy Ihnatko the other day (Tech correspondent for Chigaco Sun Times). He has an iPhone, but says anybody who tries to call him on it really doesn't know him very well, he only responds to e-mail or twitter...

I have been told that the school will not call an ambulance unless a parent is there, as they have had an instance of a parent not turning up at school, and a teacher having to go with the child, which could lead to a real legal minefield.

I can't give out my work number as it is a shared line and personal calls aren't allowed, and the days of one parent staying at home all day are long gone...

Any school that does that if the injuries warrent medical assistance is going to be sued. As a school acts in parental locis (AFAICR) they can decide to call an ambulance.