Geek Without Cell Phone

I don’t have a cell phone.

I haven’t had a cell phone for a year.

The only reason I think about having a cell phone is lack of wifi.

For the most part, I don’t miss it. The first few weeks without it took a small bit of adjusting. But armed with an iPod Touch and Google Voice, I have stayed connected enough. Sporadic wifi access on the go allows me to check text messages and “read” voicemail (transcription is a wonderful thing).

It helps that I’m not a fan of talking on phones. Never have been. Twitter, Facebook, text messages, email, those are simple, concise methods of communication. Too often a phone call can take 5 minutes or more, even though the purpose of the call was completed within 30 seconds. Also, unless you record your calls, you can’t easily look back at what you said, should you need to remember.

There are many people who still can’t grasp that I haven’t had a phone. I’ve simply had Google Voice set to run through Skype. If you’ve had a phone conversation with me over the last 12 months, I was probably in front of the computer, using Skype. Recently I picked up an Ooma Telo though. Partly because the Ooma has always intrigued me, partly because it will offer me some flexibility for future plans that I hope work out, and partly because I like gadgets. It didn’t hurt that on the day I bought it, Ooma announced new features are coming, like better integration with Google Voice.

How many of my fellow geeks could care less about their phone’s voice capability? Just admit it, you spend all day checking email, Facebook, Twitter, and other social web stuff. I’m finding more reason to have a cell phone now, but only because I want to check into foursquare, and many places don’t have wifi access.

It has been healthy to be disconnected though. I still find myself constantly pulling out my iPod to check things whenever I can, but when I have no connection to the net, I pay more attention to the things around me, I experience more of life. As hard as it may be for us geeks to admit, there is more to life.

So I don’t have a cell phone. I usually don’t miss it. If I get a cell phone again, I have absolutely no plan to include a voice package with it, only data. I challenge you to try it. Live without a cell phone. See how well you can survive.

Besides, that’s $100 every month that I no longer hand over to Verizon.

Time to use that wonderful comment section (where you can simultaneously post your comment to Twitter, Facebook, and other places. You’re welcome). How do you feel about your cell phone? Is it still worth having?

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