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So true. And in-car GPS keeps your sense of direction from developing. I've seen people stymied as to how they could possibly make a phone call without their

So true. And in-car GPS keeps your sense of direction from developing. I've seen people stymied as to how they could possibly make a phone call without their phones. Payphone. Borrow someone else's. Not that hard. I used to think this would only ever happen to geeks like me. Boy, was I wrong.

djsumdog 9y ago
But you won't know the number. You'd need to go to as library first, log into whatever service you keep your contacts on (I run my own radicalie carddav, but most people use Google or Apple's services) and find their number. I use to have most of my friend's phone numbers memorized by the shape they made on the keypad. Today we stay in contact with a lot more people, or at least I do, and it helps to no need to memorize numbers.
- bigbugbag 9y ago
  > it helps to no need to memorize numbers. actually it does not. if you had to memorize numbers you would have better memory and would have little to no issue remembering them.
  - booleandilemma 9y ago
    What other numbers would you like the parent to memorize, besides those of his friends? Numbers to local restaurants, car services? Why should he have to?
  - Matumio 9y ago
    You would be better at memorizing numbers but worse at something else. Maybe you'd remember fewer contacts. Also, we have become worse at adding big numbers in our head, but we actually make fewer mistakes and are faster with big numbers since we have started using tools for that.
_puk 9y ago
Reminds me of the first time i got the "no cars in your area" message on Uber. Mild panic, how do I get home?!
danso 9y ago
After I lost my phone to a robber late at night, I walked home (which was about 15 minutes away) so I could look up the nearest police precinct station. The detectives looked at me like I was the biggest idiot for not calling 911 from the nearest pay phone (this was before NYC converted their pay phones into whatever they are these days).
- shric 9y ago
  Is it really considered okay to call 911 for a stolen phone? I thought 911 was for emergencies (e.g. imminent danger to property or someone's life or health). If your phone's already stolen, what can the police do urgently? This assumes they can respond quickly. I wouldn't have thought a stolen phone would result in a quick response in NYC.
  - danso 9y ago
    It was a robbery by gunpoint. I wouldn't have reported it if it were just a theft.
  - urethrafranklin 9y ago
    No, you can call 911 for basically any crime. It's not like they are gonna get there in under 10-15 minutes even if it is an exigency.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> I've seen people stymied as to how they could possibly make a phone call without their phones. Payphone. Ubiquitous cell phones have caused most of these to be removed. > Borrow someone else's. Phones becoming more loaded with sensitive personal material than wallets have made people reluctant to loan them to anyone not a close friend.
- stretchwithme 9y ago
  true.

djsumdog 9y ago

But you won't know the number. You'd need to go to as library first, log into whatever service you keep your contacts on (I run my own radicalie carddav, but most people use Google or Apple's services) and find their number. I use to have most of my friend's phone numbers memorized by the shape they made on the keypad. Today we stay in contact with a lot more people, or at least I do, and it helps to no need to memorize numbers.

bigbugbag 9y ago
> it helps to no need to memorize numbers. actually it does not. if you had to memorize numbers you would have better memory and would have little to no issue remembering them.
- booleandilemma 9y ago
  What other numbers would you like the parent to memorize, besides those of his friends? Numbers to local restaurants, car services? Why should he have to?
- Matumio 9y ago
  You would be better at memorizing numbers but worse at something else. Maybe you'd remember fewer contacts. Also, we have become worse at adding big numbers in our head, but we actually make fewer mistakes and are faster with big numbers since we have started using tools for that.

_puk 9y ago

Reminds me of the first time i got the "no cars in your area" message on Uber. Mild panic, how do I get home?!

danso 9y ago

After I lost my phone to a robber late at night, I walked home (which was about 15 minutes away) so I could look up the nearest police precinct station. The detectives looked at me like I was the biggest idiot for not calling 911 from the nearest pay phone (this was before NYC converted their pay phones into whatever they are these days).

shric 9y ago
Is it really considered okay to call 911 for a stolen phone? I thought 911 was for emergencies (e.g. imminent danger to property or someone's life or health). If your phone's already stolen, what can the police do urgently? This assumes they can respond quickly. I wouldn't have thought a stolen phone would result in a quick response in NYC.
- danso 9y ago
  It was a robbery by gunpoint. I wouldn't have reported it if it were just a theft.
- urethrafranklin 9y ago
  No, you can call 911 for basically any crime. It's not like they are gonna get there in under 10-15 minutes even if it is an exigency.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> I've seen people stymied as to how they could possibly make a phone call without their phones. Payphone. Ubiquitous cell phones have caused most of these to be removed. > Borrow someone else's. Phones becoming more loaded with sensitive personal material than wallets have made people reluctant to loan them to anyone not a close friend.

stretchwithme 9y ago
true.