Are cell phones the new pocket watch?

[warbird]

Men have very few fashion accessories for the lack of a better word that we wear. Women have many. We wear suits that have some variation, but a suit is a suit. Your tie may stand out, or a handkerchief or nice braces. You may have cuffs (which I wear occasionally and are not truly an accessory but do make a statement), for me the only two fashion accessories I have are my hats, not really an accessory to me, but to some and my watch. My watch is an important tool for me as well. It makes a statement of who you are and what you think is important.

I just got my Swiss watch back today from the jewelers after a thorough cleaning and once over. I was very glad to put that heavy watch back on. It is nice enough to wear with suits and tough enough to survive a hunt in the outdoors for days at a time. I don't have to recharge it and I don't have to have a cell tower nearby to tell the time. And it has a lot more class than a loud obnoxious, delicate, cumbersome phone. I wear a phone because I have to (the ringer is just a ringer , no stupid song), I wear a watch because there has been one on my wrist everyday for so many years I wouldn't know what to do otherwise. And I wouldn't change that for anything.

 

[SweetieStarr]

Rotary cell phones

Apparently there is a rotary cell phone, however it's highly impractical:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2005/06/portable_rotary.html

I also found these videos that are just fun:
ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4v-crPSrj0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McOGxK5JcEU&feature=related

 

[zeus36]

Men have very few fashion accessories for the lack of a better word that we wear. Women have many. We wear suits that have some variation, but a suit is a suit. Your tie may stand out, or a handkerchief or nice braces. You may have cuffs (which I wear occasionally and are not truly an accessory but do make a statement), for me the only two fashion accessories I have are my hats, not really an accessory to me, but to some and my watch. My watch is an important tool for me as well. It makes a statement of who you are and what you think is important.

... I wear a watch because there has been one on my wrist everyday for so many years I wouldn't know what to do otherwise. And I wouldn't change that for anything.

Same thing goes for me. I wear chronographs and they are highly visible on a person's wrist as a fashion accessory.

Now that the cell phone novelty has worn off, who pays attention to a phone in a case on your belt? or buried in your pocket?

 

[SamMarlowPI]

cell phone in my pocket, watch on my wrist set 5 minutes fast which doesn't help because i'm always late anyway, but never a doubt about what time it is...life is wonderful, innit?...

 

[Slim Portly]

I have a new smart phone and it's my first phone with an Internet browser. It was a gift and frankly it's not one that I would have chosen myself. It has taken me a few weeks now just to use it without being frustrated by its complexity. Due to its size it must be carried in a holster, as opposed to my last phone which was small enough to carry in my pants pocket. The holster is fairly well concealed by a suit jacket but it ruins the lines of a vest should I doff the jacket. If I only want to check the time I have to pull the jacket back with my left hand and then swivel the holster forward, and replacing the phone is a two-handed affair.

My solution is my pocket watch. It is convenient, elegant, and attractive. I can wear it with a single or a double Albert chain, in gold, brass, or silver, with or without a fob. It can be subtle or outré. And frankly, there is something very satisfying about a well-functioning piece of machinery. The phone now is relegated to more mundane usage, as it should be in my estimation. The cell phone is a necessity; the pocket watch is a pleasure.

 

[ScionPI2005]

Apparently there is a rotary cell phone, however it's highly impractical:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2005/06/portable_rotary.html

I've seen that one before. It's impractical, but interesting none the less.

I know a lot of people in my generation that use their cell phones as their watch. If I sit and think about it long enough, it does make sense to use your cell phone as your watch instead of carrying a pocket watch; a person's pockets can really get bogged down that way. Still, carrying a separate watch has always been what I've done, and I value using my watches for the sole purpose they were intended for.

 

[branmac]

cell phone as pocket watch

I will admit I almost never wear a wrist watch though I own a couple. I even know where it comes from. My father was a mechanic and never wore watches or rings because it was dangerous. I have to actually wark at wearing them, which is a shame. I rather like them.

 

[Minerva]

My cell phone is for phone calls, nothing more.

I've been having a lot of problems with these cheap watches nowadays, so my next watch will be vintage. I'm presently coveting my mother's old watch from when she was in HS (early 50s), which we found recently while cleaning. It worked fine after a wind-up. lol I may get have to start going to the local flea market again and look for one in the mean time; they had a lot of antiques at last check.

 

[lady eel]

rotary cell

there is a free rotary app for the iPhone called Bakelite

note: just installed it and it sucks, just deleted it, ha

 

[ortega76]

I will admit I almost never wear a wrist watch though I own a couple. I even know where it comes from. My father was a mechanic and never wore watches or rings because it was dangerous. I have to actually wark at wearing them, which is a shame. I rather like them.

Both my parents work in hospitals. My mom's a nurse and my dad is a radiology tech. They rarely wear their wedding rings, my mom does when she dresses up. I stopped wearing a watch recently and haven't missed it. I do wear my wedding ring. I love it- it's titanium so it's very light and I don't even feel it. Of course, my friend loves to point out in a very serious accident they may have to amputate my finger since cutting the band off would be impossible.

I use my cellphone as a watch or I use a pocketwatch. The pocketwatch gets some weird looks these days.

 

[WH1]

I always have a wrist watch, face turned inwards, as a cell phone is impractical for military usage in the field, although we are unable to survive without them stateside (Big Brother has to be able to track me down to inform me that silliness has occured:eusa_doh: [huh] .
I have had to require my Marines to purchase wristwatches because the vast majority of the younger ones use their cell phones to tell time.
I have 3 basic requirements for the Marines in my company 1) a black ink pen 2) a note book in the left breast pocket 3) a wrist watch. The first 2 are so they can write everything down and the last is so they will be in their appointed place at their appointed time. It sometimes amazes me the lack of basic organizational skills we are teaching. When I was coming up the first thing you did at any meeting or briefing no matter how small or insignificant was pull out the note pad and pen.

 

[Lillemor]

I was never technologically phobic while growing up. That's occured when I became a busy and often stressed mother. I'm not opposed to technological advances just because they're modern, I'm just not savvy and take much longer to take them to me and get the hang of them.

This is especially true regarding my cell phone. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that I hadn't noticed that cellphones have clocks in them. If I manage to turn my cell phone on before hub comes home, I'll check if mine does too.

Actually, I don't carry my cell phone on me regularly, it's usually turned off, I often can't remember how to turn it on. I miss all calls, texts, and I refuse to answer by text.

This irritates the hell out of my 61 y.o. mom who tried to teach me how to type and send sms'. I'm sure my 72-75 y.o. in-laws feel the same way too. They don't understand why my phone is so often turned off (It takes forever to turn in back on and I'm not allowed to have it turned on every where I go) and they're disappointed that hub and I refuse to answer sms'.

My IL's have replaced their home phone with mobiles, they text all their friends, neighbors and most relatives several times a day, just to let people know they're out for a walk and such trivial stuff. They don't understand why I won't carry my cell phone on me at all times because they do.

However, I do know how to use the camera on my phone and that's pretty much all I use it for. I just need hub to help me when I need to upload the pics to our pc.

I wear a regular wrist watch. Haven't always but I've become more vane with age and this is one piece of jewelry I've got into the habit of wearing so I'll never leave the house completely unadorned since I always wear my wrist watch and my wedding band which I never take off.

The locking mechanism on my watch doesn't work right and it's been adjusted several times, I've dropped it many times, it's scratched both on the metal and glass and the glass has small cracks so I'm glad it was a cheap new watch but I've created a catalogue of vintage watches I'm looking for. The ones I like the best and look like the quality is worth their price, are all men's watches though.

 

[Spitfire]

I use my cellphone for phonecalls. And allthough I know it can do lots of other useless stuff - from taking photos to GPS and telling the time, I only use it for that. That's what phones are for, right?
If I want to take pictures I use my Leica Camera.
If I want to find my way, I am still capable of reading a map, thank you.
And if I want to know the time, I look at my beautifull IWC Pilotwatch.

I don't even think that I have set the time on my cellphone, come to think of it.
Right now I don't even know where it is....think I will call it.

 

[Geesie]

Watches for me. For one, I dislike cell phones and the "always must be in touch" rushed, harried modern lifestyle they imply. I do not have one and I intend to never have one. My telephone is a Western Electric Model 500 (I have a modern cordless stashed away in case no way around a "press 1 to..." system) and it's enough phone for me.

Second I used to work surrounded by several feet of steel and often well out of range of any cell phone signal. Cell phones were not an option, everyone had a watch.

Finally, pulling out some plastic blue-screened thing while in a suit just seems wrong to me. Even though it's cheap and plain, my Timex is more elegant.

 

[Smithy]

I use my cellphone for phonecalls. And allthough I know it can do lots of other useless stuff - from taking photos to GPS and telling the time, I only use it for that. That's what phones are for, right?
If I want to take pictures I use my Leica Camera.
If I want to find my way, I am still capable of reading a map, thank you.
And if I want to know the time, I look at my beautifull IWC Pilotwatch.

I don't even think that I have set the time on my cellphone, come to think of it.
Right now I don't even know where it is....think I will call it.

Couldn't agree more Soren.

I use mine to make calls and send the odd text. I don't even know what half the buttons do on mine.

I don't really like the things but they're handy occasionally.