I can't imagine life without cell phones

Did you ever wonder what you did before you had cell phones? Have you wondered how you could possibly have lived without a smart phone? Some of you reading this column will quickly think, “I don’t have a smart phone, let alone a cell phone” and so there is no wonderment in the first two questions.
And they have another question, “Why do I need a cell phone?”
Research in Motion (RIM) now known as Blackberry brought us into the smart phone era. Before that Nokia, a company operating out of Finland was the largest retailer of cell phones from 1998. And since the introduction of the I-phone, RIM has dropped as a seller as both Samsung and Apple have been fighting for supremacy in the retail selling of phones.
The first cell phones were not very portable, requiring a shoulder bag to carry them and were as big as a small shoe box. They could quickly discharge the batteries that powered them.
Miniaturization made the cell phone more portable. The phone could fit into your pocket, be holstered on your belt or dropped into a purse. The selling feature of those first cell phones was peace of mind. Television commercials promoted that you could call from anywhere in North America should your car break down.
When I stopped on the highway to assist a car full of ladies just south of Sioux Narrows, they were bewildered that they could not call their husbands of AAA for roadside assistance. Yes you could call from anywhere, but only reach someone if cell towers existed in the area you were travelling in.
The first practical phones in the district received an analogue signal. And with that, the proliferation of cell phones began across the Rainy River District. The service came as a partnership between “First Nations” groups and T-Bay Tel. The demand was huge.
Suddenly people couldn’t be without a cell phone. They had to be able to call someone instantly from anywhere. When an airplane landed at an airport, the cell phones were turned on, automated dialing took place and people began to rapidly find out what important things had happened in their lives during the hour that they had been on a plane. At a restaurant, no sooner had they ordered their meal, than they were on their cell phone to someone telling them what they were going to eat, meanwhile their lunch partner sat opposite in silence.
With our “Blackberrys”, we could receive and send emails and texts. We didn’t have to talk anymore. Then came the I-phones and Galaxies and other smart phones and we could search the Internet for information. We could take pictures and send them to friends. We could play games, watch movies and television with the apps that were made available to us. We could hang on every word in a “Tweeted” posting. We could vicariously live the lives of our friends on “Facebook”
The smart phone became our entertainment system.
My wife tells me that I am addicted to my smart phone. I rather doubt that, but I now carry it all the time. She has a cell phone, and most of the time, it rests in the bottom of her purse, with the battery run dry, so she can’t be reached unless you dial the landline.
At our cabin on Rainy Lake, while you can see the town from our island, it is often hit or miss on whether you can make a phone call. Sometimes it is easier to connect with a US network. Parts of the district continue to have problems with cell phone service.
And when you are in those areas, do you feel any less safe? Do you feel alone? If you don’t have a cell phone, where might you find a pay phone? And for everyone, do you always have to be connected?

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher