Air Traffic Control Chatter, and Why I Got an iPhone

Ok, ok, I finally got an iPhone. 

And it wasn't so I can listen to Air Traffic Controllers talk to pilots, although the ability to do that did come up.  More on that later.

Some of you may remember that in late 2010 I wrote about why I didn't want an iPhone.  What changed my mind was my visit to Las Vegas last week, and conversations with my brother, Kevin, who insisted that I needed an iPhone.

Kevin emphasized all the cool apps, but I'm not into those.  What sold me was Kevin's insistance that it's just more professional to have a smart phone when you're out in public. 

He said my clients expect me to be up to date with technology, especially since they're probably sending me emails from their smart phones.  He's right.  The CEO who brought be to Las Vegas to do the keynote did try to email me right before I showed up, and I didn't get it till checking my email on Kevin's computer the next day.

Just having the iPhone for that is enough justification.

I just don't want to get so attached that I'm always checking my email.  While I was in the airport waiting for my flight home, I watched a mother and her teenaged daughter sitting side-by-side, not talking, but working their smart phones.  For an hour.  I don't want to get that plugged into the technology.

Now for the Air Traffic Control app.  Kevin told me he had heard my flight land thru this app, so he didn't have to rely on the airlines website, which he says is often not accurate.  So we listed to some chatter at the Vegas Airport:

Tower:  Delta 123, you'll have to wait for that Chester 349 to get out of the way.

Delta 123:  Uh, I don't see Chester 349.

Tower:  What?  I..ahh...was just seeing if you're paying attention.  It's actaully  a Continental 349 to look out for...

Kevin and I just looked at each other.  "Wow," I said, "I'd rather NOT hear this stuff...."

I'm Not a Technophobe, But...

...don't get me an iphone for Christmas.  I'm happy as I am with a simple cell phone that I use only for making phone calls.  I know that makes me somewhat of a dinosaur, but that's the way I am.  I only make phone calls.  Oh, I do use it occasionally for an alarm clock when I need a nap. 

No internet.  No email.  No video games.  No photos, either. 

It's just a phone.

On the other hand, I'm writing this now because I'm out of town, and can't, for some strange reason, remotely access my desktop.  The one time I don't bring a pile of stuff to do, just in case, because I'll rely on Remote Desktop, and this is the time it doesn't work.

A colleague just now, I mean JUST NOW, showed me on her iphone the Talking Tomcat application, which takes anything you say, and plays it back in a garbled tomcat voice.

It's another reason NOT to get an iphone.

I work out of  my home, so when I'm not working, it's easy to walk from the family room to the office, and check my email.  Not all the time, just enough.  If I had the capability to do it on my phone, it would just take me away from other more important things.

Like talking to people, or looking at the scenery, or letting my mind wander.

I see too many people who are texting (I text ever so rarely), or checking their fantasy football, or getting the latest headlines, and I just don't need to be that connected.

So now it's off to the hotel, and dinner, and afterwards, if I can't access my desktop, I won't get much work done.  But I'll be just as happy as people who are doing all those things on their iphones.

So, please.  No iphone for Christmas.

I'm interested in your thoughts.  Am I alone?  What am I missing?