It's a Blackberry cake. So now you can have your phone and, um, eat it too.
I own a cell phone. You own a cell phone. We all own a cell phone. So, frankly, I’m not finding it all that surprising that people keep their cell phones close to them, according to a recent survey by ReCellular, the world’s largest reseller and recycler of used cell phones.
Exhibit A: 40 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds sleep with their cell phones.
This doesn’t freak me out. I’d wager that most of this age group doesn’t have a landline, so if someone needs to reach them in the middle of the night for some kind of emergency, the cell phone is the only option. Why wouldn’t you want your emergency line to be in the bedroom with you?
Exhibit B: 87 percent of Americans know only a few phone numbers by heart, admitting they wouldn’t know how to contact loved ones if they lost their cell phones.
Yep. Not freaked out by this one, either. I haven’t lived in a seven-digit-dialing city in more than a decade, and remembering 10 digits is exponentially harder than remembering seven. Especially now that everyone keeps their old area codes when they move. (So, for instance, my husband lives in New York but he still owns a Virginia cell phone number.) And, really, if you lose your phone, you can always email your loved ones. They’re probably checking every two minutes on their iPhones anyway.
Statistics that DO freak me out:
- 33 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds text at the dinner table. (Sigh.)
- 53 percent of Americans often bring their cell phones to the bathroom. (Really?)
- 28 percent claim they spend more time texting or just looking at messages than they spend looking at loved ones.
- 17 percent of 25- to 34-year-olds would rather lose their car keys than their cell phones.
So we’re a little obsessed. It’s hard not to be attached to your mobile when it provides access to phone contacts, email, text, the Internet, games, music, and a variety of apps that do everything from turning our home lights on and off to unlocking our Zipcar for us.
Although according to this article from Women’s Health magazine, we all may be radiating ourselves to death with our electronic devices. So that’s something to think about.
Discuss amongst yourselves.
(Amazing cake by Cakes.KeyArtStudio.com on Flickr.)
This, and my own addiction, is why I’m currently reading “Hamlet’s Blackberry”
Hamlet's BlackBerry: A Practical Philosophy for Building a Good Life in the Digital Age
By: Russell Dunkin on December 10, 2010
at 1:14 pm
Actually why be freaked out by those statistics? Unless you mean they are too low.
Why not text at the table? If the meal is informal and you would be rude why not? It’s all about the situation. And way more then 33% do it.
LMAO 100% of people bring their cell phone to the bathroom. I have never once seen someone enter a public restroom and leave it outside. There is not phone check. Also if you have a smart phone and are going number two this makes a lot of sense. Better question is why don’t you bring your phone to the bathroom? And why hasn’t it been stolen at Walmart when left in your cart?
Depending on when you can use you phone i can see how 28% of people look at it more then loved ones. But stop and think how much of looking at that phone is about loved ones? Pics of your g/f and texts from her. etc etc.
How little do you have on your phone that you would rather lose it then car keys. 17% are smart and 83% are idiots. If you lose your car keys there is little chance if someone took them that they would figure out which car it was and still it or rob you. If they get your phone they have all your personal info, often access to your email and even bank accounts these days. Your phone is way more important then your car keys.
By: Aaron on December 28, 2010
at 3:53 pm