“Pronto.” This sound was heard over and over when I was working and living in Rome, Italy about 6 years ago. You see, this is how the laid back Italians answered their cell phones. Pronto, means NOW. So it took every effort for me to not laugh out loud everytime I heard this. Italians are understandably well known for their food, romance and beautiful architecture. Speediness and efficiency, well, not so much.
But it was this word that littered my wandering days in Rome that started my sociological cell phone research. Since then I have visited or lived in places such as Ireland, the Czech Republic, Taiwan, Argentina, and Vietnam. And I must admit right away that cell phone usage in all of these countries is a much freer and playful form of expression and communication than in my home base of San Francisco, California, USA. How dare I say such a thing about a city that has a global reputation for being almost excessively liberal? Let me explain.
POINT ONE: Where and when its “proper” to use a cell phone
A cold February in Prague I was lost and confused. I waddled down into the subway station for directions only to be ignored by a ticket agent old enough to be my mother. She was too busy text messaging to be bothered to notice me. Even after subtly coughing and saying “excuse me” and “please” to her a few times, even Czech. In Vietnam it was considered extremely rude to NOT answer a cell phone. So much so that I had businessmen walking out of my English class to answer theirs. The same happened during an apartment lease signing and in the dentist chair.
In the states there are signs all over the place asking you to turn your phone off. In our movie theaters there is even a cute pre-movie clip that shows someone with a ringing cell phone being physically battered. It is not uncommon to see signs on smaller store fronts saying "Cell Phone Free Zone." Not only do these stores not want your ringer to go off while you are shopping there, but they do not want you to be talking on the phone at all. This "No cell phone" request has even made its way into housing ads in San Francisco. Lastly, it is still frowned upon to have a cell phone conversation in any public space such as buses, banks, etc.
POINT TWO; Text Messaging
Hopping over to Ireland, text messaging is a integral part of the dating process. After meeting a new romantic interest and getting their phone number you send them flirty text messages for days before actually speaking or meeting them again. It was a great deal of fun to send text messages in Taiwan while I was riding a scooter. After months of practice it was extremely easy to do so because I could touch type on my phone. I wish I could say the same for the other drivers on the road. Yikes.
When I returned to the U.S. from Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2005 I decided to make it my personal mission to convert as many Americans to text message lovin’ as I could. It was an uphill battle. Time after time, after I sent a text to my friends, they would simply call me back. One friend complained that she got charged everytime I sent her a message, so I handed her a couple of dollars. She retorted with another reason why this was not the service for her.
POINT THREE: To commit or not (to a cell phone plan)
In Ireland, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Argentina (and I am sure many other countries I have not been to yet) pre-paid service was the only cell phone service option. After buying a SIM card you then as the British say “top up” your phone with calling credit. Usually liquor or cell phone stores sold these pre-paid cards. In most of these places phone calls eat through the credit quickly, whereas text messaging is charged on a per text basis.
In the U.S. we have both pre-paid phones and monthly service, the latter being disproportionately more popular. For the flat-rate monthly service, we commit to 2 and 3 year cell phone contracts. The advantage being that for $50 a month we can talk all we want and know exactly how much we are spending. The downfall is that if you (like me) move in and out of the U.S. often, you have to deal with a wee bit sticky “early termination” of said contract. Also, the contract prices keep going up and up and service isn’t really doing so at the same time.
On my recent return to the U.S. from Vietnam I priced pre-paid plans instead. The per minute charge wasn’t so bad, but most of the phones that worked on these plans (the affordable phones, anyway) were dual-band. Meaning, they didn’t work outside of the U.S. I live overseas so much that this meant buying another phone for usage outside the U.S.
I will be adding to this cell phone analysis again in February 2008 when I head to Santiago, Chile for another year of work. I wonder how they use and abuse their cell phones. Hmmm. http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess
Click the stars to vote
Hello?
Cell Phone Observations From Home and Abroad
“Pronto.” This sound was heard over and over when I was working and living in Rome, Italy about 6 years ago. You see, this is how the laid back Italians answered their cell phones. Pronto, means NOW. So it took every effort for me to not laugh out loud everytime I heard this. Italians are understandably well known for their food, romance and beautiful architecture. Speediness and efficiency, well, not so much.
But it was this word that littered my wandering days in Rome that started my sociological cell phone research. Since then I have visited or lived in places such as Ireland, the Czech Republic, Taiwan, Argentina, and Vietnam. And I must admit right away that cell phone usage in all of these countries is a much freer and playful form of expression and communication than in my home base of San Francisco, California, USA. How dare I say such a thing about a city that has a global reputation for being almost excessively liberal? Let me explain.
POINT ONE: Where and when its “proper” to use a cell phone
A cold February in Prague I was lost and confused. I waddled down into the subway station for directions only to be ignored by a ticket agent old enough to be my mother. She was too busy text messaging to be bothered to notice me. Even after subtly coughing and saying “excuse me” and “please” to her a few times, even Czech. In Vietnam it was considered extremely rude to NOT answer a cell phone. So much so that I had businessmen walking out of my English class to answer theirs. The same happened during an apartment lease signing and in the dentist chair.
In the states there are signs all over the place asking you to turn your phone off. In our movie theaters there is even a cute pre-movie clip that shows someone with a ringing cell phone being physically battered. It is not uncommon to see signs on smaller store fronts saying "Cell Phone Free Zone." Not only do these stores not want your ringer to go off while you are shopping there, but they do not want you to be talking on the phone at all. This "No cell phone" request has even made its way into housing ads in San Francisco. Lastly, it is still frowned upon to have a cell phone conversation in any public space such as buses, banks, etc.
POINT TWO; Text Messaging
Hopping over to Ireland, text messaging is a integral part of the dating process. After meeting a new romantic interest and getting their phone number you send them flirty text messages for days before actually speaking or meeting them again. It was a great deal of fun to send text messages in Taiwan while I was riding a scooter. After months of practice it was extremely easy to do so because I could touch type on my phone. I wish I could say the same for the other drivers on the road. Yikes.
When I returned to the U.S. from Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2005 I decided to make it my personal mission to convert as many Americans to text message lovin’ as I could. It was an uphill battle. Time after time, after I sent a text to my friends, they would simply call me back. One friend complained that she got charged everytime I sent her a message, so I handed her a couple of dollars. She retorted with another reason why this was not the service for her.
POINT THREE: To commit or not (to a cell phone plan)
In Ireland, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Argentina (and I am sure many other countries I have not been to yet) pre-paid service was the only cell phone service option. After buying a SIM card you then as the British say “top up” your phone with calling credit. Usually liquor or cell phone stores sold these pre-paid cards. In most of these places phone calls eat through the credit quickly, whereas text messaging is charged on a per text basis.
In the U.S. we have both pre-paid phones and monthly service, the latter being disproportionately more popular. For the flat-rate monthly service, we commit to 2 and 3 year cell phone contracts. The advantage being that for $50 a month we can talk all we want and know exactly how much we are spending. The downfall is that if you (like me) move in and out of the U.S. often, you have to deal with a wee bit sticky “early termination” of said contract. Also, the contract prices keep going up and up and service isn’t really doing so at the same time.
On my recent return to the U.S. from Vietnam I priced pre-paid plans instead. The per minute charge wasn’t so bad, but most of the phones that worked on these plans (the affordable phones, anyway) were dual-band. Meaning, they didn’t work outside of the U.S. I live overseas so much that this meant buying another phone for usage outside the U.S.
I will be adding to this cell phone analysis again in February 2008 when I head to Santiago, Chile for another year of work. I wonder how they use and abuse their cell phones. Hmmm.
http://blogs.bootsnall.com/travelgoddess
Stephanie Fuccio, Contest, 01/10/2008