Would you please allow me to rant about something? I have a complaint about our “so called” technological advancement. I have been thinking about this for some time now. However, I have to admit that I heard a fella talking about this just the other day – (Sutton, it was about a month ago).
I have been using a cell phone for eleven years. I started using a cell phone back when cell phones were actually rare. My first phone was a bag phone. It was the size of a day planner. Get this: The plan was 30 minutes for $39.99. Can you believe that? Now, I can make two phone calls and that consumes 30 minutes. Phones were only used for urgent things back then.
We now have plans for phones that are virtually limitless. We have come a along way; or, have we? I am beginning to wonder. Allow me to illustrate.
Let’s say that I need to call I need to call someone. I grab my cell phone. I hit the memory speed dial. The phone rings. The voicemail picks up. At this point, I have to listen to either a message from the person that I called or a canned message from an operator informing me that this person is unavailable. This is where it gets ridiculous.
Even before there was a wide use of cell phones, we had answering machines. I grew up with an answering machine for our phone at home. It is not a new thing. We would record our message. In the message we would say, “Please leave a message when you hear the beep.” Believe it or not, people were intelligent enough to do just that. I mean, people didn’t panic when the beep sounded thinking, “Holy crap! What do I do now.” It isn’t rocket science.
These days, we have come so far in technology that cell phones have shrunk from something the size of a canoe to a phone that you can actually put in your pocket. We even have blue tooth pieces that fit on your ear. You would think that after almost forty years of leaving messages at the tone that we would need no further instructions. But, No! The messages have gotten longer. How is this possible? Voicemail is not that difficult. Just leave a message when you hear a beep for the love of God. I am super-intelligent to the point that I am the only one that knows to leave a message when the blame beep sounds. I sure hope that isn’t the case.
I want a voicemail that goes something like this. “You have reached the voicemail of Tim Brown. (By the way, when you leave the message, you haven’t reached the person. You have reached that person’s phone. Otherwise, there would be no need to leave a message.) Back to my message! It would sounds as follows: “You have reached the voicemail of Tim Brown. Please leave your information so that I can return your call.” BEEEEEP! Did you notice that I didn’t say leave a message at the beep? You know why? Because we have been leaving messages at the beep for forty years. You should be able to do this right out of the womb.
It gets worse. There are more options. Even if you don’t want to choose more options, you have to let the lady finish her tag onto the message. The beep comes after she has basically read the instruction manual to you. Are there that many things to choose from? Do we not just want to leave a simple message? Honestly, how many of you really call someone hoping that there are other options besides just leaving a message?
All of these years have passed. We have evidently gotten more stupid. It’s simple folks. When you hear the beep, the same beep you have been hearing all of your life, leave your message. It really isn’t complicated.
Tim
I have been using a cell phone for eleven years. I started using a cell phone back when cell phones were actually rare. My first phone was a bag phone. It was the size of a day planner. Get this: The plan was 30 minutes for $39.99. Can you believe that? Now, I can make two phone calls and that consumes 30 minutes. Phones were only used for urgent things back then.
We now have plans for phones that are virtually limitless. We have come a along way; or, have we? I am beginning to wonder. Allow me to illustrate.
Let’s say that I need to call I need to call someone. I grab my cell phone. I hit the memory speed dial. The phone rings. The voicemail picks up. At this point, I have to listen to either a message from the person that I called or a canned message from an operator informing me that this person is unavailable. This is where it gets ridiculous.
Even before there was a wide use of cell phones, we had answering machines. I grew up with an answering machine for our phone at home. It is not a new thing. We would record our message. In the message we would say, “Please leave a message when you hear the beep.” Believe it or not, people were intelligent enough to do just that. I mean, people didn’t panic when the beep sounded thinking, “Holy crap! What do I do now.” It isn’t rocket science.
These days, we have come so far in technology that cell phones have shrunk from something the size of a canoe to a phone that you can actually put in your pocket. We even have blue tooth pieces that fit on your ear. You would think that after almost forty years of leaving messages at the tone that we would need no further instructions. But, No! The messages have gotten longer. How is this possible? Voicemail is not that difficult. Just leave a message when you hear a beep for the love of God. I am super-intelligent to the point that I am the only one that knows to leave a message when the blame beep sounds. I sure hope that isn’t the case.
I want a voicemail that goes something like this. “You have reached the voicemail of Tim Brown. (By the way, when you leave the message, you haven’t reached the person. You have reached that person’s phone. Otherwise, there would be no need to leave a message.) Back to my message! It would sounds as follows: “You have reached the voicemail of Tim Brown. Please leave your information so that I can return your call.” BEEEEEP! Did you notice that I didn’t say leave a message at the beep? You know why? Because we have been leaving messages at the beep for forty years. You should be able to do this right out of the womb.
It gets worse. There are more options. Even if you don’t want to choose more options, you have to let the lady finish her tag onto the message. The beep comes after she has basically read the instruction manual to you. Are there that many things to choose from? Do we not just want to leave a simple message? Honestly, how many of you really call someone hoping that there are other options besides just leaving a message?
All of these years have passed. We have evidently gotten more stupid. It’s simple folks. When you hear the beep, the same beep you have been hearing all of your life, leave your message. It really isn’t complicated.
Tim
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