analog

Great words, the whole thing. This part stuck out for me personally.

Been down this conversational road a million, trillion times. More, probably. I've sold cellular phones of every kind since '98, and have to this day. I started with analog and basic digital phones, and sold every new technological advance as they came about.

(following is not in response to anything, it is just an ordered list)
1. Yeah, I can live without my phone. Why would I? Landline phones are more expensive, for one, and I can't use it wherever I am. I enjoy the ability to communicate with people whenever I feel I need to, without having to find and feed a pay phone while I'm away from home.

2. If someone talks on or uses a cell phone in a distracting manner in a theater, they're getting a stern warning, getting yelled at, and then getting my foot in their ass. I find it incredibly rude and disrespectful, hands-down, and will get in the face of anyone who persists in doing so while I'm around. It is flatly inexcusable.

3. There are a million bad drivers. For every person that bitches about the evil cell phones ruining everyone's driving, I have the following to say: It's not the phone, it's the fact that it's a distraction. People demonize the damn things for no reason. Use a speaker or headset so you can better hold the wheel and concentrate if you're a poor driver to start with. For every person I see doing stupid things while on a cell phone, I see the same bad driving because a woman is applying makeup while driving, eating a burger, yelling at their kids, smacking their kids, paying more attention to their kids than the road for some other reason, and many others who just SUCK ASS at driving. I drive a lot, I see a lot, and it's not cell phones, it's any type of distraction.

4. I drive perfectly whether or not i'm making a call on my phone. I find it appalling that there are laws banning the use of the phone in the car. If you're going to make such a law, make it for distractions of a general nature. So NO MAKEUP (I see this constantly, drives me insane), no reading the newspaper (you may laugh, but I see it all the time), etc. People need to be held accountable for their poor driving habits, not because they're poor drivers who are too stupid to realize their already poor driving skills are being compounded by trying to do anything else but concentrate on the road.

5. If you're going to ban cell phones on the road, ban old people first. For every swerve I see here in Florida with a moron talking on their phone, I see 5 old people nearly running people off the road, running lights, going well under the speed limit, changing lanes on a whim without notice or regard for who might already be in the lane at the time... and the list goes on to infinity. If you really want to help make the roads safer, start testing old people with some regularity. As it stands now, you can get a driver's permit that's good for 8 years, and extend the permit out via mail, phone, or internet. So grannie can go legally blind and have palsy and still get behind the wheel, and they will keep reissuing that permit without so much as an eye exam. THAT is a problem.