Are cell phones the new pocket watch?

[Treetopflyer]

I have several friends that have stopped wearing watches and when ever they want the time, they pull their cell phones out. Am I the only one who has noticed this trend? Cell phones have almost replaced everything else from cameras to desk top computers so I guess why not the good old wrist watch.

 

[indycop]

They have definitely killed the home phone.

 

[Diamondback]

One, cuts way down on the @#%$@#$ telemarketers, and two, why pack unnecessary weight of gear? If I can get two functions in one gadget...

Still ain't no substitute for GHQNet's engineering workstation or servers or my laptop, though...lol

 

[Starius]

I've never worn a wrist watch so I use my cell phone to check the time when I'm out and about, too. Prior to having a cell phone, I guess I just never cared what time it was.

 

[DerMann]

Most of my friends either don't wear a watch and check their cell phones for the time, or wear a wrist watch and do it anyway - relegating the wristwatch to a purely aesthetic role.

Unlike my Motorola SLVR, my Elgin gold filled pocket watch will actually appreciate with time. It never requires batteries and looks a heckuva lot better than a blue rectangle with a screen.

 

[LocktownDog]

Now I want a phone that looks like a vintage pocketwatch.

 

[LondonLuke]

Not a replacement for a wrist watch for me. If I want to see the time, I want to just have to glance at my wrist, not faff about taking something out of a pocket

 

[Sefton]

Objective answer: Yes. Subjective (longer) answer: Never! As DerMann said a real watch always looks better than a rectangle with a blue screen. No modern gadget is going to possess the beauty and charm of a real timepiece. Nor will it's beeping and buzzing replace the reassuring ticking you can get from a fine watch. If I use a cell phone to check the time all I get is the correct time. When I use my pocket watch I can appreciate the craftsmanship as I remove it from my pocket by its gold chain. Then I press down on the stem to open the cover which still has a sharp pop even after 100 years. Of course there is the ritual of winding. Some do it daily at a fixed time,others at random moments. Lastly, I know that beyond these simple pleasures of time-keeping my pocket watch is never going to bring me unsolicited sales calls!

"I don't like innovation"-Solaris (1972)

 

[MPicciotto]

The cell phone. Backbone of my life [huh]

When I'm at work it is my pocket watch, my phone, my work order, stop watch/timer and on occasion my flashlight. So typically at work I do not wear a watch it being only an excuse to scratch the bezel while working in some AC unit.

On my own time depending on the activity I have a Timex wrist watch for knocking about and a wind-up pocket watch for a touch of class.

And yes my cell phone has replaced the land line for me. I do not have a home phone. If I give you my home phone number it is my cell number. I also used to be on call for emergency services with a propane company so I have a deeply ingrained habit of answering the phone as promptly as I can. So although I don't take calls at the dinner table I am prone to stepping away from the table to do so.

Matt

 

[Charlie Noodles]

I think Dick Tracy style wrist watch video phones will be a lot more common in a few years.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

I think Dick Tracy style wrist watch video phones will be a lot more common in a few years.

i would buy one...

 

[mackenzie]

I am the only one amongst my friends wearing a wristwatch intsead of using the cellphone, and they think of themselves to be very practical. But then came the day when we were on an airplane and someone wanted to know the time... I am now higher in the practicality foodchain

 

[MPicciotto]

Ah I forgot to mention that in my post. When flying or traveling overseas and/or disaster areas where my cell phone might as well be useless I use good ole Timex. No point in lugging around a wallet sized digital timepiece that I need to keep charged.

Matt

 

[SweetieStarr]

Do any cell phones have a screen that looks like a rotary phone? I thought I saw something like that with the iPhone (I think on the FL).

 

[DutchIndo]

Guilty as charged, I am too lazy to get batteries in my watches. I have been watchless for a couple years now.

 

[splatt]

There is a definite decline in people wearing wrist watches in Australia in favour of using their mobile phones as time pieces.

My personal experience goes from wearing a watch as a kid and a teenager, then collecting SWATCH watches in the late 1980's, not wearing a watch for a few years, wearing a watch for a few years and then back to not wearing a watch in favour of the mobile phone for about three years...until this year when i started carrying a pocket watch.

In the last 15 years i have also probably hired just over 100 people between the ages of 20 and 30 at a bunch of different companies i have managed in Australia, and i would say that less than 5% would have worn a wrist watch and none of them had a pocket watch...but then again, I only recall two that wore a hat as well [huh]

 

[Feraud]

My wristwatches are alive and kicking.
Then again, I favor the anachronism.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I see this as a generational thing, at least around here -- those under 30 rarely if ever wear a watch, but those over 40 are rarely without one. Those in their thirties seem to go either way.

Me, I've worn a watch every day since I got a Girl Scout Timex for Christmas when I was nine. I can't imagine *not* wearing one -- and interestingly, I find myself being asked for the time more and more often by folks who don't want to go to the trouble of pulling out there phones!

Currently, I wear a 1938 Bulova "Goddess of Time." I had it cleaned and regulated a few years back, and it keeps excellent time.

 

[arthur]

A 1940's bulova senator and a 60's timex for work,now I do also carry a phone but my watch says more about me than some cheap gadget.Being 45 I guess I fall in that generational thing but I will always wear a watch.

 

[miss_elise]

i like a wristwatch... my husband doesn't (but then he hated all jewellery in general - it was a real struggle to get him to wear his wedding ring)...
he'll often ask me the time... and then get annoyed when it's approximate (stupid decorative rectangle face with no hour markings...)