After a six month hiatus under the couch (I'm blaming naughty Heinzelm�nnchen,* as we've looked there before), my cell phone is back in use.

I never got the "must have a cell phone" thing, and largely avoided carrying one unless required by a duty position. I just don't see the need for being in constant contact with everyone (and know the benefits of not being available).

Anyhow, I called one of my EAA brothers using said cell phone and, because it was an unusual number for me, said "I'm calling from a cell phone!" in a cheery voice.

"Hey, that's neat," he shot right back, spinning into a joke, "I got one, too! Is yours a watch? Mine's also a watch. And has a built in calculator!"

"Oh, you're lying..." I say in mock disbelief.

But while we were poking fun at each other, it struck me that while I've embraced all this digital crap, I'm very analog in my thinking and behaviors. I still use paper maps, for example.

I'm old school with certain things like playing CD's in my car. However I admit that I'm pretty much attached at the hip with my smartphone.

I had to empty my pencil sharpener this week.


Man, I wish I could lose my credit card for six months and not miss it.

WC

Last year my GF and me 'rescued' a family while hiking in the Austrian Alps. The weather had changed and we were suddenly walking in the clouds with visibility around 20-30m. We found them a bit off the path as they were shouting for help. Turned out they had completely lost their orientation when their smart phone with map and GPS ran out of battery. Of course they didn't have a compass, too.

"Soo...you don't have a compass?"

"No...I have an IPhone..."

"And no map?"

"On the IPhone...."

"And no flashlight?"

"Well, the IPhone has one..."


The poor guy had to endure his wife's scolding right up to the refuge an hour's march away...

Pretty deserved, who hikes with only a phone in the mountains? That's asking for disaster.

Don't laugh too hard. we have had to rescue idiots who went to sea with nothing but a smartphone and were amazed that they lost coverage.

Oh, there are many people like that. The problem is that most of the alpine trails here are so well marked you don't need a map. Unless the weather gets bad...

Add to that easy access via cable cars and you get a lot of people hiking in the high mountains who shouldn't be there in the 1st place.

I also carry a mechanical pocket watch. I can't stand the feel of a wrist watch (never could), so I bought a couple of Soviet made pocket watches to carry. Wind 'em up in the morning and before I go to bed and they keep time very well.

...Or else.

A lot of people, and a lot of THEM carry it not because it has a compass and can download maps, but simply so they can use it to call for help when they run into trouble.

In the car driving to our holiday home, son pipes up "It's not logical, the car has an inbuilt GPS, you have TomTom mapping on your iPhone, but you are using a bit of paper with the directions on it, why don't you just use the iPhone?"

Ah the joy of maps, admittedly I have detailed maps (1:10,000) of most places I go on my laptop, but I also have a large drawer full of 1:25000 maps.

As for a watch, I have 3, a Seiko self winder, an Omega Seamaster manual winder, and a Citizen that runs on battery.
The Seamaster is my favourite, but I do not wear it too often, these days a calendar is close enough for timing

I have been using Back Country Navigator, by Critter maps and all I have to remember is to download maps before leaving cell coverage. I then use USGS topo maps and compass, unless I need GPS like when off all trails in the woods, in the mountains, on a foggy day. Keeping the phone on airplane mode and only taking occasional fix for conformation it last about four days. Solar charger will bring it back up in a couple of hours. Paper map is best if you never wait until you are lost, before checking out where you are. GPS is cool once you have gotten lost.

I like paper calendars to write appointments on. I don't like depending on my cell phone, google calendar, or Outlook at work.

Yep, the ink gets all smudgy on the phone and you run out of space to write very early in the month.

For a second, I thought you said 'black country nav' he he he

I have to get paper maps for work. Harder to find than I expected.

Last I checked AAA still carries them.


Wheels

Getting lost in the West Midlands is no laughing matter.

An analog kid in a digital world

I was like you, but once I got my iPhone because of a family plan that was it. I couldn't imagine being with out access to information. However, once in a while Im brave and go to the store without it. Hard to imagine 10 years ago you would travel across the country without any of this stuff, but now you can't leave the house without your phone.