Do people ask ‘what is your cell phone number?’ … or is it still ‘what is your phone number?’? - It seems that almost everyone has a cell phone. The statistics are that more than ninety per cent of people in some parts of Europe have cell phones. The number might be higher in a city like Tokyo. However, there seems to be a backlash.

There are those who do not have and who do not want a cell phone.

“…David Schumann, 28, who works at M&I Bank, is one of those rare people below the age of 30 who doesn’t have a cell phone. He also doesn’t have a problem with them.

“I haven’t needed one yet,” he shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”"

link: Defectors from a cell phone nation?

You might know people who use the cell phone exclusively and forego even having a land line. And, certainly, there is a long list of circumstances where having a cell phone adds to one’s sense of security.

The question remains, however, whether we need to be connected ‘24/7′ and be constantly ‘available‘. It incrementally adds to the stress. For example, work is always just a phone call away. And, if you forward your calls to voice mail, how often are you asked ‘where were you?‘. Privacy just seems to becoming an antiquated concept.

Catherine Forsythe

[tags]cell phones, privacy, security, 24/7, connected, stress, statistics[/tags]