[Vampyr]

I went to quite a few Nationals during the 1990s. I didn't have a mobile, and neither did anyone else. No one was troubled by this. What has changed so that it is now impossible for people to be without their mobiles?

[barmar]

Vampyr, on Sep 28 2010, 05:01 PM, said:

I went to quite a few Nationals during the 1990s. I didn't have a mobile, and neither did anyone else. No one was troubled by this. What has changed so that it is now impossible for people to be without their mobiles?

Not impossible, just less preferable. Cell phones have made life at tournaments much easier.

I went to nationals for many years before getting a cellphone. If your partner was running late, you'd get very nervous wondering where he was; now you can call him and find out, and even tell him where your home table is so you don't have to hunt for each other when he finally arrives.

Between sessions, you had to wander around the hotel looking for your friends, to make arrangements for dinner, midnight games, the next day, etc. Now you just call them.

None of these situations requires having a cell phone during the session itself, though, just up to and immediately after it. As others have pointed out, you shouldn't enter a tournament if you need to be immediately reachable.

[Elianna]

gwnn, on Sep 28 2010, 12:19 PM, said:

http://forums.bridge...showtopic=30768
or
http://forums.bridge...showtopic=24291

?

I specifically did not wish to refight the question of whether they are allowed or not, I just wanted the information of where to look for where to place them.

And those are related to Nationals, not something run by WBF/USBF, so I just wanted to confirm that they, too, are providing a check-in place.

[Elianna]

Vampyr, on Sep 28 2010, 01:01 PM, said:

I went to quite a few Nationals during the 1990s. I didn't have a mobile, and neither did anyone else. No one was troubled by this. What has changed so that it is now impossible for people to be without their mobiles?

1) There are a lot less pay phones now then there used to be, making it harder to do things like meeting up with nonbridge playing local friends or calling a taxi after the game unless you have your cell phone on you. So you bring your cell phone to do this, and so you need a place to put it if you are not allowed to have it on your person.

2) Because everyone has cell phones, there is now a much higher level of expectation of being available then there used to be. For example, 20 years ago if my principal called me with a question while I was away, she would have expected to wait until I came back for an answer. Now she expects a response within a few hours (ie after the session is over). It's not that anwer is ESSENTIAL, it's just that employers have an expectation of a timely response, and their expectation has changed over the years. And telling them to change their expectation is not an option.

3) Jdonn had a very good response in one of the other threads but I forgot exactly what he said and he's too talkative for me to find it easily right now. Maybe gwnn can or Josh can repost.

[gwnn]

Elianna, on Sep 28 2010, 09:26 PM, said:

gwnn, on Sep 28 2010, 12:19 PM, said:

http://forums.bridge...showtopic=30768
or
http://forums.bridge...showtopic=24291

?

I specifically did not wish to refight the question of whether they are allowed or not, I just wanted the information of where to look for where to place them.

And those are related to Nationals, not something run by WBF/USBF, so I just wanted to confirm that they, too, are providing a check-in place.

I know, this was not meant for you, but as a reply to matmat's allusion. Maybe I shouldn't have. sorry

[NickRW]

Elianna, on Sep 28 2010, 09:34 PM, said:

2) Because everyone has cell phones, there is now a much higher level of expectation of being available then there used to be. For example, 20 years ago if my principal called me with a question while I was away, she would have expected to wait until I came back for an answer. Now she expects a response within a few hours (ie after the session is over). It's not that anwer is ESSENTIAL, it's just that employers have an expectation of a timely response, and their expectation has changed over the years. And telling them to change their expectation is not an option.

Well, not everyone has one. I don't. I did. I used it about half a dozen times in an as many years and finally ditched the stupid and completely, to me, unbeneficial rental. If an employer wants to get hold of me they can supply me with one at their expense - they don't bother when they realise I am serious and they are going to have to pay. I do answer emails - sporadically if I am away.

Nor did I provide any such device for my kids - what an insane waste of money - IMO.

Nick

[peachy]

billw55, on Sep 28 2010, 08:31 AM, said:

I often play with my spouse, and we have school age children. During our games, they are usually staying with and/or being supervised by others. In this case, we absoultely must have our phones with us and on, and we do so even at tournaments. Of course we set it to vibrate, and do not answer calls from others, but still there it is.

You would do this when it is explicitly against the Conditions of the Contest both in ACBL and at WBF events, with MP or IMP penalty or even expulsion from the event for second or continued violation if you get caught?

[helene_t]

I used to be a keen phone babler but since the cell phone mania I have virtually stopped using phones and do almost all my communication with email or online chat (or occasionally f2f lol).

I think the mechanism is largely that cell phones seem (superficially) to have made land lines obsolete so I haven't had a land line for a long time, but then it turns out that cell phones are low quality audio, always run out of charge or credit, and have a bad habit of making calls on their own when I touch something with my handbag so the green button is pressed, then half an hour later I realize that I have been having an international "conversation" for half an hour and it cost me 10 pounds lol. So effectively I always almost leave the damn thing at home, or turn it off, or when it runs out of charge just wait recharging until I need it which may be a couple of weeks later.

When I do receive a call on my cell phone it often takes me too long to find it (which pocket of my bag is it in now?) so it switches to voicemail, then I have to pay for listening to the voicemail, while a land line would just have put the message on my answer machine which I could listen to for free. This is what annoys me so much: these gadgets have the potential to be quite useful if the software engineers just used their brains. For example, why not send a voice mail as a multi media message instead of this anacronistic voice mail system.

Yeah many of those issues could be resolved if I bought a contemporary phone instead of just picking a GBP 5.00 2nd hand thing from a garage shop, it's just that I am too mean to pay GBP 400 for a gadget that I will use once a week for 30 secs and then one year later it will be out of date.

Of course another issue is that most friends now read their email regularly and many are frequently to be found in chat boxes so there is little need for phones.

[hanp]

Elianna, on Sep 28 2010, 04:34 PM, said:

3) Jdonn had a very good response in one of the other threads but I forgot exactly what he said and he's too talkative for me.

[billw55]

peachy, on Sep 29 2010, 02:54 AM, said:

billw55, on Sep 28 2010, 08:31 AM, said:

I often play with my spouse, and we have school age children.  During our games, they are usually staying with and/or being supervised by others.  In this case, we absoultely must have our phones with us and on, and we do so even at tournaments.  Of course we set it to vibrate, and do not answer calls from others, but still there it is.

You would do this when it is explicitly against the Conditions of the Contest both in ACBL and at WBF events, with MP or IMP penalty or even expulsion from the event for second or continued violation if you get caught?

Yes.

In some cases we have explained to the TD in advance, up to and including ACBL regionals, and they have accepted it without action or complaint in every such case.

[Vilgan]

Last national I went to, I checked my phone as per the rules, and the person handling phones decided to just leave before all the events concluded. I then got to experience the joy of trying to find friends I was supposed to meet up for dinner by wandering around the hotel for 45 minutes looking.

The next day (day 2 of the Vanderbilt) we were discussing the phone mess with our opponents (both famous bridge players) and they both just chuckled and pulled out their phones from their pockets to display what they thought of the ridiculous phone policy and put them back in their pockets.

I still check my phone for the finals of a major event, but don't bother for prelim stuff (altho I do double check to make sure the phone is off) and it seems like a lot of other people treat it the same way.