I just can't believe that people actually pay for ring tones

[WCGreen]

and wall paper for their cell phones...

Buying individual identify from a mass marketeer who carves out the perfect niche for the demo target...

It's insanity that people spend hundreds of dollars for a pre packaged identity...

Maybe I'm just getting old...

Maybe I forget what it is like to construct an identity...

But I think I have always tried to build my sense of self from the inside and then work outward...

Perhaps I am wrong...

Perhaps the way to feel like an individual is to become part of the crowd...

Who knows...

Grousing from a man of middle age...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Those niche markets have always existed, haven't they?

I guess it's the clever marketeers that figure them out.....

Maybe they're making millions........

I think you know plenty about constructing an identity......

And you don't need anyone to help you there.......:hug:

[SammyWinstonJack]

5. Maybe they are making millions?

:rofl: Of course they are! Duh!

[Kajsa]

2. Hi WC!

It's good to see you back.

I hear what your saying.
Remember, teenagers rebel by becoming a member
of their crowd. Conformity becomes a type of rebellion.

An old lady thinking aloud, here.

I try to pick a ring tone that is close to
what I like- it never quite hits the mark, though.

On my old phone (that died) I had Mozart,
and I loved every time it rang.

:hi:

[WCGreen]

3. Now that would be cool....

I would love the opening tones of Claire de Lune

[Kajsa]

4. Unfortunately, that ring tone is gone.

Now, the closest I can find is an upbeat,
Bossa Nova type tune.

:shrug:

[reyd reid reed]

10. My kid has "Sing, Sing, Sing..."

not exactly Mozart, but it's cool.

Mine is dull. I used to have 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame', now it just rings. Nothing special. And it beeps when I'm at work. And often, it beeps when I'm not at work because I forget to turn the ringer back up.

My wallpaper is individual, though. A teddy bear, a baby blanket and a paper rose that I made and took a picture of.

[Kajsa]

12. That's very cool.

And you can look at it, anytime.

;-)

[Skittles]

6. I cannot believe people actually USE the damn things

gawd they are f***ing annoying

[Redstone]

15. I only have one because Mrs R made me get one. She's the ONLY one who has the number, too.

I'll be damned if I want my customers nagging me while I'm driving.

Redstone

[Left Is Write]

39. The phones?

After being stranded on the side of the road late at night with a flat tire and having to walk a mile to the nearest store with a payphone (this was in 1997), I wouldn't want to be without one now. Especially because I drive my kids around a lot.

[quiet.american]

7. Don't get me started on cellphones. Great invention, but I can't stand them.

Annoying ringtones drive me crazy, people constantly, constantly yakking away inches from my ears drives me crazy, a friend taking a call in the middle of dinner drives me crazy, other friends calling home to check in every five minutes when we're out drives me crazy.... don't get me started.

[mitchum]

8. Fucked up, isn't it?

[reyd reid reed]

9. There's a market for everything

as long as people will buy it. And people, I've noticed, will buy damn near anything if you suggest to them that they should. Or if a 'friend' of theirs has it. There's very little individuality out there anymore.

Precious little.

[WCGreen]

11. That's for sure....

The rugged individual "ideal" is most certainly gone with the wind....

[deadparrot]

13. Well, I have a certain amount of "cash" put into my account each month,

which you can spend on games, wallpaper, ringtones, etc. Since Virgin has a pretty good selection, I've downloaded a couple ringtones from time to time.

[Redstone]

14. Ever since the first time I heard of it, I've thought of it as just about the DUMBEST

thing to actually spend perfectly good money on...

And I hate it when my son borrows my phone and screws around with the ringtone. I just want something that sounds like a PHONE RINGING, for Christ's sake!

Redstone

[Kutjara]

16. I think I may be the most pathetic of all.

I actually spent money to buy a ringtone that sounds like an old UK rotary dial phone ringer. Bring! Bring!

I can't decide what that makes me.

[reyd reid reed]

17. Oh, there are a whole BUNCH of stupid things people spend good money on

I mean...you name it, someone'll plunk down money for it. And often, the sillier, the better. The grilled cheese sandwich and potato chip thingies on e-bay just confirmed what I've suspected for a long time and P.T. Barnum made his living from: "There's a sucker born every minute."

[Redstone]

18. I had forgotten about the Holy Mary Grilled Cheese! And the REALLY sad part about that is

that the person who had so much money he could piss away THOUSANDS for the sandwich is rich from running INTERNET CASINOS!

Now there's something that's damn sad. People who wil go to a "casino" online to lose their money. Just pathetic.

Redstone

[WCGreen]

20. There is a certain bit of logical redemption going on there....

Perhaps the gentleman wishes to surround himself with Mother MAry icons in order to justify the money he is bilking from his "clientele"

[reyd reid reed]

34. There simply IS no 'justification' for that crap

I mean...he wants to assuage his conscience, then turn his powers to Good. Stop bilking people and return that money and do some good with it. Habitat for Humanity. Literacy programs. Scholarship funds.

Grilled cheese madonna icons? Don't cut it.

[nytemare]

19. I am too, considering you can just take a picture to use, and there is a free site

to convert mp3 files and send them to your phone to use as a ring tone.

People should be more resourceful!

:D

[fortyfeetunder]

21. Can you share what that website is?

I sure don't want to buy any ringtones...

[nytemare]

25. Sure here is link.

http://mobile17.com


You just go in and enter your phone info. Usually, you have to wait about 2 hours before it gets to your phone, but that is no big deal. Otherwise, you can give like 5 bucks in paypal. It is pretty easy.

[fortyfeetunder]

28. Thank you!!!!

I'll be sure to use it!

[nytemare]

54. Sure!

It takes a while to get the message to your phone, but it isn't that bad.

[Connonym]

22. Yeah, me too

I bought a ringtone so that I'd know it was my phone ringing and not someone else's. Otherwise, I'd be checking my frakin' phone every time I heard a ring.

[nytemare]

26. Here is website.

http://mobile17.com

:D

[Deja Q]

23. Go T-Mobile. Verizon forces people to buy by locking out the phones,

which do allow users to put up what they want.

Mind you, if they paid the graphic designers a reasonable wage and hired more from within the US...

But when it comes to 'society', you are correct: "Perhaps the way to feel like an individual is to become part of the crowd..." One's got to. Television and marketing only care about 'mainstream' (lowest common denominator) audiences; anyone else is abnormal or a freak.

[In_The_Wind]

24. I refuse to do it!

I found an odd ring-tone free :shrug: that works for me.

:hi:

[Scout1071]

27. I love my ringtones.

And generally despise the factory settings on other people's phones. One person in our office has a factory ring and she can't seem to ever put her phone on vibrate and it drives us all mad. When my phone rings and you hear John Lennon singing "All we are saying is give peace a chance" or Kanye West singing "Touch the Sky" with Lupe Fiasco.....I love it. It brightens my day in totally harmless way.

[Dervill Crow]

29. Right on . . . the ring tones that come with the phones are annoying as hell.

I spent a couple of bucks on a ring tone that sounds like two crows cawing at each other in conversation. It's wonderful. People smile when they hear it.

[mondo joe]

46. I agree. I smile every time I hear TEQUILA.

Baby Got Back was fun too.

[Book Lover]

30. I am so with you there

I use a older phone (sans GPS capability, thank you very much), so no wallpaper for me in any case. My phone is on vibrate at all times. Who else needs to know I'm getting a call except me anyway?

[Norrin Radd]

31. Paying is only useful to those without a computer and a net connection.

Pretty easy to make a tone or wallpaper and upload it via a usb cord, or upload it to the web and then download.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

32. Well, I can't believe people pay for spinner wheels

... but it's their money.


I'm too low-tech. I wouldn't know how to change the ring-tone on my phone. Oh, well.

[LynneSin]

33. You can have my ringtones when you pry my cellphone from my cold dead hands

Best way to show my individuality is to have 'Good Times, Bad Times' as my ringtone (also in the library includes 'Misty Mountain Hop', 'D'yar Ma'kar', 'Kashmir', 'Dazed and Confused' and Queen's 'Fat Bottom Girls')

[underpants]

35. My wife has a really cool one-an old fashioned phone ringing sound

I would LOVE to it but I am not going to buy it

[derby378]

36. Yes, I paid for a ring tone, but you've got a point...

...when there are so many people around the world who don't even have an "old-fashioned" land-line telephone in their village, let alone their home, we shouldn't get too caught up in our own good fortune to live in a country where you can get a cell phone for the cost of a cheeseburger a day.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

37. Am I the only one who has my cell phone always set to vibrate?

[Book Lover]

42. No sir, you are not

I see no reason to let anyone know I'm getting a call...

[Starbucks Anarchist]

43. I'm not alone!

:rofl: :hi:

[Book Lover]

50. Oh yes, we are so much cooler than the rest

:rofl:

[Left Is Write]

38. I have a hard time with it too.

I just use the ring tones already on my phone (and even so, I don't really use them, because my phone is always on vibrate) and the background picture it came from.

[ProfessorGAC]

40. Seems Superfluous To Me, Too!

The stupid phones come with 25 choices of ring, right out of the box. Might be a vanity thing, to see who has the most clever ring.
The Professor

[Fleshdancer]

41. lol, I'm guilty of purchasing my ringtone :blush:

I LOVE it though, it's Riders On the Storm by the Doors. What I really want is Gloria by Van Morrison for obvious reason but I haven't been able to find it (yet).

Regardless, it's fun to see people smile (and sometimes laugh) when they hear my ring tone.

[jobycom]

44. I can't believe anyone ever bought a Steely Dan album.

Not to mention Coors "beer."

[mondo joe]

45. I bought TEQUILA for my cell phone. And I'd buy it again.

[mark414]

47. fear not, grumbling middle aged man

because i share your sentiments and still have at least 20 years to go before people can call me middle aged...you are not alone

what you mention, placed on the larger scale is part of what disheartens me the most about my generation...mass consumption and acceptance of pre-packaged identities. it makes me sad to see formerly hated subcultures (punks, skateboarders, the real old school hip hoppers) be used for target commercials and songs like rock the casbah be used in cell phone ads...:cry: but i am tired of kids feeling hip and acting hip because they bought an image from the mall.

but me i am content to most of the time look like a square on the outside but dammit i'm more hip than any of those kids could even dream...haha :thumbsup:

i know this all started by talking about cell phone ringtones but damn...my generation's got no culture

[Rabrrrrrr]

48. I think it's one of the dumbest wastes of money, ever. But on the othe hand,

is it really any different than buying paint to paint your house? Or putting up Christmas lights? Or decorating your home?

In some ways, it really isn't - I wouldn't want everyone to be stuck with one color for houses, one mandated Christmas light display, or only one style of home decor. So why not allow differing ring tones?

But certainly for me, their totally a fucking waste of money. Why waste the money just so that strangers might be impressed for 2.5 seconds before they forget the ringtone bearer entirely? If that's the only impact you're leaving on the world ("I impressed a total stranger with my coolness for almost 3 seconds today, before he forgot that I existed after I answered the phone!!!"), that's pretty sad.

But, for those who really enjoy having 'em, then all the power to you!

Me? I got better things on which to spend my money.

[Scout1071]

55. I don't buy them to "impress strangers."

I buy them because they are fun and they brighten my day. If other people enjoy them.....bonus. But, I'm the one that dances and sings when my phone rings....whether people are around or not.

[cwydro]

49. Yeah,

I'm the only one in my office with just a regular ring.

[Dukkha]

51. I make them myself

i can doc my phone into the Mac and create them myself

[madinmaryland]

52. I have mine on vibrate, as all of the sound annoy me.

[Shine]

53. I'm with ya, buddy. Seems like a total racket to me, too.

I'm happy to just choose from the ones already on my cell phone...although my techie hubby and teenage son are quite thrilled with all the specialized downloaded ringtones they've paid for. :eyes:

Mr Shine has his ring tone set to Tom Petty's song "Free Fallin'" ....so it always starts out with Petty belting the words "I'm Freeeeee!!!! Free Fallin'"....which seems particularly ironic considering how my hubby is actually LESS than "free", having to take time to answer the damn phone. :eyes:

[RevCheesehead]

56. Hell, I can't believe that people pay for phone sex!

:evilgrin:



:hi: