Phone Fatigue: Voice Calls on the Decline

[RamboLiberal]

Is this the end of the line for the cherished telephone call?

For decades, it's played a starring role in our lives and pop culture (can you imagine "E.T.", for example, without it?). But according to some, its heyday could be winding down.

In an article in the August issue of Wired magazine, Clive Thompson writes: "We're moving… toward a fascinating cultural transition: the death of the telephone call."

Citing data from media research firm Nielsen, he said the average number of mobile phone calls we make every year is dropping and our calls are getting shorter. In 2005, the average call was three minutes long, now they're not even half of that, he said.

The reason for the phone call's demise?

With the telephone, "we are constantly interrupting one another," he said. "The other tools at our disposal are more polite. Instant messaging lets us detect whether our friends are busy without our bugging them, and texting lets us ping one another asynchronously."

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/phone-fatigue-phone-call-dead/story?id=11355507

[marmar]

1. I must admit, I text way more than I talk on the phone nowadays.

nt

[John Q. Citizen]

3. ET text home!

[leftofcool]

9. I haven't figured out how to text on mine.

I realize I need to step into the 21st Century but change is hard.

[ejpoeta]

15. i got a texting phone with the keyboard. i refuse to use the number pad.

i honestly don't know how people ever did it though i saw some quick texters with those number pads.

[leftofcool]

16. Teenagers maybe?

[ejpoeta]

22. the only ones i ever saw that could actually use those number pads to text were teens.

it was laughable watching me try to do anything with those things.

[SDuderstadt]

20. I've been trying to text on mine, but...

all my friends and family said they weren't going through.

It was only then that I discovered I had been trying to do it from my garage door opener.

[leftofcool]

23. BWHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

[SDuderstadt]

25. Thanks...

I'm here all week.

[Roon]

27. So do I eom

[uncommon]

31. Likewise. I rely almost entirely on texting, email and gchat.

For the outliers, I use Facebook.

[cynatnite]

2. Maybe they'll take the robocalls, too. n/t

[ProdigalJunkMail]

4. a three minute phone call is outside the window

of most people's attention span so i am not surprised...

now, onto the next thing...

sP

[Renew Deal]

5. I don't believe the phone call is dying.

That's unbelievable on it's face. Also, I wonder if the average call includes people hanging up on voice mail or leaving voice mails. I doubt they used just person to person calls to get that number.

[Orsino]

13. That was a silly lead-in for the story.

It's perfectly understandable that voice call volume would drop, perhaps even permanently, with the addition of other features to our phones--but that has nothing to do with any impending death of the medium.

[Political_Junkie]

6. I have always hated telephones.

I text everybody now, except my mother, she's getting up there in age and keeps forgetting how to check her messages. :)

[cynatnite]

10. I don't like 'em either, but I'm too lazy to text...

I'd rather talk. Of course, we have a lot of family and friends who text. My husband texts quite a bit and I'm having to more and more.

[Roon]

29. I have one friend who doesn't use text.

He HATES it. So I always call him.

[pipi_k]

7. I hate talking on the phone, but....

even still, I do end up talking with my daughter about three hours per week, and my son about two or three hours per month.

[Subdivisions]

19. If it weren't for similar reasons that I have a phone, I'd toss the f'in thing

in the nearest river.

[Common Sense Party]

8. I haven't the foggiest notion how to "text" someone, so I guess I'll

just not communicate in the future.

[leftofcool]

12. +1

[ejpoeta]

11. i can tell you that we don't make phone calls here as much as we did.

We just got texting in march and now text so much and hardly ever talk. it feels weird and disconnected to me though. but i like it in some ways. my husband and i can have a conversation about the kids presents with them in the same place. it's odd, but it has it's place. I mean, it's also easier to send an email than to actually talk on the phone. or to IM. because you can talk when people are available. but again, it feels so disconnected. for kids it will probably be like second nature, but for me it seems to be a bit disconcerting.

[Stevenmarc]

14. Sorry but the phone call is not this years buggy whip...

The sizes of the slices of the communication pie might shift but the phone call will always be a piece.

[Subdivisions]

17. I cannot stand texting. And I'm getting a very bad vibe

from the article. Is the groundwork being laid to eliminate the traditional phone call? What's this excuse about interupting each other with actual phone calls? That's been the case since the days of AG Bell. Now it suddenly an issue?

Something smells fishy about this...

[SDuderstadt]

21. Jesus, dude...

is EVERYTHING a fucking conspiracy to you?

[Statistical]

32. Wow.

:tinfoilhat:

[Donnachaidh]

18. bullshit. pure and total bullshit. n/t

[Fire1]

26. I think so, too. Total crap. n/t

[DailyGrind51]

24. We are returning to the written word!

[Dappleganger]

28. Not a big phone user.

Dh laughs at me because my minutes are usually under 15 per month on the cell, and texts are minimal and only deal with the kids. On our landline it is all related to either home bills or health issues. This morning one doctor's office kept me on hold for nearly 40 minutes. arrgh. When that happens I put it on speakerphone while checking email.

[niyad]

30. that certainly doesn't apply to me or any of my friends.

[kenny blankenship]

33. From what I can see, it's not that Americans phone each other less, it's just that they wait

until they are driving in their cars or at a movie theater to do it. Using time wisely is the mark of a sophisticated, upwardly mobile people. You go, America!

[Jennicut]

34. Yup, why talk on the phone at home when you can do it at the grocery store loudly and annoy

everyone?

[InvisibleTouch]

35. I sure hope so!

I've always hated the phone, I hate to make calls, and I hate to be interrupted by calls. These days with my cell phone I'm also acutely aware that I'm burning minutes (and thus dollars) every time I can't avoid making or taking a call, let alone when someone yaps at me about irrelevant crap. I like e-mail because I can read and respond when I actually have a moment, rather than being thrown off my trajectory when I'm working on other stuff. Texting is the next-best thing, because by necessity it's kept brief. There are times of course when a quick phone call is the fastest and most efficient way of making needed contact - but truly I would not mourn the demise of the telephone.

[pepperbear]

36. if I'm not mistaken, texting is a lot more expensive.

Which tells me they're trying to create a self fulfilling prophecy.