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The Technology Challenged
- Thread starter bluewine
- Start date
Sure ... the old fashioned telephone works just fine. What's the urgency? In my world it makes no difference how I am contacted (email, cell phone, Facebook, land line, whatever) ... the priority I place on the message is dependent on the content, not the medium.
Passinwind
I know nothing.
- Dec 3, 2003
- 23,044
- 45,901
- Disclosures
- Designer/Toaster Tech @ Passinwind Electronics
The old fashioned way: smoke signals.
But seriously, I have a cell phone but never turn it on except for emergencies and on long road trips. Lots of people I play with almost never check their email. Neither thing makes a whit of difference in my world. How do I deal with it? However we agree to.
To me it's more a matter of efficiency. I handle most of the coordinating responsibilities for my rock band and most of that can be done via email. However there are some potentially time critical things - like last minute rehearsal cancelations/start time changes, checking peoples' schedules before booking a gig etc, where it'd be faster and easier, as well as more convienent for all involved (we all have busy day jobs) to just text message everyone. One member of the band refuses to pay for text messaging so I'm left with having to call that person. It's not the end of the world but it is annoying.
Gaius46 said:
+1 Efficiency is what I was getting at.
In our current economy how a band stays competitive is just as important as in any other business.
In all of the bands I have played in all band issues are communicated by texting and/ or E-mail.
A friend of mine, got a call at noon to fill a 9:00PM slot at Summerfest opening for Heart, the band scheduled bus broke down and canceled at the last minute.
Every member was on it, except the bass player who they could not contact. He wasn't home and he didn't own a cell.
They were not able to do the show. They were so pissed they fired the bass player.
I'm that guy without a cell phone and I mange to do just fine. Email usually works or a land line (I'm either at home, at work, or on a gig).
And no, I'm not "technologically challenged". I'm an electronics design engineer and I work with leading-edge tech all day long. I just don't care to have a cell phone. I manage to get plenty of work - 2 VERY different gigs this week, 2 next, 2 rehearsal this week, Church this Sunday, recording sessions coming up in December... All scheduled in the past few days, last minute.
I'd tell any band the same thing I tell my employer: if I must have a phone for your convenience, then you pay for it.
And no, I'm not "technologically challenged". I'm an electronics design engineer and I work with leading-edge tech all day long. I just don't care to have a cell phone. I manage to get plenty of work - 2 VERY different gigs this week, 2 next, 2 rehearsal this week, Church this Sunday, recording sessions coming up in December... All scheduled in the past few days, last minute.
I'd tell any band the same thing I tell my employer: if I must have a phone for your convenience, then you pay for it.
That's all well and good in situations where you are an employee. However in a band where everyone is equal you may be creating an imposition on someone if you force them to have to call you (and perhaps call you repeatedly) while everyone else gets a quick text message.
If you don't want a cell phone that's fine. No one can force you to get one. Just realize that you doing so may be imposing on others.
The urgency is if you're in a band where every member has to agree to doing a gig before the gig gets booked. Say a club owner / corporate client / wedding planner / whatever calls your BL offering a date. The BL says, let me get back to you. One of your bandmates doesn't have a cellphone and it takes the BL a day and a half of repeated calls to get ahold of him via landline. Meanwhile at the one-day mark the client says "screw these guys" and calls the next band on his list. That BL gets ahold of everyone in 15 minutes, calls the client back and your band just lost the gig. That's the urgency.
That all being said... IME it's not so much the technology as it is the personal responsibility (or lack thereof) of those using it. Your drummer's got a cellphone, great -- but if all his calls go to VM 24/7 and he only checks his text messages once a day -- or he's the type that misplaces his phone for days at a time -- then being cellphone equipped doesn't really help, does it?
lowfreqgeek said:
All of our worlds are different, no problem there.
I could not survive 10 minutes without my Droid.
I would not have been able to post this thread without it.
My new band requires all members to have one and to keep it on.
BTW, guess who I replaced?
The Guy that wouldn't buy a cell
I would have been pissed too. And I would have fired the band member who cost me a gig like that.
OK I sort of see this point. OTOH... seriously, how much is a Jitterbug? I mean, if a person can't even afford the most basic cellphone then how are they buying/maintaining the gear to be in a working band? And if they're not willing or able to invest a relatively small amount in a tool that could very well mean the difference between them getting and losing gigs, then they're probably not keeping up on other financial responsibilities, i.e., they will be leeching off the band.
In my band everyone has a cellphone. We are not required to have one, we just all understand that gigs depend on us being able to coordinate things on very short notice. Nor are we are required to keep it on 24/7 but the expectation is that we will be accessible during "normal" waking hours, i.e. 8-ish in the morning till 10 or 11 at night. Until recently one of our members had a cellphone but no texting service which was kind of a PITA but we made it work. He's text-enabled now too and that's how 90% of our band business gets done. With e-mail being the fallback for less time-intensive things or matters that require a bit more discussion.
I hate owning a cellphone, and I would never feel bad about having go out of my way to contact someone who didn't have one.
That being said, I do realize that more opportunities will come my way if I am easily accessible - so I have owned one for most of the past 2 decades.
That being said, I do realize that more opportunities will come my way if I am easily accessible - so I have owned one for most of the past 2 decades.
Not a band member, but rather MY WIFE! Well, before she was my wife, of course.
I met her while hanging out with my friends. I went to the weekly dodgeball game we had, and she was there. She had met and started hanging out with my friends while I took a sabbatical (read: while I was occupied with my horrible ex wife).
I got to know her, but she didnt have a phone, and only had access to the internet if she went to her parents house, maybe like once a week. So, after going to her place a few times with some friends we got to know each other. We started to like each other and at that point I pretty much just had to show up at her house. Of course, Id make arrangements the night before (or that morning!) so that she knew I was coming by.
