When you dial another person's phone you are asking to be allowed to take up some of their time. It's like entering a room where someone is busy doing his or her own thing. You intrude upon their space and may, or may not, be welcome. I often find the telephone a bloody nuisance and may choose not to answer. I might be busy with a preparation, or following and videoing critters under a microscope, or just reading. There is no obligation on the part of the owner of a phone to answer a call, or the occupant of a house to open the door to someone who knocks. I think one needs to take this into consideration when placing a call, or pressing a doorbell. I only have a cell phone now having give up landlines years ago, I can see who is calling. If the number is withheld I never, ever, answer.
Skype is a much more useful way of communicating these days. I have a couple of Web Cameras connected and can even demonstrate things on a microscope using one that has been modified for the purpose. And it is such a simple matter to block unwanted calls. A friend in San Jose makes parts on his CNC machines for a project I have going here. I can see how things are progressing live, without having to lay out enormous sums for International calls -- without video. I remember attending Video conferences at Nokia ten or twelve years ago using equipment that cost tens of thousands of dollars. The only inconvenience is that it takes a week for the finished parts to reach Finland. D Malcolm Smith wrote: > Cotty wrote: > > >> You guys are all nuts. I answer any phone call I get, mobile >> or landline. Unsolicited canvassing calls amount to probably >> less than half a dozen a year. We get / make many calls to / >> from friends and relatives. Call me old-fashioned, but >> chatting using voice is still my preferred method of >> communication with fellow humans..... >> > > I answer all the calls I get* and I get at least two canvassing calls a day > on average. It's got to the stage that when I don't recognise someone's > voice I automatically ask if they're trying to sell me something. Once or > twice a year I'm pleasantly surprised with it not being a cold call. We also > get a lot of doorstep calls - although I expect this is a living in London > thing which puts us above the national average on both types of caller. > > * Assuming you get to it in time. I've set the answer 'phone to a long wait > before cutting in to allow me to get to the 'phone and I normally stop what > I'm doing immediately if there is a knock at the door, but you'd be > surprised how many won't wait even a few seconds for a reply. Why bother at > all? > > Malcolm > > > -- Dr E D F Williams www.kolumbus.fi/mimosa/ http://personal.inet.fi/cool/don.williams/ 41660 TOIVAKKA – Finland - +358400706616 -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
