Is there such thing as being too connected?

Jasmin Aline Persch • E-mail

As CTIA-The Wireless Association opens its annual show today, looking at the latest trends in mobile technology, there are still some folks who don’t want to have anything to do with cell phones.

Angela from Skiatook, Okla., just doesn’t want to feel that connected.

“I don’t own a cell phone and I love it,” the 34-year-old said. “I don't like the idea of anyone bothering me at any moment.”

Don’t know anybody without a cell phone? That’s because they’re a relatively small — and shrinking — group of less than 20 percent of Americans, according to CTIA, an industry trade group.

Surprisingly, my recent article on a likely larger, growing group of people who feel lost without one sparked about 30 e-mails from readers who are bucking the cell-phone trend.

Connection feels forced
Many of these unwired readers don’t see the allure of being connected 24/7.

Kathleen from Helena, Mont., already has a landline at home and one at work. “I don't want people calling me at the grocery store, etc.,” she said in an e-mail.

Cell phones had appeal at first because they could provide security. Even more so today: The two-way communication between cell phones and cellular towers can help authorities trace a missing person. Isn’t the safety-net argument enough to sway cell-phone latecomers?

It worked for the loved ones of some readers.

Keith from Norwood, Ma., said in an e-mail that he only uses his mobile for about 10 minutes a month.

“I keep my cell phone shut off and in my truck,” he wrote. “I only own one because my wife insists I have one for emergencies.”

Readers care for other tech
Cell phones have caught fire like no other technology. Between 2000 and now, the U.S. wired population shot from 30 percent to more than 80 percent, according to CTIA. What’s more, cell phones now reign as the technology Americans can least go without, according to a recent Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Some readers who could care less about cell phones do like and use other tech.

Winston, from Lebanon, N.H., offered proof that he’s a “techie” although he’s never owned a cell phone.

“I have Wi-Fi in [my] house with two PCs and a Mac, PS3 and 46-inch LCD, three MP3 players, including two iPods,” he said in an e-mail.

Kelly from Annapolis, Md., singled out the latter as her most important gadget.

“The only electronic device I'd be lost without is my iPod,” she said in an e-mail. “Now, that I am a slave to.”

But more people are slaves to their cell phones, and because the multipurpose gadgets are so handy for storing information, users often don't bother backing up. So losing a mobile can mean losing all your phone numbers — cutting you off from your social network (at least temporarily). But why are we so dependent on one device?

Making do with old technology
Some readers said that they stay decently connected using multiple technologies in place of cell phones.

Art Howland from Washington D.C, who describes himself as “young, and have a decent-paying job,” wrote in that he is reachable in the office for nine hours a day and gets his messages through e-mail at home, thanks to Internet phone-service provider Vonage. To store his phone numbers, he makes do with a very old technology.

“My ‘PDA’ is a folded piece of paper with an Excel printout of everyone's number,” Howland said in an e-mail.

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