Tuesday, May 16, 2006

When I was your age, we didn't have caller ID!

4:41 AM 5 comments

Someday I hope to say that to my kids.

I remember the days when the phone would ring and you'd have no idea who was calling: a telemarketer, your spouse, a client or a complete stranger.

It made answering the phone exciting. Surprising. Even fun!

Then, in 1988 when the first caller ID hit the market, everything changed. Someone would pick up the receiver and hear, "Hey Karen!" and Karen would think, "Wait, how the hell did you know it was me?!"

"Oh, we have caller ID. I knew it was you," says Karen's friend.

And so, caller ID changed the entire scope of communicating on the phone in the following ways:

  • Instead of having to take every call, now with caller ID, you could screen callers and only talk to the people you wanted to (or whose numbers you recognized)

  • Instead of getting excited every time the phone rang, you'd roll your eyes when you saw it was your college roommate, Steve (and not your biggest customer ready to reorder) and say, "Eh, hey Dave..."

    I've been meaning to blog about this issue for a few years now. And I guess it wasn't until I recently moved office locations (where my new phone does NOT have caller ID) that I started thinking about it.

    When I first moved in, I was a bit annoyed. I was so used to caller ID! I even considered returning my phone to Target and exchanging it for an updated model.

    But now, I gotta say: I kinda like it. It's only been a few weeks, but every time that phone rings, I get excited! Is it someone calling to book a speech? A friend from California I haven't talked to in months? Or could it be my old stalker Stephan calling to freak me out again?

    It rules.

    Now, do I think the world would be better without caller ID? Not necessarily. It certainly serves its purpose(s). But I think communication is about consistency. And maybe answering the phone the exact same way for every caller (the way we used to do it) is the way it should be.

    LET ME ASK YA THIS...

    How does caller ID affect your phone communication?

    * * * *
    Scott Ginsberg
    Author/Speaker/That guy with the nametag
    www.hellomynameisscott.com

    • 5 comments:

    I don't have caller ID....guess I'm still in the dark ages. My pet peeve, though? Call waiting. I can understand the receptionist of a large company putting me on hold...but not a "friend."

    I know there are people who will disagree with me...but I can't think of anything ruder than putting someone on hold to take another call. Short of an emergency, are our calls really so important???

    Donna

    Aarg. The WORST part of caller ID is the behavior people believe it allows them to use. Case in point: I work in an office of about 20 people. Many times a week I get the call that says, "yeah, somebody just called me."

    They don't know who called, but apparently these people have the time to call back every number that appears on their caller ID.

    I'm a total call screener. I'm not a real big talker when it comes to 90% of my 'friends' anyways, and when I know half of them are calling so I can hear a concert over the phone (that commercial cracks me up) I'll touch base later. (:

    I think I answer more based on my mood that I do on who's calling.

    My sister is one of few people that I talk with that has a blocked caller id line. I left a message for her yesterday then I had a call several hours later from a private number and I answered "hey home girl" and it was actually someone calling about some speaker wire I am selling on craigslist.
    She said "uhhh, is this Rob?" haha.
    Caller ID lets me personalize my greeting when I pick up the phone (95% of the time in a good way). I think it is bland when someone just says "Hello this is John".
    Compared to, "Hey Steve, thanks for calling, I was hoping you would call! :)"

    I hate the callbacks. Now--do I google the number? yes, of course. But do I call back? Never.

    I have a friend who refuses to get caller ID and I've come to suspect he hasn't actually programmed any numbers into his cell phone. He thinks it breeds rudeness and won't play into it.

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