Another reason to text instead of calling
By applefreak
@applefreak (3130)
Singapore
July 8, 2009 10:54pm CST
came across this paragraph in a health magazine. it encourages users to send text messages instead of calling. i've included the paragraph below because i may not be able to explain it so clearly. it seems the radiation, no matter how low manuafacturers claim it to be, is still high enough to cause damage to our body. thankfully i've never been a chatterbox when it comes to the mobile phone. i much prefer to send text messages compared to calling. 
[i]Text It Up
Good news: exposure to radiation from your mobile phone diminishes slowly for the first six to eight centimetres from your body, and then it falls dramatically, says Bloomfield.
Sending an SMS is actually a safer way to communicate, says David O. Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany. When you key in an SMS, you hold your phone away from your body. This exposes you to less radiation than when you have the mobile to your ear.[/i]
[i]Text It Up
Good news: exposure to radiation from your mobile phone diminishes slowly for the first six to eight centimetres from your body, and then it falls dramatically, says Bloomfield.
Sending an SMS is actually a safer way to communicate, says David O. Carpenter, MD, director of the Institute for Health and the Environment at the University at Albany. When you key in an SMS, you hold your phone away from your body. This exposes you to less radiation than when you have the mobile to your ear.[/i]4 people like this
15 responses
@blungel0830 (841)
• Philippines
10 Jul 09
I remembered a friend who used to talk on the phone for hours till she started complaining of severed headache that seemed to radiate from her ears. A doctor told her that it could be triggered by prolonged use of the phone. When she tried to limit the length of her calls, she started to notice that the pain went away.
When I have to use my cellphone for calls, I often use the speaker phone function so that I don't have to bring the phone to my ear. I also text more often than call.
Have a nice day!
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
10 Jul 09
wow that sounds pretty serious doesn't it? i used to have bad headaches after chatting on the mobile phone. thankfully it didn't get too bad before i stopped. as mentioned, i stopped because i noticed the correlation between my mobile phone usage and the headaches.
good to hear that your friend's pain went away. you have a nice weekend too.
1 person likes this
@blungel0830 (841)
• Philippines
24 Jul 09
Hi applefreak! Thanks so much for the BR! 
Have a wonderful weekend.
Have a wonderful weekend.
@visitorinvasion (7709)
• United States
9 Jul 09
Great news! I have an excuse to text instead of call most people now :)
I'm not real big on talking on the phone anyway, mobile or otherwise, so I'm really thankful you shared.
Happy Friday Eve
--Shannon
@visitorinvasion (7709)
• United States
11 Jul 09
I told my friends at work this morning too...we work for a Verizon distributor, and all have employee phones. They are also grateful for the information...just thought I'd share the "love" as my co-workers like to say.
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
10 Jul 09
hi shannon, thanks for the lovely reply. a happy weekend to you too :)
1 person likes this
@tamarafireheart (15384)
•
9 Jul 09
Hi applefreak,
I don't know why they ever invented mobile phones in the first place if its going to cause raditions, I normally just use my landline to call my friends as I like to talk to them and not just send texts messages, I only use my mobile phone if I am out and need my hubby to pick me up form where I am, I just use my text then.
Tamara
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
9 Jul 09
hi tamara, that's one good use for the mobile phone. i use my mobile phone to contact my partner to pick me up too. i can't imagine how i'm gonna do that with a mobile phone. great that you talk to your friends on your landline. some times i had to use my mobile phone to talk to others because i am on the move. it's really convenient especially when i'm out shopping and i wanted to see one thing but my friend want to see something else. at least we can call each other when we are done. cheers
@crazynified (242)
• Malaysia
9 Jul 09
These are all good and valid reasons to text rather than calling,but just sometimes in certain situations I prefer to call rather than text(without even minding all that radiation thing..), maybe because certain things are just harder to explain by typing rather than talking. It also feels good when you could hear the voice of the other person on the phone talking to me, I can assume expression of how the person is feeling at the time (bored,happy, sleepy etc) rather than texting I wouldn't know if the person didn't tell me.
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
9 Jul 09
yes i agree that sometimes it's better to call than to text. especially when i want to know something immediately. it's also easier to clarify some issues by talking.
hearing the voice does help in certain matters. there are times that i misunderstood the tone of the person. in the end we had to clarify the matter over the phone.
@crazynified (242)
• Malaysia
10 Jul 09
Yeah... there had been previous cases for me where my friends misunderstood a matter... annd all that just involved texting... and I believed the misunderstanding wouldn't have occurred if we had just talked about it over the phone!
1 person likes this
@LovingLife139 (1504)
• United States
9 Jul 09
This makes a little bit of sense...but for the most part, people are far too worried about radiation than they need to be. For example, lights in your house give you about the same amount of radiation as a microwave or a cell phone, but you don't see everyone who has electricity getting cancer when they're older. (Plus you don't see people who are worried about radiation stopping their electric on purpose.)
It's kind of like artificial sweetener...everyone doesn't use it because it can be harmful, but they don't understand the details of the study's findings. They feed the poor laboratory rats an amount that is nearly impossible to reach in a human lifetime, let alone within a short amount of time to where the aspartame (or any other chemical sweetener) does not have enough time to leave the body.
Either way, if you're worried about radiation, text all you want. The situation is a bit overblown, though.
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
10 Jul 09
hmm i think microwave gives out far more radiation than the normal lights. also, the incidences of cancer is increasing. here where i am, one in three people will get cancer at some point of their life. back in the olden days, not so many people has cancer.
guess i'd rather be safe than sorry. i hide behind the refrigerator when i use the microwave over! 
@LovingLife139 (1504)
• United States
10 Jul 09
In an average day a person takes in more radiation from house lights than microwaves and other sources combined. A microwave does put out more, yes, but radiation from other sources adds up quicker.
When I was younger I would do the same thing. :) I'd put something in the microwave then run! It was only when I was in college that I learned more about radiation and how it works, and I began to live a much less worried life. :)
What would worry me is if I worked in an x-ray department at a dentistry or hospital...even though they have methods of protecting their employees, you'd still have to wonder if the methods worked!
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
6 Aug 09
Great to hear that you enjoy texting more. I think texting is becoming the norm eTher than the exception. There are even texting competitions to see who can text faster! Given this added health benefit, I'd like to think that even more people will text instead of call. Hopefully there aren't too many health hazards to texting though.
@aprilsue00 (1991)
• United States
9 Jul 09
I like that a lot. I was never really that concerned about radiation from my cell phone but it is nice to know that texting causes a lot less radiation to enter my body. I have always prefered to sned a text rather than talk on my cell phone anyway.
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
9 Jul 09
hi aprilsue, thanks for your response. good that you prefer to text instead of talking on the mobile phone. i didn't used to be concerned about the radiation too. until one day my head was throbbing and i couldn't figure out why. then it dawn on me that the headache always happened after i talked quite awhile on the mobile phone. since then, i try to cut short my mobile phone conversation or use a headset if necessary. since then the headache didn't happen. cheers
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
10 Jul 09
I have unlimited calling, but they charge me over .40 per text message...
My friends in Europe have free text messaging service....but we don't
in USA...
in USA...1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
11 Jul 09
wow that's a lot to charge for text messages. i can't imagine paying that much to send a single text message. guess you'll be better of calling than texting. maybe using a handsfree set will help. that's what i use when i make a mobile phone call. unlimited calling is nice to have, especially if you make a lot of calls. i've ever received a mobile phone bill of more than $200 because of the many calls i made.
@ElicBxn (63638)
• United States
9 Jul 09
Okay, first, I'm not too worried about irradition because I'm not on the phone that much. But when I am, about half the time I have it on speaker so I can talk hands free. Unless I'm moving around or want something privete or its going to be a short call, then I don't use speaker.
When I call my sister for my mom I always use speaker, one, because it is louder and two because I can repeat what my sister says to mom if she didn't understand it.
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
9 Jul 09
great to hear that you use the speaker half the time. at least the impact radiation has on you is not so great. most important thing is bearing these little facts in mind. if a call comes in the next time, maybe you'll switch on the speaker more often. i know i'll be doing that most times.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
11 Jul 09
Mmmmm...if you want to hear something hysterically funny, well in a way, just last night I heard on the news of a young teenage girl who was so busy texting on her cell phone that she wasn't paying attention to where she was walking and fell down an uncovered manhole..
http://www.silive.com/westshore/index.ssf/2009/07/staten_island_girl_falls_into.html
So texting rather than calling may be safer from one perspective but not in another...like maybe people should watch where they are going....
http://www.silive.com/westshore/index.ssf/2009/07/staten_island_girl_falls_into.html
So texting rather than calling may be safer from one perspective but not in another...like maybe people should watch where they are going....1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
11 Jul 09
oh my goodness that must hurt, both physically and pride wise. i can't imagine the teasing she is going to get when she goes to school or work. i guess that'll be something everyone talks about whenever she attends a gathering. i know i would if that ever happens to one of my friends.
it's pretty dangerous to text while doing something else. i usually send my text messages sitting down or standing still. i know i don't multi-task well so i'd rather not take the risk.
@rosapai (254)
• Philippines
9 Jul 09
Hi Applefreak.... I don't worry about the radiation from the cellphone... rather I think about how much I will using in my load that's why I would rather text than call. Compare to 1 to 1.50 used in texting to 8 to 12.00 used per minute in calling I would always prefer the texting. I know that there are promos for prepaid subscribers like me I mostly do not avail of them. Basides 3-6 text messages is almost equivalent to 1 minute of call... SO let's just text ;)
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
9 Jul 09
wow the price difference is really great. it's so much more worth it to text than call. if my plan is like yours i'd text instead too. sometimes texting gets the message across better. i tend to get distracted when i call. some times i'd even chat for a while, hang up and realise i didn't say what i called to say.
@sweetie1026 (1718)
• Philippines
10 Jul 09
I seldom use my mobile for calls, i usually send text messages only. One reason is it is cheaper and if it is not an emergency. I only call for emergency purposes and i do try to avoid calling often, just being safe, you know the radiation thing.
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
10 Jul 09
good to hear that you are already avoiding making calls. guess we all have to do what we can to keep ourself safe. have a great weekend ahead. 
@lacusGavril (106)
•
9 Jul 09
Hello,, I used text rather than calling for the reason that it is cheaper, besides you can still communicate well,,Anyways it's nice to hear that there are other reason to use text...
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
9 Jul 09
good to hear that you text more than calling. interesting to note that it seems cheaper to text in a lot of places. my subscription plan comes with more than enough minutes so i usually just call. thankfully i use the ear piece most of the time. at least now i will text more than i call. thanks for responding, have a great day.
@cncity (46)
• China
10 Jul 09
Yes,what you have said sounds like reasonable.Radiation can cause damage to our body even the manuafactures claim it is very low. it is truth indeed!
But I think we can't give up eating for fear of choking.because the mobile in our lives plays a very important role,it can shorten the distence in geography,and make us kept in touch with each other in a very convenient and fast way.
That is my opnion,have a nice day!
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
10 Jul 09
i agree with you to a certain extent. we can't give up doing everything just because there are risks. we are taking risks everyday just going about doing things!
for myself, i'll use the landline or the headset whenever possible. i'll use my mobile phone to call only when the above two are not available. cheers
for myself, i'll use the landline or the headset whenever possible. i'll use my mobile phone to call only when the above two are not available. cheers 
@dpk262006 (58678)
• Delhi, India
14 Jul 09
Hi apple!
It appears a sound statement and suggestion. If I'm not in a position to call someone, I prefer sending text messages and I feel that sending text message is the better option because one can see a reply the text message at his/her convenience and messages do not disturb him/her unnecessarily.
@dpk262006 (58678)
• Delhi, India
15 Jul 09
So you are an expert in sending text messages. Keep enjoying.
Have a great day!
deepak1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
15 Jul 09
yes i think sending text message is a good choice. even before i come across this article, i prefer to text. mostly for the same reason you named. also, i find that calling is a little like intrusion of privacy. now i have even more reasons to text instead of calling. thanks dpk262006 for responding and have a nice day.
