Ringer Tones: We depend on them!!

Ring Tones, or just vibrate?

2008-11-07T22:28:00.000-08:00

I've noticed a big difference these days. People have their ringers off. Cellular phones don't seem to ring as much anymore.

Want to know why?

In a simple word:

TEXTING.

Yes, everyone is doing it. Not just the young at heart, but people in their 40's are texting. The concept is reaching the cellular world far and wide, because "it is efficient".

Why wait for someone to answer the phone, have a bunch of small talk to get your point across? Why have a discussion when all you want to do is say an important sentence or two?

Texting is big. Texting sounds like a simple "beep" when a message comes in... Texting is here to stay...

So this is why people are constantly using their thumbs on their dial-pad of their cell phone. They're texting, emailing, and avoiding voice conversation whenever possible. It cuts down on airtime minutes, and it gets the job done.

This is why the need for ringer tones is lessened today. :)

Why do we call them ring tones anymore?

2008-10-06T00:24:00.000-07:00

When was the last time you heard a cell phone "ring" with "tones" ?

Today, most people have the first 20 seconds of their favourite MP3 as their ringer. Perhaps we should call them ring music? Instead of ringtone?

I'm curious how many of you have your phone set to sound like a ring, or music, or just weird sounds? We should have a vote, but I know already.. ring music will be the winner.

How about no ring tones... just a phone that vibrates when it goes off? I find that if my phone is inside my jacket, or jean pocket, rarely do I feel it vibrate, so I miss a lot of calls that way. Perhaps the vibration on the cellphone is weaker as the battery gets older.

Ring Tones: Are they really important anymore?

2008-09-29T00:38:00.000-07:00

There was a while there, where having the best ring tone in your group of friends made you someone. When your phone ringed, you'd be like "yeah, I'm all that".

Where did things go wrong, where we depend on the sound of our cell phones ringing that made us what we are? Is that what individuality is all about?

Now don't get me wrong, I do appreciate a nice sounding ring tone every now and then...

But somewhere along the way, we are suppose to wake up and go.. we're worried about about the way a ring sounds? :)

Why do we put so much effort into the way a phone rings? Why were we ever given the choice, and why does it seem so important to us?

Maybe we should all go back to the standard ring? In this day and age, does anyone even know what a telephone ringing is suppose to sound like? Think of the rotary phones (for those of you born after 1985, you may not even know)...

But a ring is a ring... Or is it?

Ringer Tones or Music?

2008-09-24T02:03:00.000-07:00

Most people will cellular telephones now realize, that when your phone goes off, it is not suppose to just ring, but perhaps... play a hit song. :)

People are very creative about the sounds their phones play when they ring. There is nothing wrong with that... actually it is very beneficial to have your cell phone play the first 25 notes of a particular song, so you are completely unique when the phone rings.

The days of the standard phone ring are over. So we might as well get use to it now.

Now the question is.. Have you installed your own mp3 ring tone? Or are you waiting for someone (either network provider or cell phone company itself), to do it for you?

Ring Tone or Vibrate?

2008-06-10T11:00:00.001-07:00

I often will turn off my ringer when walking into a bank or post office, etc. I usually put the phone on vibrate.

Here's the thing. If your phone is on vibrate and in a loose pocket, it can vibrate without your realizing it.

Even worse, sometimes I will remove the phone from my pocket with the ringer still off, and I'll lay it on the passenger seat next to me while I'm on the highway.

If I forget that the phone is on vibrate instead of ring, I'll go a whole hour with missing every call. This is why I wish my phone had a vibrate for the next 20 minutes type setting, where the phone would return to the normal ringer.

This would give me enough time to exit the bank or post office and even if I forget to turn my ring tones back on, it would happen for me automatically.

Being considerate with your ring tone.

2008-05-23T03:02:00.000-07:00

A lot of people forget that when their cellular phone rings, it is often while you are in public. This is known as noise pollution to some. It is important to select a ring tone that will not annoy the general public around you.

Similarily, you wouldn't want to hear someone else's awful ring tone either.

Therefore, why not take the time to find some soothing sounds, like birds chirping, water running in a creek, the sound of an owl, or even nighttime crickets as your ring tone?

Different sounds would make great ring tones, especially if you took the time to try them out, even for a day or two. No one says that your ring tone has to be etched in stone. To fully test a ring tone, you should upload it to your phone and use if for a couple days until you get use to the ringing sound.

Like anything new, a ring tone will take time for you to adjust to it, so don't rule out all the possibilities without giving them a chance.

Good luck to your quest for the ultimate ring tone!

How to make your own ring tone

2008-05-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

Apparently most ring tones are 20 seconds in length or shorter. Usually a ring tone can be in mp3 format, and simply uploaded to your phone via a usb cable that plugs into your cellular phone.

If you look on Youtube, and do a search for "how to make your own ring tone", you will probably find a few dozen videos for various phone manufacturers... all showing you how to record, and upload, your own free ring tone.

Some phones must be unlocked before you can change the ring tone setup. (Some phone manufacturers want to sell you after market ring tones since the ring tone market is pretty good these days).

If you do manage to successfully make (and upload) your ring tone to your phone, and it works, you'll soon have a lot of your friends and family wanting you to do it for them too... Once you can be creative with someone's phone, even just a new ring tone, will usually put a smile on their face.

Be careful though. Some unlocking phone procedures do not always work and can turn your phone into a paper weight (junk). Also, if you are suppose to download software from a ring tone website, (or a phone unlock website) please scan the files for viruses.

When the ring tone craze is on, there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there who are padding zip files with viruses, making you think you're downloading ring tones, or cellular phone unlock codes.. Meanwhile you're just infecting your computer.

This is why those Youtube videos I mentioned before, that visually demonstrate where to get the software, or how to do it, are a lot more trustworthy.

Good luck, and happy ringing!

Ring Tones: Personalized rings for friends?

2008-05-11T15:56:00.000-07:00

A lot of people often do not realize that you can only select one particular ring tone, but have several attached to particular incoming calls.

In your phone book, often you can group people into a certain category like "family and friends" and then give a secondary ring tone to that particular group. This way, when your phone rings, you will quickly know if it is a business call, or a more of a personal call.

Ring tones assigned to people and contacts can be very useful. If your on the highway and your cell phone starts ringing, and its a business call, it might be worthwhile to dig out the phone and answer it right away.

Similarily, if your in the middle of the grocery store, and your wife says she'll call you back, you'll want to hear that pleasant family ring tone, because you know its going to be her.. :)

Spending a half hour reading the manual of your cell phone could save you all kinds of hassles if you learn how all the features of your phone works.

Unlocking your cell phone for a ring tone?

2008-05-09T01:56:00.000-07:00

Some cell phones that are locked have a limited number of ring tones preinstalled on them. In order to add more, you often will have to purchase a ringtone.

The cost of unlocking your cell phone can be anywhere from $150 to $300. Now I know some people just can't live with the existing ring tones on their phone.

My question is: Why buy the phone in the first place if the default ring tones aren't to your liking?

Hasn't anyone realized it yet, that phone manufacturers KNOW that people are buying ringtones, and that they are paying to have their phones unlocked?

They probably purposely putting on bad sounding ring tones, knowing they'll make money from you later because people are so picky about which ringer tone they want!

Ringer Tone for your phone: Is it worth it?

2008-05-06T07:45:00.000-07:00

How many of us are so busy, that we can't remember why we chose the ringer tone on our phone, and whether or not it is the best one?

I remember when cellular phones just came out. You had a choice of like 5 ringtones, and that's it. Then the next generation cell phones came out, and you had a choice of like 25 ring tones, that were pre-programmed into your phone.

Now, ring tones are a commodity. If you want a decent ring tone, you usually have to buy it on the internet at cost of anywhere from $2 to $15

Someone is making good money on ring tones, and it is certainly not you or me!

Cellphone music and sounds, when they ring

2008-04-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

Do you prefer a ringer tone that plays music, or sounds? I think if we were to take a survey, you may find that 95% of teenagers always place the first 20 seconds of their favourite song when the phone rings.

I think not enough attention has been paid to the idea of funny and cool ring tone sounds, and effects. If you want to stand out among your friends, and be a topic of conversation, why not add some ring tone sound effects and GET AWAY from music -- it's so over done these days.

For instance, today in the mall, I heard a lady's cell phone ring, and it was a frog sound. That was different and kind of neat, and totally unexpected. It doesn't mean that I want the same ring tone for my phone, but it gives me inspiration to find my own interesting sound effect for my phone.

If any of you have a non-music ringer, something that is more of a ring tone sound effect, I'd be very interested in hearing about it.

Ringtones for the iPhone

2008-04-26T02:20:00.000-07:00

For all the new iPhone users, it appears that Apple wants you to purchase your ring tones from them. Granted the cost is only $2 per ring tone, but isn't this a little along the road of Monopolistic marketing?

If Apple has a wide selection of iPhone ring tones, then I'm sure they will be able to compete in the ring tone market without having to lock users into buying from them.

Apparently certain iPhone firmware versions can be unlocked, and you can program your own ring tones if you follow a very complex multiple step process. This info is very risky and should only be used by the daring technical junkie.

All of this, just to stop you from putting your own free ringtone on your phone. It makes you wonder who actually owns the telephone? You, or Apple?

I do not agree with cell phone companies, or cell phone manufacturers locking phones. If we did this with other things in our life (like refrigerators), can you imagine if you bought a refrigerator and you could only put in certain BRANDS of milk into it?

Why do we accept these restrictions with our cell phones? Is it because it's new technology and we just accept it? As consumers we can vote with our dollars, stop letting the big guys walk all over you.

Best of luck to you on your search for your next ring tone, let me know how it works out!

Custom ring tone, or pre-made tones?

2008-04-26T01:18:00.000-07:00

How many of you have created your own custom ring tone for your phone? I personally thing that anyone that has taken the time to create their own cell phone ring tone deserves kudos from the rest of us.

Creating a ring tone isn't that easy in most cases. I know the latest phones take a 20 to 30 second MP3 as a ring tone sound and its just a matter of connecting a datacable from your cell phone to the computer.

But other phones need it in .WAV or .MID (midi) format. When that happens, ring tone sounds must go through different audio formats to be compatible with your phone, and that's usually what stops people from creating their own custom ring tone.

If you notice too, now that most phones allow custom ring tones to be uploaded, there are a lot FEWER pre-made ring tons on your cell phone when you first buy it.

I remember the first generation cell phones use to have like 25 different ring tones. Some of these phones are down to only 8 or 9 options for the premade ring tones since you can upload your own custom ring tone.

My question to all of you who have created your own custom ring tone is....

Did you share your custom ring tone with your family or friends? Are you the only one with a ringer for your telephone that sounds that way? Are you willing to share your special custom made ring tone with other people, or ?

I see lots of websites that mention free custom ring tones, but I have never tried to use any of them. I wonder how a ring tone website can function if everything they give away is free?

Most annoying ring tone

2008-04-25T01:12:00.000-07:00

What do you think the most annoying ring tone could be? When were you standing in public, and someone's cell phone went off, and you thought to yourself "omg, please answer your phone. I can't take the sound of that phone ringing anymore?"

Usually when that happens to me, is that I am hearing a really bad choice of music as the ring tone... Like a severe heavy metal band that sounds more like noise, than an actual ring or a melody.

I've heard other weird rings too, like the sound of a frog or a chicken. Who the heck wants to hear their phone ring and sound like a chicken?

What happened to true ring tones, where the phone actually rings? No sound effects, but a true sound of a phone ringing? Like the "ding-a-ling-ling", the old style?

Does anyone even remember what a standard telephone ring sounds like? The mechanical ring with a steel bell on the phone? Or is this something that the baby boomer generation knows, but everyone born later will never know?

I am curious if you have any links to annoying ring ones that are online so we can hear them. For me, its any ring that sounds exactly like my phone, or one that has a horrible song and the person just won't answer their cell because they love the sound coming from their phone.

Ring Tones are not just fun, but important!

2008-04-24T01:01:00.000-07:00

We've all heard that cute ring tones that people have, (and annoying ring tones too). However somewhere along the line, we've forgotten what ring tones are suppose to be for..

When you are in a busy place, and your cellular phone rings, you want a distinctive ring tone that is not like anyone elses... The reason is quite simple. Back in the day when only a select few carried cellular (or mobile) telephones, when it rang, you would instantly know it was yours..

But try walking through the mall today for any length of time. If someone has a standard ring tone and the phone rings, it is funny to watch 3 or 4 people reaching into their purses or pockets and checking their phone to see if the call is for them.

Now getting a unique ring tone, often is not enough.. Some things you must consider is whether or not the ring tone is loud enough, and most importantly not EMBARASSING enough.

There is nothing worse than being infront of your bank manager and your cellular phone starts ringing and the song starts playing "I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts" while you are trying to get a loan..

So when you choose a ring tone, choose it wisely. Hopefully by this blog, I can explore the world of various ring tones and help you make your choice.

Now, I have to go, because I think my cell phone is ringing..