i was sitting at a restaurant recently minding my own business when i heard a muffled version of usher's yeah coming from a girls fake leather bag at the table next to me.my first thought was to let lil' john drop the beat that makes my booty go (clap), and my second thought was that at one point in 2004/2005 that song was a ringtone on my cellphone.
and then i laughed at myself - out loud.
back in the day when "real music" ringtones were first hitting the scene replacing MIDI tones i thought they were the coolest thing since caller id.
i purchased ringtones for almost all of my friends - free ringtones were for the birds. songs like ludacris' you's a ho (which i still know all the words to), biggie's juicy (it's all good baby baby), and michael jackson's smooth criminal.
i even took it to a secondary level of rings categorizing friend into groups. i.e. my college friends got enrique's escape and family members got we are family sister sledge's we are family (original, i know).
once i took it to a third tertiary level assigning text message tones i knew i had a problem. i didn't want my next step to be downloading glitter wallpapers.
so i deleted all of my ringtones and became best friends with vibrate mode.
bzzzzz bzzzzz bzzzzzz ::pause:: ::pause:: buzzzzz buzzzzz buzzzzz
but once i got my blackberry i stopped using vibrate altogether, only having it on vibrate mode when i'm out and it's in my pocket. i'm a silent mode girl now, a reformed ringtone junky. all i need now is that nice little red light that blinks when i have a new message. simple.
it seems as if i have come full circle. from obnoxious ringtones, to vibrate mode, to the crisp sound of silence.
what's the alert on your cell?
reminds me of the mad rush for all girls to run out and get the SATC theme as their super original ringtone that everyone else already had. I'm with you on silent/vibrate
ReplyDeleteI'm silent/vibrate. I've never been much of ringtone person, I've used the default ringtones. Although, the default ringtone on my blackberry was so obnoxious, that once I quit my job I have not heard it as it's been on vibrate :P
ReplyDeleteI haven't had a good ringtone in forever. I just couldn't decide on The Song. So I've been a vibrate girl for the better part of a year now, but this morning I finally figured it out... Semi Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind. But now I can't find it anywhere :(
ReplyDeleteIt's cheesy song by Speedy. Really. So annoying when my phone is on in a quiet place :P
ReplyDeletei used to be a ringtone junkie like yourself, with the help of a handy little site that let me upload any song i want and choose which part of said song to be my ringtone. i think at one point i had 20 or so saved. and i think i wrote a blog post about it...(read: dork)
ReplyDeletei'm heavy into the vibrate mode - it's just easier!
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ReplyDeleteI got tired of them too, and if I'm in a public place, it's vibrate for me. Otherwise, I have it on regular short tone ring mode for calls and a one time ring for texts ... it's just simple and non annoying. I HATE those midi songs that start of slow and soft, and end up loud and obnoxious? It's like whenever you had it on those rings, you were in the library or post office, and forgot to turn it off, and you couldn't find your phone because it was stuffed all the way at the bottom of your purse, and you're fishing and fishing and it just keeps getting louder and everybody's looking at you wondering why in the hell you have it on that ring in the first place ...
ReplyDeleteyeah, that's happened to me a lot. They stress me out!!
Hahaha - I love this post, girl! Ringtones are the bane of my existence. I hate the stupid jingles that come free with the phones nowadays. And I almost equally hate ring tones that are songs. My phone, unfortunately, came with the most godawful ring tones. I mean, seriously awful. So, I wound up purchasing ring tones for my husband, family and friends. It's annoying as fuck, but even that is better than the manufacturer given tones. Why can't they just make it sound like a GD phone instead of those stupid jingles. When I'm at work, my phone goes on vibrate, though. No way in hell I'm going to be caught with my phone singing Gold Digger (brother) or American Boy (husband). hahaha.
ReplyDeleteMy mom calls - it's the Beatles "Come Together"
ReplyDeleteDanielle calls - it's Jamiroquai
Kristina calls - it's Jason Mraz
Brother calls - it's Michael Jackson
Other calls - Ne-yo
birth control alarm - Pink's "So What"
Text messages - John Mayer's "Daughters"
Uhm..can you tell this is the first phone I've owned that plays music?
Regardless, I usually keep it on silent or vibrate. Heh.
I have "Never Again" by Kelly Clarkson - it is the only song that wakes me up when I set it to alarm, lol. I'm rarely a vibrate or no sound girl.. I have this obsessive need to know when my phone is ringing, lol.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog by the way! I think I found it through Mon :-)
I'm strictly a buzzer now, but I used to assign tacky MIDIs to various groups before I even had "real music." My groups were more like "Family", "People I Don't Want to Talk to", "Dudes I'd Do" and "Maybe Creditors" at the time though.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I still have a ringtone. But I never hear it because my phone is always on silent or buzz.
ReplyDeleteOoh, I went in reverse order. I think I need to cycle back on through to vibrate at least.
ReplyDeleteI used to be like you - ringtones for groups of people. I believe many had Justin Timberlake or Britney Spears for my group of girls.
ReplyDeleteNow, I have the standard rising bell ringing or I'm good with the vibrate.
I had the pink panther tune for a little while. For everyone. Loved it. Now it's just on vibrate most of the time.
ReplyDeletebuzzzzzz...buzzzzzzz....buzzzzzzz
Jeff - "Rooks" by Shearwater
ReplyDeleteMost everyone else - "Imitosis" by Andrew Bird
Text Message - Alert sound from Metal Gear Solid (And I barely even liked that game)
I used to have a sped up version of "Bananaphone" as my ringtone. It was hilarious.
Mine is on vibrate unless I'm in a place where I don't want to be interrupted.
ReplyDeleteYoung children with cell phones and ringtone songs that are much too mature for their age annoy me! I saw a little girl who couldn't have been older than 8 or 9 whip a cell phone out of her (fake) designer handbag the other day and then sing along to it...it was that Soulja Boy Superman song. Ack!
Currently, I mostly keep it on vibrate. Unless I know I'm waiting for a call and don't wanna miss it. That allows my texts to be that Blackberry alert noise
ReplyDeleteMy ringtone is currently "Fight Song for True Love" by Soltero. I'm not ashamed
I'm a ringtone junkie, but my phone is on vibrate 99% of the time.
ReplyDeleteI am changing your ringtone to "ho" by luda right now.
I only get ringtones when i get a free promo code from sprint. I'm that thrifty.
ReplyDeleteI have the Mary Tyler moore theme (it was free from Oprah one day), The manfriend's ring is "Hot" by Avril Lavigne, cus its totally his song, and I have whatever you like by t.i.
Mostly, i use vibrate pattern 3 which my coworker says sounds like a duck quacking when it vibrates.
Back when I had my Razor it was all vibrate all the time. Now with my blackberry I keep it on normal mode, with the default ring/text sounds. Vibrate when I'm out.
ReplyDeleteI am a vibrate girl al the way.
ReplyDeleteI used to have some funky techno beat but that got old really fast and once I went to college the silent mode on my cell phone gets a workout each day when I go to classes.
I am too cheap to actually buy ringtones and I get sick of them way to fast.
This cracked me up! You may as well been writing about my own experience with ring tones as I'm a reformed addict too. I am now a silent girl who loves the anonymity of it all...
ReplyDeleteOh, man - I'm kind of embarassed to say that I still have a song on my cell phone. Mainly because my sister put it on there for me when songs were "cool" to have & I haven't changed it.
ReplyDelete"Suddenly I see" is the song... I know - major dork.
Even dorkier? I originally wanted the theme song from Gilmore Girls.
I was the same way with ring tones. I had to have all of the hott songs as a ringtone (Beyonce, Usher, Neyo, etc.) and then I got a crackberry and now I either leave it on vibrate or on silent. That little red light has become my best friend now. And I find it totally obnoxious when I hear someone else's phone go off. It's so weird!
ReplyDeleteNot only do I have a ringtone (Lady Gaga's Poker Face) I also have a ringback tone (Lady Gaga's Poker Face ha.. I'm obsessed) that annoys the crap out of everybody. But seriously, if you have Verizon you HAVE to purchase a ringback tone cause otherwise your callers get an obnoxious classical music type thing.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm in pubic, I'm more of a vibrate and silent type of girl though.
Those were the days! And half the songs sounded like muffled static and not an actual song!
ReplyDeleteI'll stick to my preprogrammed tones as well. Only I have to have SOME ring tone or else I never realize I have phone calls.
I think we're going to HoB's tonight to see Dark Star Orchestra if you are at all interested?
80% of the time, my cell is on vibrate. The other 20% when I am at home or in the car its a song from the musical Wicked. I've never done the different songs for different people, it just seemed like too much effort.
ReplyDelete80% of the time, my cell is on vibrate. The other 20% when I am at home or in the car its a song from the musical Wicked. I've never done the different songs for different people, it just seemed like too much effort.
ReplyDeleteI'm on vibrate at all times.
ReplyDeleteOh Yeah.
All though one time I did buy a ringtone and it was "Everybody in the club getting tipsy"
Classy.
I use vibrate like RS. But dap to you for having Biggie. I choose to ignore that you had Usher.
ReplyDeleteYour picture of Mr. Zoolander makes me want to download Wham! -- "Wake me Up Before You Go Go".
ReplyDeleteActually, I think the last time I used a ringer on a phone instead of vibrate, that WAS my ringtone.
I used to be real original, my ringtone was "Call Me" by Blondie. Now it's just a regulary "ring, ring" default tone.
ReplyDeleteIn college?
ReplyDelete"She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy".
Soon to be replaced by "I'm in Luv W/a Stripper".
Lately? Keepin' it klassy with Mr. Michael's "Faith".
It's Maroon 5's "Kiwi" for anyone who calls. BUT, my phone is mostly on silent during the day.
ReplyDeleteI used to have "1 2 3 4" by Feist, but then I started to hate the song after hearing it so often. Now I just have a normal telephone ring and I love Feist again.
ReplyDeleteUsed to have "Golddigger" in college. Then switched to ABBA's "Gimme gimme gimme" and then to Black Sabbath's "Supernaut" and then to the Ice Dance theme from Edward Scissorhands.
ReplyDeleteAnd now - I'm all about the pretty music that came with my Blackberry Bold.
I'll admit it - I have real song ring tones as my ringers. But only because I am behind the curve and only started using them about a year and a half ago. I have a Jack Johnson song for Sean, and a couple Jason Mraz and Maroon 5 songs for friends. And then a couple more random ones for people that a song popped to mind for.
ReplyDeleteBut, I think it might be time for me to go all vibrate. I'd miss a lot of calls, but I'd probably be happier!
I normally have it on one beep. If I am in range of answering it I can normally hear the beep. If not you have to wait till I get around ot it.
ReplyDeleteI miss my crackberry.
I was the same way!!
ReplyDeleteNow, if I really want to hate a song I should just put it as a ringtone.
I just have the nice short beeps on my iphone =)
Vibrate only for me
ReplyDeletei'm definitely a silent/vibrate girl.
ReplyDeletei'll keep it on a regular ringtone when i'm at home, so i can hear it from another room, but when i'm out, i keep my alerts to myselfff, and my favorite songs stick to my ipod.
It took a long time to break my ring tone habit (mario brothers theme song represent!) but I did it and now my alert is a single beep.
ReplyDeleteNot only am I one of those girls who likes to have ringtones for everyone, I'm also extremely lazy. :-)
ReplyDeleteAfter getting my new Blackberry I can't be bothered to transfer any of them to it. Now it's Eurotrance that came with the phone and vibrate.
Although I had the Gilmore Girls theme song for my mom for the longest time and I kind of want it back. :-)
I am a vibrate/regular phone ring girl for sure. And if the ring is on, never EVER is it on over one bar of volume. One of my friends keeps her on the HIGHEST volume because she claims she is deaf. I'm sorry, no. No excuse. When I jump a mile in the air when your phone rings (much like I do when the girl crawls out of the TV in The Ring) it is time to TURN IT DOWN.
ReplyDeleteBeastie Boys' Paul Revere. Whenever I hear it my hand still moves to my pocket.
ReplyDeleteHmmm ... I have no idea of the name. Something that's loud enough for me to hear it, strange enough that I know it's no one else's phone ringing and not completely obnoxious.
ReplyDeleteThe two best tones I ever heard were The Wizard of Oz (ding dong, the witch is dead!) and the Indiana Jones theme song.
Mine is always on vibrate. I haven't worked out how to download any ringtone onto my new phone yet.
ReplyDeleteOn my old phone it was "Stronger" by Kanye West but once again I nearly always kept it on vibrate!
Right now my ringtone is the theme song from "Dexter." Lame I know. No one ever calls except for my parents anyway. I hate when people have ringtones for their texts. All I hear all day everyday is "My Life Would Suck Without You" because it's my roommate's text ringtone.
ReplyDeleteI am all about "vibrate". This could be interpreted in more than one way.
ReplyDeleteI got around to putting one ringtone on my phone, which is AZ's Sugar Hill. I'm too lazy to do the work of uploading more ringtones on my phone and then assigning them to people. Hell, I don't even assign a picture to my friend's phone numbers either.
ReplyDeleteThe only tone on my phone that I constantly change is the alarm, because after about a month I don't hear it anymore
i was so late to the ringtone world that i still have songs on mine. i've currently got lady gaga's poker face as my everyone ring and matt's got a generic one and so does the fam, i can only handle one song at a time, haha.
ReplyDeleteI have never had a ringtone other than what my phone offered until recently. I don't even know how to download one, my sister had the theme song to the boondock saints on her phone, she somehow texted it to me and then it became my ringtone.
ReplyDeleteGosh that song brings me back. I personally am either on silent or vibrate. I don't have the really cool ringtones. Apparently I'm lame.
ReplyDeleteEscape by enrique is gold!
ReplyDeletemy current ringtone is the obnoxious woodpecker sound. I also have the final countdown by europe, it brings the house down.
I'm so boring. It's either on vibrate or just a normal phone ring.
ReplyDeletedefintiely a silence kinda gal... but i have over 100 ringtones on my phone. Don't use them, but I guess I like to have them?
ReplyDelete:)
I have all kinds of crazy ringtones, esp for my family. My mom gets "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music because she used to sing it to me when I was little. My dad (at his request) has "Cat Scratch Fever" by Ted Nugent. My sister is "You Drive Me Crazy" Britney Spears. My friend Matt is "In the Navy" (he's in the navy, not gay). You get the idea.
ReplyDeleteI have all kinds of crazy ringtones, esp for my family. My mom gets "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music because she used to sing it to me when I was little. My dad (at his request) has "Cat Scratch Fever" by Ted Nugent. My sister is "You Drive Me Crazy" Britney Spears. My friend Matt is "In the Navy" (he's in the navy, not gay). You get the idea.
ReplyDeletei'm not sure how to even respond to all of these comments other than you all are cracking me up.
ReplyDeleteman, i am with you on this one.
ReplyDeleteback in the day i had some truly hideous songs as my ring tone but now i'm a vibrate girl!
much less obnoxious.
Woah dude!
ReplyDeleteSixty One comments!?
Apparently we like to talk about our cell phones.
By the way, now Usher is stuck in my head. THANKS A LOT.
(No, really. Thanks. I like Usher, okay.)
I use vibrate most of the time. Although I have a really great Coldplay ring tone ("Viva la Vida") that makes me happy so I let it play sometimes.
The only person who's ever had their own ring tone was Mike. When were long distance, I wanted to make sure I answered his calls. (His is "Better Together" by Jack Johnson. Corny? Yes.)
God I'm so glad I'm not the only Silent/Vibrate woman in the world! I've had many fights about it with the dudes. I just hate hearing ringtones, I'd rather see my crackberry light, or hear a beep or a vibrate, or get to it when I damn well please.
ReplyDeleteA long long time ago, I had Father Abraham as my ringtone. But the actual Midi-tone. Ha! Ridiculous, but catchy!
I have the annoying generic ring tone and then the beep for a text.
ReplyDeleteI love the Zoolander pic!
Oh God. I had SATC for my girlfriends, The Sopranos theme song for some people from home (I grew up in Youngstown... need I say more?), The Muppet Show theme for my dad, the Psycho theme for my mom, and, for awhile, I had "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC as my general ringtone. It was GREAT when my phone rang one night during an open house full of my students' parents.
ReplyDeleteI only use vibrate, because cell phone rings are annoying as, well, Usher.
ReplyDeleteHah, that's funny. I have a standard ring when it's not on vibrate but in college my (40something, creepy) landlord had his cell phone ring set to Usher's "yeah."
ReplyDeleteGross.
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ReplyDelete