PYT has been my ringback tone for as long as I can remember.
I was so into ringback tones when they first came out! I remember when they were cool – when not many people had them… But I did!
Side story: When I got hired on Living with the Jacksons, I changed my screensaver and phone lock screen and everything (since it was all MJ themed – this was the best excuse to change it, otherwise I’m not sure when I ever would have).
Anyway, I changed practically everything, but didn’t even think to change my ringback tone.
One day someone high up on the show called me and he said, “Oh, you changed your ringback tone to play Michael Jackson! How nice that you’re so into the show.”
“Uuuh, yeah. Sure. Yeah. Totally. Definitely just into the show. Not a crazy superfan or anything…” [*eyes dart around wildly*]
Back when ringback tones were first on the scene, people would be all, “What is this music when I call you?! How do I get it?” It felt great to feel like a trendsetter.
I even got complimented a few times when people called me for jobs. They thought it sounded so much more fun to hear a song than to normal boring ringing. (Heck yeah, it is!) And when I had call-heavy jobs, I used to love when people had ringback tones. (I called so many people! That phone-ringing sound got booooooring!)
However, it’s now 2015. I never thought about the fact that ringback tones apparently died out! Someone whom I only recently met was talking to me. (He’d called me earlier.) And he told me that he’d suggest maybe getting rid of my ringback tone, to help myself look better when it came to getting jobs and such.
Wait, what? My precious ringback tone. But people love it!
But the more I thought about that, the more I thought about how I haven’t gotten many compliments on it in the past couple of years… Some. But not as many as before. I started asking around about this and a lot of the responses I got were either, “Oh yeah. Ringback tones. Whatever happened to those?” or “What are ringback tones?”
They aren’t hip anymore! Right? Part of me still wants them to be super cool because I adore them. But I can only live in denial for so long [*she says with huge wide eyes, hoping maybe someone will be able to bring her a story showing ringback tones are actually the coolest*].
I made fun of my dad when he asked me if I’d taken a check to the bank. I said, “Go to the bank? Daddy, what is this, 1994? I took a picture with my phone.”
And now I’m getting to taste my own medicine. And it is bitter! So bitter. (Sorry, Daddy.)
Apparently with ringback tones, you can assign different ones to different callers. I’ve assigned it so that my dad and high school theater teacher still hear Michael Jackson. (I’m pretty sure they’ve been hearing it since I had a flip phone! It’s part of me. I’m never letting it die for them – or for anyone else who requests it.)
But alas, for the world… [*sigh*] I think I may need to go back to the normal ring… Until this trend comes back around?!
(It could happen, right?!)
[Edited to add: I thought I’d set my phone to remove it, but alas, it continued. I’m sure I could’ve figured out how to actually do it. But I love it so much, I just kept it. Some people still comment that they like it. I’m just gonna let it live!]