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Ask HN: Who has ditched their phone and what is your replacement?

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Re: Ask HN: Who has ditched their phone and what is your replacement?

#21

Post by FooBarBizBazz »

Boltgolt wrote: post #12
Gnarl wrote: post #8

I have no cellphone. Not since ~2003 when I finally cancelled my cellphone subscription altogether. That was GSM/flip-phone. Never got a smartphone. I have a fancy business landline phone on my desk with an address book, different ringtones (VIP/client, friends etc.) and an answering machine. I am a freelance consultant for 20 years. I never lost a client or a job over not being reachable by cellphone 24/7. I return…

I just want to note here: There is no evidence that there is such a thing as electromagnetic hypersensitivity. In double blind trials people would experience the same symptoms (headaches etc.) independent of if a router in the room was turned on or not.

Seems like a useful belief anyway. Even if the RF itself doesn't do anything to his brain, the phone does cause all kinds of attention and addiction problems, so staying away from it is probably good. Say you had some kind of conditioned/psychosomatic thing where you'd throw up whenever you'd drink alcohol. Maybe it's "all in your head" and it could be cured? But it'll keep you from becoming an alcoholic, so why fight it.

Re: Ask HN: Who has ditched their phone and what is your replacement?

#23

Post by hn_version_0023 »

Boltgolt wrote: post #12
Gnarl wrote: post #8

I have no cellphone. Not since ~2003 when I finally cancelled my cellphone subscription altogether. That was GSM/flip-phone. Never got a smartphone. I have a fancy business landline phone on my desk with an address book, different ringtones (VIP/client, friends etc.) and an answering machine. I am a freelance consultant for 20 years. I never lost a client or a job over not being reachable by cellphone 24/7. I return…

I just want to note here: There is no evidence that there is such a thing as electromagnetic hypersensitivity. In double blind trials people would experience the same symptoms (headaches etc.) independent of if a router in the room was turned on or not.

What’s that saying? Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence?

Re: Ask HN: Who has ditched their phone and what is your replacement?

#24

Post by aaron695 »

Boltgolt wrote: post #12
Gnarl wrote: post #8

I have no cellphone. Not since ~2003 when I finally cancelled my cellphone subscription altogether. That was GSM/flip-phone. Never got a smartphone. I have a fancy business landline phone on my desk with an address book, different ringtones (VIP/client, friends etc.) and an answering machine. I am a freelance consultant for 20 years. I never lost a client or a job over not being reachable by cellphone 24/7. I return…

I just want to note here: There is no evidence that there is such a thing as electromagnetic hypersensitivity. In double blind trials people would experience the same symptoms (headaches etc.) independent of if a router in the room was turned on or not.

No post body was provided.

Re: Ask HN: Who has ditched their phone and what is your replacement?

#25

Post by agucova »

user_7832 wrote: post #16
Boltgolt wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want to note here: There is no evidence that there is such a thing as electromagnetic hypersensitivity. In double blind trials people would experience the same symptoms (headaches etc.) independent of if a router in the room was turned on or not.

Counterpoint: phones have been shown to warm up brains (1), and it is hardly surprising that amongst the billions of phone users some experience pain/headache from heat (perhaps also indirectly from blood vessel dilation?). So it is hardly surprising for OP to have such an experience. 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5952570/#:~:tex... . (Quickly googled result, I'm sure there are better results)

There is a big causal step between "phones slightly warm brains" and "that causes headaches".

Fortunately we don't need to rely on the fact that it would be “hardly surprising” because there is good quality empirical evidence disproving the relationship.

Re: Ask HN: Who has ditched their phone and what is your replacement?

#26

Post by agucova »

hn_version_0023 wrote: post #23
Boltgolt wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just want to note here: There is no evidence that there is such a thing as electromagnetic hypersensitivity. In double blind trials people would experience the same symptoms (headaches etc.) independent of if a router in the room was turned on or not.

What’s that saying? Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence?

That was probably a mistake on their part, considering that he points to such evidence in the phrase that follows.

Re: Ask HN: Who has ditched their phone and what is your replacement?

#27

Post by rg111 »

Dracophoenix wrote: post #14
rg111 wrote: post #5

Maybe, not the answer you are you are looking for, but I replaced the phone, with a... phone, but without a SIM card. So much peace now. I use VOIP through Telegram and Signal. I use email. I get extremely fine-grained control over who can reach me, and when can I be reached. I made this switch since February, 2020, and my life became better by 10-15% better automatically. My phone hasn’t rang and I hadn't answered i…

How did you route VOIP through Telegram and Signal? Don't you need a real phone number to sign-up?

I signed up with a number, and then got rid of it.

Re: Ask HN: Who has ditched their phone and what is your replacement?

#29

Post by simonblack »

While I haven't ditched my smartphone, I rarely use it as a smartphone. I generally use it as a plain old phone (audio only) and a camera. You could probably remove everything else from my phone and I wouldn't notice it.

For everything else I use a desktop computer. That has a resolution of 1920x1080 on a 27" screen, which will be upgraded in a week or so to 2840x2160 on a 43" screen.

I dislike intensely using those tiny little phone screens for anything serious. I liken those as being the same as restricting yourself to performing "keyhole surgery". Sure you can do it, but why would you put yourself through the hassle?

Re: Ask HN: Who has ditched their phone and what is your replacement?

#30

Post by occam54 »

simonblack wrote: post #29

While I haven't ditched my smartphone, I rarely use it as a smartphone. I generally use it as a plain old phone (audio only) and a camera. You could probably remove everything else from my phone and I wouldn't notice it. For everything else I use a desktop computer. That has a resolution of 1920x1080 on a 27" screen, which will be upgraded in a week or so to 2840x2160 on a 43" screen. I dislike intensely using those…

I wish what you say were true - a voice only phone, and nothing else. Over the years I have been gently kettled ('coerced') into using it more and more. If you do any online banking you will know that the mobile phone has become and indispensable part of online proof of ID. Yes, I do the banking on my desktop, but the only way I can login now is via an SMS message sent to my smartphone. No verification code, no login.
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