Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Have you ever tried to live without a phone?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 89 posts

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried to live without a phone?

#61

Post by jariel »

BlueTemplar wrote: post #31
jariel wrote: post #13

I grew up without one, but came in fully to the working world of 'always on'. It took me 6 months of 'non corporate work' to get used to the idea of not receiving emails all the time. It becomes part of your identity and you feel lost without it. But then you regain something lost - peace of mind. I can't even imagine what it means to grow up 'fully connected' - sometimes I think that young people must be excessively…

Not using apps is way more radical than blocking almost all notifications.

I see what you are saying, but the notification is actually a big deal. The notification is the 'trigger' to set us off to 'read the thing' which gives us our little dopamine hit. It's hard to resist, and it takes up a lot of mental noise.

Even the possibility of getting notifications is stressfull.

The difference between having a phone on, where people can contact you - vs - phone dead or 'no phone' is definitely noticeable. 'Knowing you don't have to check' is an extra level of peace.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried to live without a phone?

#62

Post by gavribirnbaum »

fl0tingh0st wrote: post #25

I want to try this once. But I'm so much into WhatsApp, Instagram. It will be kind of digital detox. I had deleted twitter and Facebook 6yrs back that was once of the best decision I had made. Now I'm kind of addicted to that Insta feed and Youtube feed. I will be deleting Insta account. But hope will come over the need of WhatsApp and other cool apps and ditch phone completely. But if you suddenly need a document an…

It gets you hooked so quickly. I have no FB and a pretty tame Twitter. But it is so mindless that it gets me every now and then.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried to live without a phone?

#63

Post by tjalfi »

I lived without a cell phone until I was in my late 30s (2016). It made going out, meeting friends, navigation, taking photos, and dating much more difficult. Other people will expect you to have one and not having one makes you harder to communicate with; think about how many people you regularly text instead of call. My current relationship relies heavily on a cellphone; we use our phones to identify restaurants, get directions, and have brief text conversations. There are many things I dislike about cellphones but I would never go back.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried to live without a phone?

#64

Post by Funes- »

>I am considering ditching my smartphone

Do it. Your health will thank you almost immediately for that.

>going back to an old-school phone or not owning one at all.

Personally, although I love the idea of going landline-only, I think a "dumb" phone can serve one well in a certain number of circumstances, so that's what I've been using for four years now. I use a Nokia 6250 at the present moment, but I keep switching between old phones I like and have lying around--some of them are brand new, never been out of the box.

I don't even text. I only make phone calls, and if someone doesn't pick up, I leave a voicemail telling them when they can preferrably return the call. That's it. I only use e-mail for more formal exchanges, but never to have anything that resembles an informal conversation.

Mind you, if you are still relatively young, doing away with IM, texting, and social media can be fairly alienating, as you will no doubt realize how utterly addicted everyone else is to their smartphone, and how a great deal of social activities and interactions that used to happen not that long ago don't come about that often anymore. Many opportunities to think deeply, to reflect, to have a conversation, to laugh, to question something, to go through your own personal memories, to find new things to do, to live, in sum, are now wasted on a regular basis.

Good luck with it, and don't be afraid to be an outlier.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried to live without a phone?

#65

Post by _qulr »

shawnz wrote: post #52
_qulr wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Though life was more annoying without a mobile phone I disagree. My feeling is that life was much better, more "human" without mobile phones. I hate how everyone walks around staring down at their phones instead of looking at the world. It's like an addiction. It reminds me of the ST:TNG episode "The Game". People don't even acknowledge each other's existence anymore. Face-to-face interactions (pre-pandemic) ceased…

When you read and reply to people's comments on the internet, aren't you acknowledging their existence? When you browse the work that they created aren't you looking at the world?

I'm afraid you're missing the point. When I say people don't acknowledge each other's existence, I mean people literally within a few feet/meters of each other, who could easily see and/or speak with each other if they made even the bare minimum of effort.

When another person is in your physical presence, it's almost like you're deliberately ignoring them when your eyes are glued down on the smartphone. It's personal rudeness, a diss. "You're not even worth raising my head and saying hi."

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried to live without a phone?

#66

Post by [deleted] »

shawnz wrote: post #52
_qulr wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Though life was more annoying without a mobile phone I disagree. My feeling is that life was much better, more "human" without mobile phones. I hate how everyone walks around staring down at their phones instead of looking at the world. It's like an addiction. It reminds me of the ST:TNG episode "The Game". People don't even acknowledge each other's existence anymore. Face-to-face interactions (pre-pandemic) ceased…

When you read and reply to people's comments on the internet, aren't you acknowledging their existence? When you browse the work that they created aren't you looking at the world?

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried to live without a phone?

#67

Post by Yetanfou »

Yes, of course, I only got one of the things when I got a girlfriend - who is now my wife - in another country. Before that time I was employed as a service developer and -architect at a big telco while at the same time (well, at night mostly) working on a number of free software projects. I did standby duty during the Y2K moment supreme (nothing happened and I could party along at the hostel close to the office). When I needed to be reachable I had a pager on me, otherwise I was either close to something with a network connection or in disconnected bliss out in the woods.

The same works just as well now with the exception of the pager which needs to be replaced with a phone. Wear it when you need to be reachable, otherwise leave it at home. I still do this with my phones in a way in that I don't use data and leave my main device at home when I'm out in the woods. The secondary phones - I have a number of them - are all older Android devices which I use as audio players and cameras which happen to make it possible for people to reach me.

Just get a cheap phone or leave your current one at home for a while to see how it goes.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried to live without a phone?

#69

Post by shawnz »

_qulr wrote: post #65
shawnz wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you read and reply to people's comments on the internet, aren't you acknowledging their existence? When you browse the work that they created aren't you looking at the world?

I'm afraid you're missing the point. When I say people don't acknowledge each other's existence, I mean people literally within a few feet/meters of each other, who could easily see and/or speak with each other if they made even the bare minimum of effort. When another person is in your physical presence, it's almost like you're deliberately ignoring them when your eyes are glued down on the smartphone. It's personal…

The people on the phone are effectively only a few centimetres away, nevermind feet. So shouldn't it be even more rude to ignore internet messages?

The internet isn't some kind of fake virtual reality... it is just a communication tool. The draw to use it is created by real people sharing real ideas. I think this idea that people who are physically closer to you deserve more of your attention is misguided.

Re: Ask HN: Have you ever tried to live without a phone?

#70

Post by _qulr »

shawnz wrote: post #69
_qulr wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm afraid you're missing the point. When I say people don't acknowledge each other's existence, I mean people literally within a few feet/meters of each other, who could easily see and/or speak with each other if they made even the bare minimum of effort. When another person is in your physical presence, it's almost like you're deliberately ignoring them when your eyes are glued down on the smartphone. It's personal…

The people on the phone are effectively only a few centimetres away, nevermind feet. So shouldn't it be even more rude to ignore internet messages? The internet isn't some kind of fake virtual reality... it is just a communication tool. The draw to use it is created by real people sharing real ideas. I think this idea that people who are physically closer to you deserve more of your attention is misguided.

> shouldn't it be even more rude to ignore internet messages?

Who says you have to ignore internet messages? It took you a half hour to reply to my comment, and that's fine. That leaves plenty of time to acknowledge a person IRL.

The internet will still be there when we get home from being outside. That's one of the advantages of the internet.

Post reply on HN