This is an awful article. It's written assuming you agree with the author already.
Why I don't like smartphones
61–70 of 294 posts
Re: Why I don't like smartphones
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
A large number of malware sites will walk you through side loading and bypassing your security to install their app which may be a compromised game or app like a Trojan. Not having this access is the only way to deal with this.
No it isn't. Just like random scammers leading people to give them money doesn't mean everyone should be banned from having a bank account or a credit card. Some minimal level of responsibility of action from a users side isn't unreasonable. Being locked out from your own hardware because there are a few uneducated users out there is absurd. Not to mention that now there are actually viruses and exploits out there th…
Care to provide some examples of iOS Viruses and exploits that install themselves and are un-removable due to restricted user experience? I have never seen any of those before.
Re: Why I don't like smartphones
#63Most people don't want or need root access to their smartphone but will complain (no matter how much you tell them security is their responsibility when acting as root) when installing random software they found on the internet results in their banking details being stolen followed swiftly by all their money. There are products you can buy in pretty much every category if you need a general purpose computing device,…
What does having an ability to gain root access have to do with installing random malware apps? You can easily have a device with disabled root access and a curated store as a default and make gaining root access an added functionality (similarly how Android Nexus phones require you to issue a fastboot oem unlock command). Where does this idea that the only alternative to not having some non-technical people install…
I think it would be hard in practice to allow root access but limit it to people who know what they are doing and understand the risk. People will follow arbitrary instructions to modify settings and enter commands (that they don't understand) for the most trivial things and from the most untrusted groups (for example: to install pirated software, to customise their user interface, etc.), and will merrily click past every warning without reading it.
As a result, there will be more malware if you even make enabling root access an option. It isn't surprising that Apple and others are happy just not catering to that small segment of the market.
Re: Why I don't like smartphones
#64Most people don't want or need root access to their smartphone but will complain (no matter how much you tell them security is their responsibility when acting as root) when installing random software they found on the internet results in their banking details being stolen followed swiftly by all their money. There are products you can buy in pretty much every category if you need a general purpose computing device,…
Good argument, except: On Android, currently, we have 3 completely separate "App with no permissions" to "Full bootloader unlock" exploit chains. (in 5.1)
Malicious people always find a way to abuse your system.
Restricting freedom for security means you will get neither.
Re: Why I don't like smartphones
#65I've never actually owned a smartphone. Well.. that's not true. I had one of the first internet connected phones (I think) back in 2001. I used the internet like 10 time on it. It was (as you can imagine) pretty horrible.
Fast forward to now. I don't want the internet at all times. I don't want a $100 a month phone bill. I don't want a $500 device that can fall in the toilet. And most especially, I can't abide little tiny screens. I have $12 Nokia flip phone. My monthly phone bill is less than $25 on pay by minutes. I also have an internet phone at home which costs maybe $30 a year or so and I use for most outgoing calls.
I look at everyone, (including my GF who couldn't live without her smartphone) and wonder what it is I don't get. Sure, mobile net could come in handy at times. So I went and got a nexus 7. It hasn't been powered up in 6 months and that was just to make sure a web app I was working on displayed correctly. I'm a tech guy. Not a Luddite (I don't think). But I just really can't stand smartphones for some reason. All that poking at a little tiny screen... when I have a keyboard and 2 27" inch monitors in the next room along with a couple of laptops. A spiral notebook at the cost of 33 cents works really well for keeping shopping lists and notes. And the form factor is a lot better too. I guess I'm getting old. I just don't get it.
Re: Why I don't like smartphones
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
it's because the demographic you're talking about is vanishingly small, and therefore apple does not care about it. do you notice them hurting for customers? i installed linux when i was 12. i've been working in this field for nearly 20 years. i'm abnormal, as 'techie' as they come, and i really just don't give a shit about having root access on my iphone. in fact i pretty much use it for a handful of things, primari…
> it's because the demographic you're talking about is vanishingly small, and therefore apple does not care about it. do you notice them hurting for customers? How do you know?! There are billions of people out there not using Apple devices, how do you just claim that the demographic is vanishingly small? How did you measure it? Apple doesn't even own half of the market.
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Re: Why I don't like smartphones
#67I don't really see how some of his points support his position. e.g. I don't own a smartphone, because it's a consumption device rather than both consumption and production, is just silly. So is a photoalbum, so is a book, so is a TV, so is a music player. A smartphone is all in one and it's incredibly useful. Beyond that, it is in ways a production device. It's a messaging device, a photo and video taking device, it…
The point about it being almost exclusively a consumption device might be, in a way, extreme but not at all silly.
" It's a messaging device, a photo and video taking device, it's great for email, I record audio for my college classes on it etc." Majority of what you are referring to as productive tasks are merely the users consuming various services on offer. Although they are useful devices, I agree with the opinion that any significant production work is rarely performed on them. If anything the we subject ourselves to unnecessary consumption more than increasing our productivity.
Re: Why I don't like smartphones
#68Most people don't want or need root access to their smartphone but will complain (no matter how much you tell them security is their responsibility when acting as root) when installing random software they found on the internet results in their banking details being stolen followed swiftly by all their money. There are products you can buy in pretty much every category if you need a general purpose computing device,…
I always find fantastic how these kinds of arguments can be made blatantly ignoring that they basically are a plea for authoritarian governments.
Do you realize how bad basic freedoms are? Most people are better off without them, because many would harm themselves. And can you imagine the gains if instead of letting people speak for themselves, we has a single entity vetting everyone's discourse? Man, dictatorship is so great, so efficient.
Re: Why I don't like smartphones
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Now there's the obvious argument that people should have the freedom to control all their computing devices, but that freedom comes at a cost, which is that freer devices are, I would suggest, harder to maintain.(i.e. you need to understand more about the operation of the device in order to manage it). If you're a technical person, you may not see this as a problem, but remember mass-market consumers aren't necessa…
Sorry but I entirely disagree with you. From a security perspective allowing software installations form unknown sources is absolutely a concern for average users. It's hard enough for IT professionals to maintain the security of general purpose computing devices, let alone non-technical users achieving the same goal. Lets take a real-world exmaple. Look at the incidence of malware on a platform that allows unrestric…
And now compare it to OS X installations. Or Linux. A platform that doesn't have a rampant malware problem and still isn't completely locked down.
We managed to somehow survive 30 years of unprecedented innovation and computer usage and NOW we suddenly need locked down devices where a single company decides which applications may be used on them and can forbid and innovative competition at will?
Why would you defend that?
Re: Why I don't like smartphones
#70For me the only reason why I hate smartphones is that they don't offer me much, and the battery life is a huge problem. The only thing they offer is exclusive apps that I can't use on PC, and since I'm a tech guy I need to use them to be aware of the tech of today.
You can emulate Android on a PC :)