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Why I don't like smartphones

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Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#141

Post by dan_m2k »

shpx wrote: post #132
jvandonsel wrote: post #98

If you had offered someone in 1916 a device that they could put in their pocket that would let them instantly communicate with nearly anyone on the planet, tap into a large fraction of the world's knowledge base, read books, navigate across the country, take photographs and movies, and play almost any song ever written, what do you think that person would say? "No thanks." ? The smartphone is one of the most signific…

You convieniently didnt mention that it also allows their government to know where they are and where they were and what they're saying and what they've said, and what they're reading, and glimpses of what they've seen, forever.

Meh, at some point we've gotta see this as a trade off. And do you know something, I'm really not that concerned that .gov knows my browsing history.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#142

Post by CydeWeys »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #125

The section about mobile devices being for consumption instead of creation really resonated with me. I still use my smartphone every day, but none of my uses are related to content creation; it's mostly a time killer while I'm away from a desktop. I've become pretty strict about installing applications on my smartphone. It seems like so many applications just wanna track everything you do and blast ads in your face.…

I am a software engineer today because I learned to program in TI-Basic on a TI-82, a calculator which is so inferior to modern smartphones in all ways that that fact needs no further explanation.

And yet the TI-82 came built-in with everything you needed to write and run your own programs, on the device. Modern smartphones do not. In that one sense they are significantly less capable than those TI calculators.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#143

Post by seivan »

TheAceOfHearts wrote: post #125

The section about mobile devices being for consumption instead of creation really resonated with me. I still use my smartphone every day, but none of my uses are related to content creation; it's mostly a time killer while I'm away from a desktop. I've become pretty strict about installing applications on my smartphone. It seems like so many applications just wanna track everything you do and blast ads in your face.…

You can do consumption related to creation. I read this yesterday on my iPhone in the subway. http://d.pr/f/1jeUp

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#144

Post by eddieroger »

cognivore wrote: post #100
jvandonsel wrote: post #98

If you had offered someone in 1916 a device that they could put in their pocket that would let them instantly communicate with nearly anyone on the planet, tap into a large fraction of the world's knowledge base, read books, navigate across the country, take photographs and movies, and play almost any song ever written, what do you think that person would say? "No thanks." ? The smartphone is one of the most signific…

Ah, but you didn't mention the most egregious aspect of a smart phone - a device that they could put in their pocket that would let nearly anyone on the planet instantly communicate with them. That is one Hell of a lot of people I have no interest in talking to.

So what? Don't answer. Set up VIP email lists, or SMS. The tool isn't the problem, it's how you use it. I get more email that I don't care about than I do care, so I don't let email distract me, in that I silence it's notifications. But that isn't enough to keep a smartphone out of my pocket.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#145

Post by tunap »

morganvachon wrote: post #96
wvh wrote: post #91

I've got a Jolla phone running Sailfish, which is reasonably open. I'm happy with it because as an advanced user I can enable developer mode and modify or fix things. It's a stable and usable system. But Jolla doesn't seem to be doing so well right now. Before that I had a Nokia N9, the only Maemo phone, precurser to Sailfish. Another capable although minimal system. That didn't go anywhere either, because Nokia sold…

> Before that I had a Nokia N9, the only Maemo phone The N900 begs to differ with that statement. It ran Maemo 5, and (in my personal opinion) was the best phone of its era hands down.

Allow me to FTFY...

"of it's era" = "so far"

A hardware keyboard IS highly deairable, backspace/tab/ctrl/arrow keys ARE extremelt useful, a file manager(stock) removes necessity of numerous utility(sic) apps. A removable battery/ext storage port do NOT ruin design so much as it fosters future dependence. A cell radio that does voice & data on request IS preferred by those who do not choose to share evwry nuance of their digital existence. To name just a few points.

edit: almost forgot, a working iteration of a resistive touchscreen is a far superior experience... when implemented correctly. Still marvel how great my n800 still feels when cuing up tunes in the truck.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#147

Post by m52go »

zanny wrote: post #40
elboru wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had to resize my browser window in order to read this article in my PC. I don't get this kind of "geeky" designs, is there a technical reason why they don't even add basic CSS? I'm not talking about making the articles look "good", but making them readable.

It is an incredibly modern advent this idea that you can never actually use the entire screen to render text for anyone except for mobile viewers. If you cannot read across your screen, you are probably sitting too close to it. I'd rather have wider text that I have to turn my eyes slightly to see all of then narrower text that requires active scrolling. And I don't know of a single OS that you cannot snap your brows…

I'm not sure I agree. There's a reason newspapers, magazines, and other traditional media use narrow columns as well...it's much easier to read.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#148

Post by jdietrich »

IkmoIkmo wrote: post #24

I 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…

>Sure you can hardly build software or write books on a smartphone in a practical way

Novels written on mobile phones are a popular literary subculture in Japan.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~berban/cell/cellwho.html

The Android SDK will run on Android, so apps can be written and built entirely on the device. Definitions of 'practical' vary, but I have done web development work on an Android tablet with a Bluetooth keyboard. I regularly use a terminal emulator on Android for quick server admin tasks.

http://www.android-ide.com/

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#149

Post by eddieroger »

woofiefa wrote: post #27

It's absolutely horrible that we have come to accept that not having full control over our devices is acceptable in any way. This will sadly be the leverage to completely end general-purpose computing. Why is a mobile device not just a small form factor? Why does it also have to remove all our rights at the same time?

Because the market has spoken and clearly wants what Apple and Samsung and HTC are selling. The user base of Hacker News isn't that of the world. Not everyone does their job in front of a computer, and the idea of making this, to them, miraculous device in their pocket a computer is terrifying. They don't want full control of the computer they already have at home.

Answering your question: It doesn't have to remove rights, but the economics of making a device that doesn't makes that device unfeasible.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#150

Post by ikeboy »

Aoyagi wrote: post #137
ikeboy wrote: post #19

>With a PC, I don't have to perform some arcane operation to actually have control of the device. Moreover, it seems to be common to discriminate against people who have the gall to “root” their device, or to disable some functionality of the device if such “rooting” is performed. Guess what? Most computers come with unfree operating systems, you need to perform an arcane operation (install Linux) to regain control,…

Windows provides incomperably more control than any of the stock mobile OSes.

Than iOS, sure, but more control than stock android, given the inherent limitations of the hardware? I think not.

You can make your own programs and install outside apks without rooting, just need to change a setting.

There's slightly more control in that programs can modify other programs when running as root on Windows, but not on Android. But I don't think that can be described as "incomparable". What specific features are so huge that you don't think a comparison is possible?

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