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Why I don't like smartphones

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Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#201

Post by chakalakasp »

joonoro wrote: post #187
CydeWeys wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> for the next billion smartphone users a smartphone will be their first computer. Smartphones will be their first and last computer. Laptops, let alone desktops, are being permanently bypassed.

>Smartphones will be their first and last computer No, unfortunately smartphones are toys at best. Nobody uses them for real work, just consumption and browsing facebook. When they go to work, they will use a real computer.

That's just... not accurate. I know lots of people who do real work on smartphones. Hell, I'd be dead a few times by now if I didn't use mine as a radar HUD while photographing tornadoes. (While also using it to report digitally directly to the weather service, and running a GPS tracker so that they both can see me on a map and so that I later can geotag photos taken on cameras that don't have integrated gps). To say nothing of how much I use my phone to take photographic and text notes. Don't make the tremendous mistake of assuming that just because you can't find a use for a smartphone in your line of work that nobody else can or does.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#202

Post by jstimpfle »

ant6n wrote: post #178
joshvm wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think smartphones have ruined web design, it's actually forced people to develop responsive websites which work well on multiple screen sizes. Bootstrap makes this stupidly easy nowadays and probably would never have been created if it weren't for mobile.

Modern web sites look like crap and don't work. My banking website recently switched to a mobile first website ('responsive' is a lie). Now the UI is so giant that it cannot show a list of 6 account names with a balance next to it on a single desktop screen with a resolution of 3360 x 2100 pixels.

> Now the UI is so giant that it cannot show a list of 6 account names with a balance next to it

Yep."Our 2015 default theme is clean, blog-focused, and designed for clarity."

https://twentyfifteendemo.wordpress.com/ https://twentyfifteendemo.wordpress.com/about-twenty-fifteen... https://twentyfifteendemo.wordpress.com/image-alignment-and-...

"Ruined" is an understatement.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#203

Post by VarunAgw »

endemic wrote: post #179
VarunAgw wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I am neither getting freedom nor security with smart phones. My 2 year old smart phone have never received a security update. It has become a piece of crap just within 2 years.

Can this problem be solved by installing a custom ROM, such as CyanogenMod? I've only used Nexus Android phones, so am curious how to stay updated if using a phone from an OEM.

Wait.. Android goal is to provide security to novice users by taking away their freedom. Now why they want me to rely on advance solutions to secure myself.

But wait I'm novice who can't decide what is best for himself :(

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#204

Post by jhasse »

raesene9 wrote: post #115
jhasse wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand: Have you ever heard of examples of malware which told the use to root their phone? I think CyanogenMods solution, where root access has to be enabled in the Developer Settings, which have to be enabled by tapping the Android version number 6 times, is the perfect solution: My mum would stop immediately doing such a complicated thing if she wanted to install something.

I'm not sure I've seen one that told users to enable root, but from what I've seen of the android malware scene large parts of it rely on users installing software from non-Google sources and their lack of ability in discerning a good app. from malware. (one example of many http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/11/new-type-of-auto-roo... ) That seems to me to illustrate the point of a locked down environment fairly we…

Ah I see. Let's hope Google is going to move the "install apps from 3rd party sources" switch to the Developer Settings in the future.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#205

Post by wlesieutre »

CydeWeys wrote: post #136
cableshaft wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost every app (and many games) being made nowadays are thin clients making api calls where all the work is done on the server. I don't like it. I like having games from decades ago and still being able to play them long after the companies are dead and its employees working on other things. On my own time I try to come up with software that can run entirely without the need to communicate with servers, or even wit…

> Almost every app (and many games) being made nowadays are thin clients making api calls where all the work is done on the server. This is not true of games. Can you name any? Yes, multiplayer games require a server component, but they're not thin clients. And games that are not multiplayer generally don't require a server at all except possibly for DRM. People don't like wasting their data plan unnecessarily and th…

Diablo 3 comes to mind as the canonical example of this, but it's a PC/console game rather than mobile. Single player mode is still run by a remote server, and if you have a bad internet connection or they have a server outage (which has happened many times) it will be unplayable.

Blizzard has been much better than most companies about keeping its online infrastructure up and running long after a game loses popularity, but even they won't be around forever.

On the mobile side I don't think that's a common strategy (Candy Crush and Angry Birds aren't going to stop working), but the purely multiplayer games like Ingress and Clash of Clans will certainly shut down someday.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#206

Post by icebraining »

Laforet wrote: post #99
icebraining wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that you purposefully opt-in to a smartphone, but can't opt-in (at least, not on an individual basis) to a regime. Would a totalitarian state be as objectionable if people had to chose to move there, and could leave as easily as one can change phones?

People who are born in such a regime usually don't get a (easy) opt-out but I digress. My feelings towards AAPL was pretty mixed from day 1 and has changed surprisingly little over the past few years. I genuinely applaud their take on many issues such as strong encryption and the ability to side-load your own apps from source. On the other hand I am very alarmed by the fact that backing up apps from iOS device is no…

People who are born in such a regime usually don't get a (easy) opt-out but I digress.

That's my point - it's not useful to compare the loss of rights in states to the loss of rights in smartphone platforms, because the latter are easily opted-out.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#207

Post by VarunAgw »

raesene9 wrote: post #52
VarunAgw wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I am neither getting freedom nor security with smart phones. My 2 year old smart phone have never received a security update. It has become a piece of crap just within 2 years.

I'm guessing you have an Android device? Yep those Android security is nasty. the conficts of interest between the OS manufacturer, the handset manufacturer and the carrier have caused a load of fragementation and lack of support. My personal opinion is that, unfortunately, regulation is the only way to solve that issue, as the market does not appear to be addressing it well.

Yeah unfortunately! A 10 year old desktop Computer running Lubuntu can be far more secure than my phone

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#208

Post by jschwartzi »

vlehto wrote: post #190
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…

>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. I owned a smart-phone for a year. I didn't replace photo-album, book, TV, Music player or camera with it. I only replaced a dumb phone. So I gave it away. I do enjoy many consumption devices, I don't need one more, if it just means…

It can be a great tool too. I think anyone who discounts smartphones as just another "consumption device" are missing part of the usefulness of the network.

I use my phone in place of paper logs for calorie counting and training. It's definitely been a solid replacement. It's probably shaved an hour a day off the odious task of counting calories, and having internet access means that I'm only a few touches away from form pointers and useful advice. I could replace it all but I'd have to start carrying about 40 pounds of books around instead.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#209

Post by icebraining »

logicrook wrote: post #94
icebraining wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that you purposefully opt-in to a smartphone, but can't opt-in (at least, not on an individual basis) to a regime. Would a totalitarian state be as objectionable if people had to chose to move there, and could leave as easily as one can change phones?

There are consistently laws to purposefully remove digital rights for the people (think encryption tools). With this argument, you justify that rights should be taken from everybody for the sake of the majority, and there's no opt-in anymore.

I don't understand your point.

Re: Why I don't like smartphones

#210

Post by CydeWeys »

losvedir wrote: post #183
CydeWeys wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Almost every app (and many games) being made nowadays are thin clients making api calls where all the work is done on the server. This is not true of games. Can you name any? Yes, multiplayer games require a server component, but they're not thin clients. And games that are not multiplayer generally don't require a server at all except possibly for DRM. People don't like wasting their data plan unnecessarily and th…

> Can you name any? Clash of Clans is like that. Even when you just want to do some non-multiplayer thing like rearrange your defenses, if you have no connection the game won't start, and if it loses connection it kicks you out.

I haven't played the game, so maybe this is my unfamiliarity showing, but I thought that Clash of Clans was an MMO strategy game. In that context, how is there any meaningful singleplayer component that could work without a connection to the servers? You talk about rearranging defenses, but isn't that against other players? How could that possibly work if the server can't be reached to actually update the shared game state?
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