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I hate telephones

jameshfisher.com

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Re: I hate telephones

#61

Post by kemayo »

kibwen wrote: post #37

I receive about 20 spam calls per day. In contrast, I receive about 0.2 legitimate calls per day. Google itself suspects that these are spam calls, because it pops up a bright red "SUSPECTED SPAM CALLER" warning when the phone begins ringing. And yet, I have found no option to have the phone automatically decline the call. There's not even an option to silence the ringer for any call not from my contacts; I actually…

Strangely enough, given Android's comparatively-customizable nature, I think this is an area where iOS does it better? (Others might correct me.)

iOS 10 added "call blocking" as an app-type, which lets you choose apps which can filter phone calls for you. They can flag calls as possible-spam, or completely block them. (See [1] for Hiya's options screen, as an example.)

An "only ring for my friends" feature is sort of possible. You can keep your phone in "do not disturb" mode, and add people who you want to be able to call you to your "VIPs" list to let them through. That's a fair bit of manual management, though, which is a pain.

I don't think it's possible to make a call-blocker app which functions as a whitelist, sadly, because I think this is like their browser content blockers and operates as the app providing a list of blocked numbers for privacy reasons.

[1]: https://imgur.com/a/Yftxy

Re: I hate telephones

#62

Post by stretchwithme »

stretchwithme wrote: post #31

I'd love it if my cell phone auto-screened calls from numbers not in my address book. Give them a special message that explains the only way they'll get through is to leave a message. Or that they can register their number in a public registry that fully explains who they are and then I can decide whether to take calls from that number.

We also could probably use a system of codes to communicate with automated calling systems so they give up quicker or are able to negotiate a fee they can pay to talk with you. Or leave a text message if you're open to that.

Re: I hate telephones

#63

Post by _nalply »

grogenaut wrote: post #32
_nalply wrote: post #23

Me, too. I don't hear, so I don't phone. However some business is almost impossible to conduct without phoning. AWS requires identification by phone. Customs tried to call me to ask me something about my bike I sent home from a holiday abroad. Credit cards are only unblocked by a phone call. And so on. (And phone relays are only a partial solution because some commpanies deem them insecure - I have currently a credit…

I thought AWS allowed you to verify via text?

I had to phone them and reread the text. The first two times they didn't understand me. I felt stupid. It was like shouting nonsense in the woods.

Perhaps they have different identification rules for people not in the US.

Re: I hate telephones

#64

Post by Spearchucker »

stretchwithme wrote: post #31

I'd love it if my cell phone auto-screened calls from numbers not in my address book. Give them a special message that explains the only way they'll get through is to leave a message. Or that they can register their number in a public registry that fully explains who they are and then I can decide whether to take calls from that number.

I never answer calls, ever. My voicemail suggests sending me an email. If the caller doesn't, it's like it never happened. The only reason I even have a SIM card is for data/tethering.

Re: I hate telephones

#65

Post by izacus »

kibwen wrote: post #37

I receive about 20 spam calls per day. In contrast, I receive about 0.2 legitimate calls per day. Google itself suspects that these are spam calls, because it pops up a bright red "SUSPECTED SPAM CALLER" warning when the phone begins ringing. And yet, I have found no option to have the phone automatically decline the call. There's not even an option to silence the ringer for any call not from my contacts; I actually…

20 spam calls per day? That sounds like torture... is there really no body in USA that would prevent that from happening?

(I've never received a spam call on my now 20 year old phone number.)

Re: I hate telephones

#66

Post by mcculley »

I have seen this with young people in general (I don’t know the author’s age). They have anxiety about having a real time conversation on the phone. They don’t seem to have problems talking face-to-face, so it must be related to not being able to see the face of the interlocutor. It is a problem when doing business. Sometimes a phone call is the best way to resolve an issue.

Re: I hate telephones

#67

Post by ghaff »

xnxn wrote: post #19

Preach it. Also, has call quality completely tanked in the last decade or is it just me?

Sure. Because so many people are using cell phones these days. As a result, you have a lot of poor reception/dropped calls/etc. that would have been unheard of in the days of the Bell system much less newer fiber optic networks. In many things (see also music listening to a large degree) we've regressed considerably in quality to buy convenience.

Re: I hate telephones

#68

Post by kemayo »

izacus wrote: post #65
kibwen wrote: post #37

I receive about 20 spam calls per day. In contrast, I receive about 0.2 legitimate calls per day. Google itself suspects that these are spam calls, because it pops up a bright red "SUSPECTED SPAM CALLER" warning when the phone begins ringing. And yet, I have found no option to have the phone automatically decline the call. There's not even an option to silence the ringer for any call not from my contacts; I actually…

20 spam calls per day? That sounds like torture... is there really no body in USA that would prevent that from happening? (I've never received a spam call on my now 20 year old phone number.)

In theory there's the national do not call registry: https://www.donotcall.gov/

In practice... there's some groups who are still allowed to call you even if you're on the registry. Others will just ignore it, and filing a complaint is difficult.

Re: I hate telephones

#69

Post by indescions_2017 »

Face-time can be magical. Especially around the holidays. When clusters of your tribe gather in geographically disperse points. But you can still experience a simulacrum of "presence".

But author has a point about banks being particularly egregious offenders of phone dependency. They are progressing. With voice print and zelle. As well as iris scans. But I still need face to face in person meetings about once per month. And though face authenticated live full duplex video can serve as a proxy. Trust that is built from a personal connection may never be disrupted.

Re: I hate telephones

#70

Post by brightsize »

hnarn wrote: post #10
ghaff wrote: post #7

I'm about to ditch my landline and one of the main reasons (in addition to not using it much) is that legitimate calls are far outnumbered by junk calls. I don't answer numbers I don't recognize but it's still a distraction. There seems to be some principle in play where the misuse of a communications channel rises to the point where it's annoying but not quite unusable. If I got 20 junk calls a day, I'd have to turn…

Out of curiousity, when were you born? I was born in the 80's, and among my friends literally noone has a landline, not even the older ones. There's simply no argument for it. I'm in northern Europe by the way.

There IS an argument for it. Around a year ago we had a freak windstorm here. It was an amazing experience - took down trees and tore apart roofs all over. I'd never seen houses crushed by trees before. The power was out for days in some places, including mine. My phone battery died after a day, ditto the laptop's battery. My landline continued to function throughout.

As I recall the service was also extremely inexpensive as part of a DSL bundle. It is true that the landline was a powerful spam magnet, much more so than my cell.

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