Dumber phone • Hacker News Board

Re: Dumber phone

#261

Post by jdhzzz » Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 1:04 AM UTC

mozzarella wrote: post #170

peacetreefrog wrote: post #125

There are a lot of "hacks" in this thread (put your phone in grayscale, put variable reward apps in a folder, turn off fingerprint sensor) but in my experience the mindset is by far the most important part. What's worked for me (and the article talks about this too) is viewing my phone as a tool with a limited set of functionality. For me, that functionality is: calls, texts, Google maps, Spotify, Audible, podcasts,…

When my dad decided to quit smoking, he didn't throw out the pack of cigarettes he was currently in the middle of. Instead, he put them up on the shelf next to his work desk. The pack wasn't totally in his face, nor was it out of sight. Despite the visual reminder being present, he broke his years' long pack-a-day habit. Eventually - long after he stopped smoking - he threw the pack out, as part of his usual housekee…

Haha. I'm not your dad (I'm older). But I did nearly the same thing to stop smoking. I tried several times after finishing a pack. It didn't work. I had success when I tossed half a pack on a high shelf. When I got the urge I'd have to climb a chair to get them. That required enough time and effort to cause me to reconsider.

Re: Dumber phone

#262

Post by gehwartzen » Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 1:17 AM UTC

Fice wrote: post #163

peacetreefrog wrote: post #125

There are a lot of "hacks" in this thread (put your phone in grayscale, put variable reward apps in a folder, turn off fingerprint sensor) but in my experience the mindset is by far the most important part. What's worked for me (and the article talks about this too) is viewing my phone as a tool with a limited set of functionality. For me, that functionality is: calls, texts, Google maps, Spotify, Audible, podcasts,…

For me, one of the big advantages of email (which makes it my preferred electronic communication medium) is that it does not assume immediate reaction. I can read my mail once a day, reply to the messages that need to be replied to, and forget about it until tomorrow. Having email on a phone (especially with notifications enabled) would undermine that advantage.

I have trained most of the members of my social circle to expect a similar level of response to most text messages. No one has given me crap about it and still get invited to plenty of functions. I'm 33 and the level of convincing/training necessary did seem to be very inversely related to age, but eventually everyone got it.

Re: Dumber phone

#263

Post by microcolonel » Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 1:31 AM UTC

> surveillance capitalism

This name is catchy, but it obscures the truth: that you are not being spied on (in this case), you are actually spying on yourself. It's more like compulsive disclosure capitalism.

Re: Dumber phone

#264

Post by anthk_ » Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 1:39 AM UTC

hawski wrote: post #158

thanatropism wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you already seen this? https://surf.suckless.org/ It's webkit, not firefox-based, but works great with tiling windowmanagers.

I've seen it. Sadly it's just a nice thin interface over WebKit. I guess I could customize it to do somewhat what I want, but it would still run on WebKit. On Linux I can use alternative browsers like links -g, WebSurf or Dillo, but on mobile there are no such luxuries. I would just like to have the target experience (and lightness) out of the box, but on all platforms.

Netsurf, you meant. BTW, install trickle (a bandwitdh limiter) and then:

trickle -s -t 1 -d 16 -u 8 netsurf-gtk

You'll enjoy the delays.

Re: Dumber phone

#265

Post by coatmatter » Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 1:39 AM UTC

airstrike wrote: post #202

procparam wrote: post #19

One huge distraction-enabler is the fingerprint sensor. It makes things too easy for me - I put my hand in my pocket, put my finger on the sensor, and by the time it's in front of my face I can be mindlessly browsing reddit. So I would add the following tip: disable the fingerprint sensor if you have one (also face recognition, etc), and replace it with an inconveniently long password. This way you really need to thi…

Delete the reddit app and logout. Have a really long password so you're too lazy to type it in. That's my trick. Used to spend hours and hours on reddit... now I'm just stuck on HN :(

That's what I did a while ago and haven't wanted to look for it again - the app was always terrible anyway. On my desktop/laptop, I now log out more as well to not have the orange notification show up if I 'accidentally' browse to the front page.

For Twitter (which I think is more 'addictive' due to the greater pool of talent about compared to hivemind posts), I need to open up my password manager and it's quite a process to log in again compared to a saved browser password (especially with two factor authentication) - quite often that hurdle is enough to have me reconsider idling away.

By the way, did you know the Twitter app requires about 5 taps or strokes before you can log out? They really try to hide that one from users.

Re: Dumber phone

#266

Post by imwally » Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 1:44 AM UTC

cirgue wrote: post #161

peacetreefrog wrote: post #125

There are a lot of "hacks" in this thread (put your phone in grayscale, put variable reward apps in a folder, turn off fingerprint sensor) but in my experience the mindset is by far the most important part. What's worked for me (and the article talks about this too) is viewing my phone as a tool with a limited set of functionality. For me, that functionality is: calls, texts, Google maps, Spotify, Audible, podcasts,…

The best mindset change for me has been realizing on a fundamental and emotional level just how garbage most of the internet actually is, and how much happier I am to get an extra hour of sleep, reading a book instead of Reddit, or letting myself get bored enough to stimulate serious creativity.

> letting myself get bored enough to stimulate serious creativity.

I think this is another key takeaway. We're so scared of being bored that we instantly reach for our phone as a means to fill this seemingly unwanted void. As if boredom has this negative connotation attached to it.

Re: Dumber phone

#267

Post by jrcii » Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 1:50 AM UTC

abawany wrote: post #214

nabla9 wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are describing new Nokia 8110 4G (aka "the matrix phone" reincarnated) * 25 days on standby, 8.5 hours LTE voice calls * removable battery * WiFi hotspot functionality * 4G network connectivity * KaiOS will have basic apps (Google maps, FB, Google assistant and reportetly WhatsApp in near future) https://www.nokia.com/en_in/phones/nokia-8110-4g

I was very excited by this phone but KaiOS seems worrying though hopefully I just misread: they seem to be quite closed-source even though they are based on FirefoxOS [1], the app store is closed and carrier controlled [2], and the hotspot functionality also seems to come with carrier control [3], which given the lack of openness and root capability, means that it may very well be disabled if you buy the phone throug…

My requirement is I need a sandboxed baseband or at least the ability to actually know it's off. There's a 4G DragonBox Prya coming out that you can put a SIP client on, and there's the ever-on-the-horizon Neo900.

Re: Dumber phone

#268

Post by coatmatter » Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 1:53 AM UTC

All the tips on how to spend less time on the internet are great, however at the end of the day that time still needs to be replaced by a more productive pastime if one just isn't feeling it when it comes to productivity. Otherwise, the mind will creatively figure out an endless list of other things to idle time away with.

In the past for many people, this might have involved more segmented activities such as quality computer games and the like. But really, I think what most of us would do better with now is more time spent outside with a cardiovascular activity such as cycling or running.

I say cardio, because that often eats up a good chunk of time and rests the mind in a way that few other sports can and also because it's essential for physical and mental health and cannot be substituted. Don't worry about the strength stuff immediately if it's not already being done - that will easily follow once the cardio routine is sorted. As popular as 'strength' is right now in fitness circles, cardio is still key and the (evolutionary) root of all health in my view.

Re: Dumber phone

#269

Post by BuckRogers » Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 2:03 AM UTC

I've done what's described in the article for years. In fact, I've never once installed Facebook or Twitter on my iPhone. My general rules-

- No social media, at all. News only for entertainment, and news sources (fed through Feedly) have to be new sources, not politics-masquerading-as-news. Things happening, not things people are saying.

- No notifications enabled other than texts and calls.

- Do not disturb set for 10PM-6AM, allowing favorites to call through (wife & family).

- Single page homescreen to keep it clean, tidy & organized.

Mine is used for utility, and like most things in modern society, there's enough power if you aren't very intelligent to get controlled by the technology. You have to be capable of seeing through the tech, and not become its slave. Eternal vigilance is the cost of freedom I suppose.

I rarely look at my phone, I do have games, but they are opened less than once every 12 months. Looking at what I have installed now, I have Super Mario Run, Breakout & "Faby Bird" (a Flappy Bird remake). I see no need to remove them when I don't find them to be a problem or damaging like social media is.

Why do I have a smartphone then?

ApplePay, remote home & PC controls, GPS maps, online banking, Lyft, Exxon Mobile SpeedPass+, Find My iPhone to know where my family is if they need me, are all invaluable. Those are the things I use a smartphone for.

Re: Dumber phone

#270

Post by jazzdev » Wed, Apr 25, 2018, 2:08 AM UTC

mozzarella wrote: post #170

peacetreefrog wrote: post #125

There are a lot of "hacks" in this thread (put your phone in grayscale, put variable reward apps in a folder, turn off fingerprint sensor) but in my experience the mindset is by far the most important part. What's worked for me (and the article talks about this too) is viewing my phone as a tool with a limited set of functionality. For me, that functionality is: calls, texts, Google maps, Spotify, Audible, podcasts,…

When my dad decided to quit smoking, he didn't throw out the pack of cigarettes he was currently in the middle of. Instead, he put them up on the shelf next to his work desk. The pack wasn't totally in his face, nor was it out of sight. Despite the visual reminder being present, he broke his years' long pack-a-day habit. Eventually - long after he stopped smoking - he threw the pack out, as part of his usual housekee…

My grandfather did the same thing. Carried a half-empty pack around in his jacket for weeks after he decided to stop. I always thought that was the hard way to do it, but maybe not.