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Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone?

nytimes.com

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Re: Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone?

#91

Post by dkersten »

bungie4 wrote: post #14

When my Nexus 5 dies, I plan on going back to my old Sony-Ericsson feature phone. Just before I retired it I put in a bigger battery. I can fit 3 of them in any pocket I care to choose. It ran 2 weeks on Standby before giving up the ghost. As for functionality. I'm old. Voice/Text/Camera. I've gone for years and years without having a data plan. I typically xfer about 10 texts a month and I might get 1 or two voice c…

In 2014, my phone got cut off[1] and I went without connectivity for about 6 months (I was poor, doing a startup right after a previous failed startup, maybe not the smartest circumstances). The phone was basically a wifi device during that time.

I could have got a prepay SIM easily enough, but, oddly, I found being unreachable weirdly liberating. Yes, it was awkward that I had to plan ahead by organising when and where to meet people, checking messages (and maps) on wifi and so forth, but knowing that once I stepped outside, that I would be completely disconnected, was actually a great feeling. I knew that while I travelled to the office, nobody would bother me, I knew when I was out shopping, nobody would bother me. It was my time, disconnected from work, from friends/family/random people, from news that I really didn’t need to read...

Nowadays, I have an iphone which I use for whatsapp/telegram/signal, email, idle browsing when I’m not at home, very very very rarely a phone call. I think when this phone eventually dies, I’ll replace it with a cheap emergency-only phone, basically, like when I didn’t have a phone except that family can reach me in emergency. I have an iPad for when I do need to access everything else but am not at home or in work. Although, I don’t bring it everywhere.

[1] it was a bill phone in the name of my back-then-newly-deceased startup, I had tried to change it to my name, the account manager and other people said yes no problem and I went home waiting for a bill, which never came, then a few months later they disconnected me and wanted more money than the phone or the contract were worth to get it reconnected. I decided its not worth it.

Re: Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone?

#93

Post by samwalrus »

alistairSH wrote: post #69
samwalrus wrote: post #61

I now only use a huawei watch 2 with LTE as my only phone. I do not pair it with a smart phone. It allows me to use google maps, call an uber and see my upcoming appointments by syncing with google. But I can't check my email, facebook or the news, or other websites. This means it is not distracting, but I have the really useful bits from a smart phone. The only problem is battery life, and the fact that sometimes it…

How does that work for cellular plans? Are you in the US? In the US, most carriers won't enable a portable without a linked phone. And you pay an extra monthly fee for the portable ($15-$20, I think).

I am in the uk, I just have a normal sim in the watch which I pay £10 a month for.

Re: Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone?

#94

Post by mverwijs »

jotm wrote: post #83
apricot wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You object to calling them "phones" because they're not often used as phones, yet you want to call them "computers". What exactly do you compute with them? We should all be honest and call them "trackers" or "distractors".

Rarely use the phone, often use it to check emails, reply to customers, create shipping orders, manage bank accounts and credit cards, view Reddit and Slacker News. Yeah, you're right. I wish the Android hosts file would fucking block hotspot traffic, as well.

It does on my Android. This is not standard (on a rooted device, with AdAway installed)?

Re: Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone?

#95

Post by reaperducer »

megaman22 wrote: post #32

Why do people hold up the NY Times as such a great newspaper? There's been like 8 stories from them on here today, and it's the same repeated drivel they trot out every two or three weeks, on the same topics, and the same low-energy arguments. My flag button is wearing out.

>Why do people hold up the NY Times as such a great newspaper?

Because it's been in business for 167 years, and in that time has changed the course of history and our understanding of the world around us multiple times.

What have you done today?

Re: Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone?

#96

Post by munk-a »

jfrankamp wrote: post #59
phil248 wrote: post #23

The article uses the word "phone" about 40 times. Based on my own usage patterns, I don't even have a phone. I have a portable computer. I happen to use it to make phone calls a few times every week. I use my desktop to make video calls a few times a month, but I don't call that a phone. We all know a smartphone is a computer, and I'm not trying to be pedantic about the words we use, but I think our insistence that t…

Language changes. Phone now means (primarily) thing-in-pocket, but importantly its _shorter_ than thing-in-pocket so phone it is. Don't think so? I misplaced my ____. Sally is playing games on her ____. Joe is watching netflix on his ____.

Phablet?

Re: Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone?

#97

Post by mikestew »

dman wrote: post #8
alchemism wrote: post #6

I've just abandoned using a smartphone in favor of a $20 dumb Alcatel phone that can only do three things: calls, alarms, and an FM radio. It doesn't even vibrate. I offloaded every other functional use into my tablet, in this case an iPad Pro. The phone battery lasts for days on standby; I can drain my tablet battery without concern. I can leave the tablet at home if I want to stay light or if I want to stay focused…

What do you do for navigation? (Thats literally the only feature keeping me with a smart phone right now).

There is a plethora of mapping applications that have offline data. Maps.me and Gaia are two that I have on my iPhone, but a web search should turn up others.

Alternatively, one could learn to read a map. That got me across the country and back on multiple occasions back in the day, and I don't recall ever getting too lost. I'm not saying we have to go back to sextants, but to me GPS is a nice convenience, not a requirement.

Re: Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone?

#98

Post by reaperducer »

kleiba wrote: post #28
ctrl-j wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get lost and have to stop/call for directions? Abandoning modern technology doesn't seem like the better alternative in this case.

First of all, not having a GPS does not automatically imply getting lost. People used to be able to navigate just fine most of the time before that technology was available. And then, what's wrong with asking someone for directions? I've been asked many times in the olden days and never once was it an unpleasant experience.

>I've been asked many times in the olden days and never once was it an unpleasant experience.

I must give off some kind of approachable vibe, because I get asked for directions by strangers at least once a week.

Re: Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone?

#99

Post by reaperducer »

scarface74 wrote: post #75
kleiba wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First of all, not having a GPS does not automatically imply getting lost. People used to be able to navigate just fine most of the time before that technology was available. And then, what's wrong with asking someone for directions? I've been asked many times in the olden days and never once was it an unpleasant experience.

And then, what's wrong with asking someone for directions? Ask this 14 year old.... https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/14/us/michigan-man-shoots-at-tee... The last thing I want to do is be lost somewhere in the South. Yes I live in the south.

Thanks for the anecdote. Doesn't prove a thing.

Re: Is a Dumber Phone a Better Phone?

#100

Post by floren »

moonbug wrote: post #84
floren wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not just boring but inflexible and a pain to hack on. I'd really like something more like a PDA with a straightforward scripting language that lets me build primitive GUIs for my own tasks.

If you think that, I've got a Zaurus to sell you.

The Linux-based Zaurus with the sliding keyboard was incredibly cool and I still hope to acquire one someday, or even one of the later clamshell models.
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