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Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

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Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#51

Post by WalterSear »

dqv wrote: post #46
WalterSear wrote: post #29

I'm mystified by the number of people who think that they've solved the fundamental problem by getting rid of their phone: being that unable to control one's immediate impulses, is worthy of attention.

Sure, but if you're using it only to fill a gap of time because it's there, it's worth evaluating whether you really need all the enrichment smartphones offer.

If you live in this time in history, you will be increasingly inconvenienced without a smart phone.

If you need to give it up to put it down, then your problem isn't smartphones, and you will fill it with something else in short order.

Moreover, you are going to be increasingly at odds with your surroundings: the world is becoming more smartphone-like, not less.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#52

Post by socceroos »

clay_the_ripper wrote: post #31
Phantasmagoria wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you're not valuing your priorities with a phone, you won't value them without it. By all means, speak for everyone.

The comment is an opinion. He/she did not say for everyone nor do I think the intent was such.

I think it would be also fair to say that the comment is about a principle - which are generally applied.

I happen to agree with the principle though. But I think, ultimately, you therefore have to take a stand on what true meaning is.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#53

Post by MisterOctober »

Dumbphone user since 2006 here. Non-Luddite. Main reasons for avoiding the switch :

1) When not using computers for work [or chess] purposes, I want to spend as little time as practical staring at a screen. I have lots of non-computer activities to attend to [gardening, studying, home maintenance, etc etc] and a family to look after.

2) I am a strong adherent to the notion that one is well-advised to maintain awareness of one's surroundings -- what I'd call commonsense alertness -- and my observations of folks using smartphones in public suggest to me that their use diminishes situational awareness because they are a distraction.

2.5) Corollary to the above : I want to set a good example of prudent behavior for my kids, which to me includes limiting recreational computer / phone use [I realize this sounds snobby, but you should see the kids in my neighborhood -- like elementary-school kids -- constantly with their faces buried in phone];

3) Last and also least : expense and durability : decent dumbphones are nearly indestructible and if I distruct one, a replacement is less than $50. Smartphones, on the other hand, tend to be fragile and expensive.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#54

Post by MisterOctober »

WalterSear wrote: post #51
dqv wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but if you're using it only to fill a gap of time because it's there, it's worth evaluating whether you really need all the enrichment smartphones offer.

If you live in this time in history, you will be increasingly inconvenienced without a smart phone. If you need to give it up to put it down, then your problem isn't smartphones, and you will fill it with something else in short order. Moreover, you are going to be increasingly at odds with your surroundings: the world is becoming more smartphone-like, not less.

Re : increasingly at odds : I'm not sure this is true. I guess it's hypothetically possible that, say, card payments will be replaced by phone-facilitated payments, but for the foreseeable future, it seems to me that absence of smartphone distraction [provided one has easy access to internet elsewhere] promotes greater, not lesser, connection with one's surroundings. [Except, of course, that 'Minority Report'-type targeted advertising and other commercial tracking functions aren't available[?] to the non-smartphone-user]

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#55

Post by dang »

Phantasmagoria wrote: post #28
squiggleblaz wrote: post #10

Life with a smart phone is so much better than life before a smart phone. It's hard to realise how recently they came around. I've probably only had the internet on my phone for five years (I've had a smart phone for longer, but I couldn't get the data to work and data was expensive enough at the time I didn't care). I can communicate with my fiancee even when she's in another country (international sms = fail). I ca…

>If you're not valuing your priorities with a phone, you won't value them without it. By all means, speak for everyone.

Please don't post uncivil and/or unsubstantive comments to Hacker News.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#56

Post by cncrnd »

hnzix wrote: post #36
cncrnd wrote: post #13

I don't see why you can't just control your cell phone habits. Swearing technology off is like cutting off the nose to spite the face. The optimal setup for me is the basic apps installed (mail, messenger, uber/lyft, finances) with all notifications turned off. Less distraction while retaining the utility of having a smartphone.

I don't see why you can't just control your drinking habits. Swearing alcohol off is like cutting off the nose to spite the face.

Alcohol does not provide the massive utility that comes with modern smartphones.

There are ways to reduce cell phone usage without going to a flip phone.

But, if this is what works for the author then I support it. Removing certain apps and disabling notifications will work wonders for most people though.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#57

Post by onion2k »

prolikewh0a wrote: post #17

I obliterated one of my smartphones last year after dropping it on concrete while getting off the bus. I freaked out, had no clue what to do since I was low income and couldn't afford anything for quite awhile. For a few days it was like I was an addict, constantly feeling my back pocket vibrating, constantly reaching to check my phone. After a few more days, I felt very liberated. I felt very free. I started enjoyin…

My first question to anyone who says they can live without a smartphone: what do you use for two factor auth?

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#58

Post by Freak_NL »

WalterSear wrote: post #51
dqv wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but if you're using it only to fill a gap of time because it's there, it's worth evaluating whether you really need all the enrichment smartphones offer.

If you live in this time in history, you will be increasingly inconvenienced without a smart phone. If you need to give it up to put it down, then your problem isn't smartphones, and you will fill it with something else in short order. Moreover, you are going to be increasingly at odds with your surroundings: the world is becoming more smartphone-like, not less.

You wouldn't tell a smoker not to bother quitting because they'll only pick up some other addiction. There are also very few people who can smoke just a cigarette every few weeks; most people who start smoking become addicted and smoke daily.

Smartphones, or more specifically, the addictive patterns used by pretty much every popular 'app' (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) are hard to defeat for a lot of people. This is an inherent feature of how our brain works, not a personal weakness — despite personal variations. For some not using smartphones (opting for 'dumb' phones instead) may be a very sensible thing to do.

> Moreover, you are going to be increasingly at odds with your surroundings: the world is becoming more smartphone-like, not less.

Everybody used to smoke too. There are plenty of folk who believe that you shouldn't be required to walk around with a computer on your person at all times.

Re: Why I’m Using a Flip Phone

#59

Post by jordigh »

I don't have a phone. At all. Whenever government things or banks ask me for a phone number, I just say none. Persistent computer forms that won't take no for an answer are fed the phone number of the company that is asking for a phone.

Most people find this utterly unthinkable and seem to project their anxiety of not having a phone on to me. What about emergencies? How do you do this? How do you do that? What if this happens?

Truth is, most of those things don't happen and I get along just fine. I talk to people in my life via email or in person. I use videochat on my laptop to talk to people if we need a more intimate and immediate communication than email. I schedule things ahead of time and request that others please do their best to keep to that scheduled appointment. I'm ready to handle a few minutes of uncertainty if they're slightly late or be outright stood up in the case of genuine emergencies. Or I just tell people that I'll be available whenever and that they can come at their convenience between this hour and that hour.

I like my life this way. It's not bad. It's pretty okay.

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