> If you're not valuing your priorities with a phone, you won't value them without it. It might make a difference for a few weeks, but then you'll work out how to waste your time without your phone and you'll be back to square one.
Or, as someone below puts it
> 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.
Maybe getting rid of a smart phone means "lack of impulse control", okay. The cited study claims the average American looking at their phone every six minutes on average, so it's not exactly cool to ignore that bit and berate the person who took the time writing an article citing that study.
And maybe it's not even a lack of impulse control, but a singular act of will? Would people also be "concerned" for someone who stops smoking but doesn't keep cigarettes around the house? Or hey, what if someone were to say that Linters are for people who don't get it right the first place, and that itself deserves attention? We know humans are imperfect, and find it sensible to guard ourselves against making mistakes in all sorts of ways. Why are smartphones different to you?
A portable mini computer with internet access is useful for a lot of cool things, no doubt. Though to the usefulness on the internet it's like putting a low table on a huge mountain, makes no overall difference to me. None of the upsides you mentioned seem smartphone specific, and you address none of the smartphone specific issues mentioned in the article, other than with a sweeping "I'm not going back".
> When I'm not on the train, I can know when it's actually going to arrive so I can do something fun instead of waiting on the platform.
Partly (or depending on where you are, rather) that's because thanks to smartphones, they don't display it in many places where they used to. Just like you can't buy a ticket from a person anymore. This cam be a huge problem for elderly people or those with disabilities. If a smartphone saves one so much time, that time should also be used to help one's fellow citizens by noticing and criticzing such things, to help remove barriers even though they are no barriers to you.
Smartphones were ceded their initial social acceptance solely on being optional. If this turned out to be a lie, the acceptance should likewise be withdrawn, and we can save the the discussion about the mass surveillance and marketing aspects I see completely not mentioned here as a bonus, too.
> I can plan my trips instead of listening to the boring parts of conversations.
This probably sounds more rude to me as you are in practice, but it conjure up nothing good in my mind, honestly. The first thing that comes to mind is a Mitchell and Webb sketch about a guy in a pub interrupting the others because their conversation isn't good enough for them, but also not contributing to make it better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKJ5w-HQ9b0