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Life before smartphones (2020)

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Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#111

Post by ChrisClark »

tboyd47 wrote: post #97
gilbetron wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can sell your car, get a horse, and travel around like it is the 19th century. Of course, nothing around you will be like the 19th century. Not that it isn't worth doing for other reasons, but moving your tech backwards doesn't move the world around you backwards.

Cars are better than horses for a lot of reasons. But smartphones are delivering no benefit to mankind. At all. The only compelling reason to use them is social pressure.

> But smartphones are delivering no benefit to mankind. At all.

You know better than that. You don't have to lie to try and make a point.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#112

Post by johncessna »

_ea1k wrote: post #60
ASalazarMX wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * Inane arguments in pubs about facts that couldn't be instantly googled. I don't miss those. Before the Internet, if it wasn't on an encyclopedia and you weren't at the library, you had no way of corroborating information. On the other hand, since facts are so accessible right now, those arguments have shifted to voicing their feelings and wishes because those can't be falsified.

You aren't kidding, I'm also seeing a trend of people claiming that any information that doesn't match their viewpoint must be faked or dishonest.

The issue isn't that people are just huffing, crossing their arms, and crying fake news. The issue is that they are able to bring up 100 different sites supporting their claims. The person they are arguing with, obviously knows that the other is an idiot because they have 100 different sites supporting their claims!

In a way, we've regressed back before we had the answer machine at our fingertips. You don't really know who's correct. It's just changed from 'Well, I heard xyz from my friend's aunt's sister, so I'm right. Oh yeah! Gary just said the opposite yesterday, so you're wrong' to something a little bit different.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#113

Post by beamatronic »

progman32 wrote: post #75
krylon wrote: post #57

Now I feel old. I remember vividly running around with my first camera, looking for objects worthy of being photographed. The film cost money, so did developing it into pictures. I really had to weigh the pros and cons of taking a particular picture. And in a class of ~25 kids, I was one of three who owned a camera. Not that it was such a luxury item, but most people weren't into that. These days, (nearly) everyone c…

I remember back when I got my first digital camera, people would routinely ask me "ok but how do you look at the pictures? Do you just print them out?". Looking at them on a screen was almost unfathomable. Nowadays, a physical album seems to have taken the place of your camera in the 90s. Not quite a luxury item, but you'd have to be "into that" to go to the trouble of making a physical album.

The difference is that we spend all of our waking hours in front of screens of differing sizes

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#114

Post by tharne »

legrande wrote: post #40

You can still live like what's described in this article. Get yourself a dumbphone and a paper atlas, only pay with cash, avoid loyalty cards, read paper books, newspapers, etc Now and then I do that, just to switch off from our hyper-connected world. Switching off is the new peace of mind.

> You can still live like what's described in this article. Get yourself a dumbphone and a paper atlas, only pay with cash, avoid loyalty cards, read paper books, newspapers, etc

I've been doing this a fair amount lately, particularly when I go on vacation. It's glorious.

There are some inconveniences, for sure, but the good outweighs the bad. Most of what drives my tech use these days is 1) My job, and 2) The social expectations of others. On balance smartphones and ubiquitous internet have benefits, but the bad far outweighs the good. Unfortunately, once a technology is embraced by enough people, you're more or less forced to use it if you want to live in mainstream society.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#115

Post by beamatronic »

legrande wrote: post #40

You can still live like what's described in this article. Get yourself a dumbphone and a paper atlas, only pay with cash, avoid loyalty cards, read paper books, newspapers, etc Now and then I do that, just to switch off from our hyper-connected world. Switching off is the new peace of mind.

Instead of a paper atlas, get a Garmin device with a built-in map

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#116

Post by tboyd47 »

ChrisClark wrote: post #111
tboyd47 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars are better than horses for a lot of reasons. But smartphones are delivering no benefit to mankind. At all. The only compelling reason to use them is social pressure.

> But smartphones are delivering no benefit to mankind. At all. You know better than that. You don't have to lie to try and make a point.

Likewise; you don't have to accuse me of lying to make a point. Almost all of the arguments in favor of smartphones in this thread are based on caving to social pressure. Cell phones and texting are sufficient. And by the way, it's called hyperbole.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#117

Post by krupan »

I grew up in Washington and I remember biting into a red delicious apple was like biting into a water balloon they were so juicy. They were always super crisp and crunchy too, big chunks would break off as you bit them. Now when I get them (I don’t live in WA anymore) they are always mushy and gross. Is this what we are talking about?

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#118

Post by tharne »

ChrisClark wrote: post #111
tboyd47 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cars are better than horses for a lot of reasons. But smartphones are delivering no benefit to mankind. At all. The only compelling reason to use them is social pressure.

> But smartphones are delivering no benefit to mankind. At all. You know better than that. You don't have to lie to try and make a point.

> But smartphones are delivering no benefit to mankind. At all.

This statement may be hyperbolic, but at its core is not wrong. Smartphones are very easily a net negative in terms of cost/benefit to society. They're ubiquitous because they're addictive, not because they're so wonderful. Everyone used to smoke too, then we came to see the massive damage cigarettes were doing. Smartphones are just cigarettes for the brain.

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#119

Post by coldtea »

xwolfi wrote: post #9
laurieg wrote: post #5

A couple of stand-out memories from the olden days (and I don't consider myself particularly old): Getting a call in a restaurant. Only happened to me once but I certainly felt like a VIP. Carrying a tiny map book of London around with me while cycling around. Missing turn after turn until finding there was a canal which basically took me from the center to my uncle's house. Arranging to meet a friend and then being…

Yeah I remember waiting for people - I got a smartphone at 16, in 2004, something like that, so it's hard to really imagine how it was for adults... My parents told me they spend evenings at the phone booth talking to each other - but even that is ultra convenient compared to my grandparents sending letters :D But I think it's better anyway - we sample mating candidates more, we cycle through faster, we can stop and…

>But I think it's better anyway - we sample mating candidates more, we cycle through faster, we can stop and try anew nearly any time until 50, and with some difficulty above.

On the other side, we self report more isolated, depressed, friendless and dissatisfied than ever in the past decades, have record levels of depression prescriptions and opioids, and people get discovered dead after a month or so when somebody complains about the smell...

Re: Life before smartphones (2020)

#120

Post by varjag »

laurieg wrote: post #5

A couple of stand-out memories from the olden days (and I don't consider myself particularly old): Getting a call in a restaurant. Only happened to me once but I certainly felt like a VIP. Carrying a tiny map book of London around with me while cycling around. Missing turn after turn until finding there was a canal which basically took me from the center to my uncle's house. Arranging to meet a friend and then being…

I (legally) smoked on a plane!
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