Life before smartphones (2020)

I also used to think having a decent digital Camera on a phone would be insanely great. It turns out not so, at least not any more. Every single god damn digital photo are now either some stupid "computational" photography enhanced, some are enhanced with AI or whatever Machine Learning. Apple used to be on the realistic camp but now even they are joining the profile of instagram generation. ( I have been told customer want these sort of features as they think it is better photo, and sell better ) And if that is not enough most of them are posted with some editing or filters. To the point nothing in the photo I saw is real.

I remember dreaming about online MMO on a phone. That was UO / World of Warcraft era. May be in ten to fifteen years time a Pocket Computer with Wireless Network. That would be so much fun. But gaming now has becomes a casino with lots of gambling options to win the game. It is also time sink for many of us to escape into the "metaverse". ( Metaverse is the new VC hype of 2021 ). They are no longer the same.

I remember I really really wanted IRC, ICQ and later MSN on a Smartphone. It didn't work. I have to hack an O2 Atom ( made by HTC before they become a brand of itself they used to be a ODM like Foxconn ) and it was a battery drain. Now it is largely replaced by all sort of instant messenger. But we dont give ICQ numbers or your MSN handle to anyone anymore. It is all "phone" numbers. So it is more of a "real world" connection rather than some "Internet identity" we used to have.

Speaking of O2 Atom, I have been looking for a smartphone, or a pocket computer that uses 2G GPRS as Data Connection and slowly browse the Internet on the street. So I could sit in a Cafe and use some remote server that will send me the .MHT version of a website so I only use one connection. ( Multiple connection on GPRS are bound to fail ). iPhone was everything I wanted I remember vividly how Apple nailed it. From capacitive Touch Screen to all the small UX. Most people didn't get it. As it wasn't the first "Smartphone", you have Nokia Symbian and something like the Sony Ericsson P900 at the time. Most people were like Steve Ballmer and laughing at it. But for those who were looking for it for so long. iPhone was "it".

I would have thought with Smartphone, people would listen to even more music, as it replaces mp3, or MiniDisc. Where we curate our own collection very carefully to try and fit in how tiny amount of storage we had. Turns out people are consuming more Video and other forms of Media. Music isn't "dead", but it certainly didn't bloom like many expected. From a high level prospective, all forms of media are competing for your attention and time.

I set VHS recorder just in case.

We were 16+ so basically drinking free booze on the plane while smoking our hearts out. We actually drank all the beer on the plane. It looked like a smoke bomb went off.

It must have been the flight from hell for other passengers. Completely unimaginable right now. Thank you Sabena Airlines for this core memory of my youth and not having us arrested in Athens.

Something I have done (accidentally at first, now on purpose) is to not respond to messages (personal) quickly, most of the time. People adjust to that rather fast and stop worrying so much. People in my circles know now that I am rarely going to answer within a few hours and expectations are adjusted. So then going outside for a few hours with no phone is no longer a "thing" - you just do it and people will expect you to get back to them when you do.