> My speakers were big and my TV was small.
Loved this.
Life before smartphones (2020)
321–330 of 495 posts
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#322I've been working my way through Seinfeld, and I realized most of the plot lines couldn't have happened if cell phones were commonplace back then.
You know, that's another thing that has changed a lot. Modern TV writer just can't stop himself from using the mobile phone as a device to advance the story. We have to watch some guy in a TV show sending iMessages. That is so boring, and as a caveman from the pre-cellular era it takes me out of the show and makes me want to turn it off. A recent offender in this regard was the Amazon show "Bosch". If you made a supe…
Congrats on being able to spot product placement advertising (not sarcastic)
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#323Now 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…
And he doesn't even mention that you could just be outside, and be unreachable and not able to reach other people too. As a kid I used to play outside a lot, and my mother had no clue where I was, nor could she easily find out. I could be outside all day without her worrying that I'd be abducted or involved in an accident. Now that all has completely changed, and my mother has too. Some years ago when I walked into t…
lol my mom _always_ found out. how? no idea. but she did.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#324Contrary to the author's claim, the photo booth at Rainbo Club is still there.
Shocked me to see Rainbo referenced. The photo booth is still there.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agreed. I've been missing this since AIM went bust. I also wish there were a way for me to send a low-priority message to my wife so that it didn't notify her regardless of her notification settings. We send each other news articles throughout the day but don't really want to interrupt each other. It would be great if there were a sender-side option that could enable this. I've thought about using a shared document i…
Email? IMO, no one should have have email that sends notifications.
Damn, PREACH.
If it's urgent, the sender will call.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#326Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wanted to say this. I hate how small the world has become and how we're supposed to be "reachable" all the time. Some of my friends will freak out if I don't text back in as little as 5 minutes. A particular needy friend once tried to get me to "promise" that I would always return her texts within 10 minutes. I said "hard no" explaining that it meant that it meant that I could never watch a movie uninterrupted, rea…
>I don't answer texts while I'm driving because I literally got in an accident texting (it was a freak circumstance, but these things do happen) I'd like to address this in a non-judgemental way: not answering texts while driving should be the norm. It's not possible to operate a vehicle in motion and text simultaneously in a safe manner.
> "It's not possible to operate a vehicle in motion and text simultaneously in a safe manner."
This statement has been proven true by multiple studies now, many of them coming to the conclusion that texting while driving can be as dangerous or more dangerous than driving drunk.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
Haha good question. I wouldn't consider HN social media, as it's more nuanced discussion around topics, although the lines are somewhat blurry. I think of social media more like Twitter and Facebook.
Do you visit Reddit?
I switched from visiting Reddit from the web/phone client
to a Gopher proxy with Lynx (in order to view the submitted sites in the posts):
gopher://gopherddit.com
Also, my NNTP list:
alt.ascii-art
alt.folklore.computers
alt.os.linux.slackware
alt.sys.pdp10
comp.infosystems.gopher
comp.lang.forth
comp.lang.perl
comp.lang.perl.announce
comp.lang.perl.faq
comp.lang.perl.misc
comp.lang.perl.moderated
comp.lang.perl.modules
comp.lang.perl.tk
comp.lang.postscript
comp.misc
comp.unix.programmer
comp.unix.shell
fj.life.in-japan
rec.arts.int-fiction
rec.radio.amateur.dx
rec.radio.amateur.moderated
rec.radio.amateur.space
rec.radio.shortwave
Sometimes I interact over NNTP on https://synchro.net (they have a web/BBS interface too). As the pace is much slower, I can comment once or twice a week and everything is still good.
Finally, Gopher and Gemini sites. A really slow pace, no ads, no likes, no bullshit.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#328Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#329Earlier quoted context omitted.
There are 6 anecdotes in this thread where friends and family apply force to get a person to look at their phone. Social force, but still. Force. Consider the soft forces of marketing, distraction, conformity, attraction and temptation. They are as real as a twisted arm.
Sure, I agree, it's all very coercive. But I think the point really is... physical force isn't even necessary. We're already addicted
The coercive forces are beneath discussion because we're all addicted anyway?
I dunno man. That sounds weird.
Re: Life before smartphones (2020)
#330What I miss more than anything else is having an attention span. Years of abusing social media has left my brain pinballing all over the place. I am a collection of unfinished thoughts. Even as I write this, I can feel my mind needing to latch onto something new.
As a parent I've flip flopped between leaving my phone in the bed room / office during the day to flipping through TikTok while my kids crawl over me because my brain is so fried and all it wants is some dopamine hits to help get through that day.
Thankfully, crawling out of the first year of our second child and sleep, routine, etc. is all getting easier (not being in COVID lockdown helps too) and I'm finding it more common for myself to leave my phone in the bedroom while I enjoy my day with the kids.
I've also realized that the sole reason I bring my phone to the kid's park is in case I need to contact my wife, or vice versa. I've been tempted to get a smart watch w/ cellular just so I have less bulk to carry around, but a "dumb" phone may be just as sufficient ...