81–90 of 144 posts
Pretty worthless without WhatsApp, which in many countries is the only way to actually make calls and send texts. They state in their FAQ that they have no intention to support it.
Possibly ignorant question: Is there no way to create an app that works in the WhatsApp ecosystem?
Looking at the official website trying to understand what's the value of this mobile phone over any cheap feature phone from Nokia: https://mudita.com/products/pure/ . The device has an e-ink display and claims to have a very good speaker. The operating system has a meditation app and an "inspirational quotes" app. I'm still curious about which kind of person would purchase a device like this instead of a feature pho…
Modern Nokias are user hostile. (edit: try one out)
My theory is this is because they know their core market now is old people and other "basic users" who will never bother looking for these features.
Or, as stated in the article, an alarm clock for a similar order of magnitude less.
This might belay a greater stagnation, and not a bad one. The laptop I'm typing this comment on, a ThinkPad manufactured in 2012, works just fine. It has an upgrade to a SSD and a new battery. It cost around $100 three years ago.
The watch on my arm, if choosing to put it on, was manufactured in the 1990s. It just needs a new battery every 3-4 years.
I have no idea how old my alarm clock is. It's mainly unused because body clock works well enough. I do not need a step counter as when going for a morning stroll or jog I know roughly how far I'm going and how many steps that equates to. Nor do I need a meal planner app because the amount of calories in various food stuffs fortunately stays quite constant.
While mobile payments have been all the rage where I live for some time, I get by well enough with a technology that doesn't aggregate personal information for 3rd parties called cash, with two high-tech devices in my wallet being a bank card and a public transport card. When taking the bus or subway I do crazy things like bring a book with me; there's a local bar/cafe/restaurant where people bring books they're done with and pick up others new.
> Such a design philosophy may be good for consumers, but not for financial projections. Encouraging customers to upgrade helps smartphone makers keep cash flow consistent, whereas minimalist phones comparatively are selling few units to begin with, despite some models now being in the market for more than five years, said Ken Hyers, director of emerging technology devices at Strategy Analytics Inc.
That just means I have more money for things other than keeping up with the Jones'. Like good food, or taking part in activities or hobbies. And more time. Without Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok or whatever pushing notifications and 'important' updates, notifications that bring more baggage than utility, the world becomes a pull world. If it's urgent, call me or at least text. If needing more detail send an email, not an attachment on WhatsApp in the hope I actually care to check that, or Signal, or Telegram, or WeChat, or Messenger, or Discord, or iMessage, or whatever.
Not a rant. If someone likes to blow $3000 on a laptop, or $1000 on a new phone per year, or $349 on a dumb phone, great, anyone's choice. It's nice the choice not to is also there.
You have to make minimalist things configurable sometimes so they each persons minimal set can work for them without adding bloat to somebody elses. I’ve been rewriting some logic for a writing prep app right now based on this idea. It’s delaying the launch by about a week but it’s really important. There is no such thing as the average person (Obviously, great defaults are critical too)
I think the trick is to be configurable, but with high friction. Otherwise it's too easy to reconfigure away from the minimalism on the fly. I've thought about using Parental Controls on iOS to do something similar. Set a very long password that can't be memorized easily, write it down somewhere accessible if needed, and you get a minimal phone that can be reconfigured if needed. Just with high friction (typing in a…
(This is the Animal Crossing approach to friction. Move your house? Sure, but it won’t happen for 24 hours.)
Personally I've taken a few steps to minimize time on my phone 1) use a long text password to unlock my phone (I also change the password every few weeks) 2) don't use any apps with endless scrolling 3) turn off notifications and open apps with purpose
These three things have worked out well for me.
New? Can't you buy this for $80 at any CVS or Walgreens? "Companies including Nokia Corp. still manufacture “feature phones,” devices that look, feel and operate like the cellphones of the ’00s. But most feature phones still follow a design philosophy of abundance, cramming all the features they can into a limited operating system, said Petter Neby..." Bullshit. They can't get on the Internet, that's what matters. Yo…
Juicero makes me say "yes."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you're in the US, $5 from Tracfone, though it's locked to them. $15/month for unlimited talk/text. https://shop.tracfone.com/shop/en/tracfonestore/phones/alcat...
You can even get plans where you pay a small amount per year and get X amount of minutes and Y amount of texts per month if you don't use a phone that often. Great for an emergency phone to keep in your car.