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Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

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201–210 of 395 posts

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#201

I’ll read the article but I’ll admit that my first reaction to this was… do they know how folks use their phone? My phone is my entire wallet now, in every way. Wether flying the country (boarding passes, I have clear), or purchasing something (I nearly exclusively use Apple Pay) I’ve long left behind needing to carry a proper wallet. I do make sure to carry a couple of $20s just in case there is some oddball reason…

What country does not require you to carry an id at all times where outside your house? Most countries do and most don't even accept alternate id's like driver's license.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#202
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's true at all. There's a lot of sources of anxiety (while on the go) that having a phone with you mitigates. - If I miss my turn (gps will renavigate) - If I can't find the place (I can call them and ask) - If there's something else I need to get while I'm out (my spouse can call me and tell me) - My tween, who stayed at home while I ran to the store, has a problem (she can call me) These are all t…

How did humanity manage?! /s Don’t get me wrong, smartphones are great conveniences, I can land in a foreign country and book a hotel, a car from the airport, find a place for lunch, etc. all (surreptitiously) while waiting at passport control. That being said I making a plan with someone (and not flaking), and doing a little research/looking at a map, asking friends for recommendations, was never that hard)

I remember this life well, I guess the trick is to use only the time saving feature of the smart phone (the are enormous), and skip the time sinks... They are equally enormous :)

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#203
post #93
post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of god, though? What are you missing that only exists in meat space? When you get older you might grow bored of the virtual stimulation trapped inside a screen.

Literally all of human knowledge.

Sure, but it seems aspirational at best to say "I love having my phone on me at all times because with it, I can access all of human knowledge" while really using your phone all day to procrastinate your goals, waste time on TikTok, and never actually tap into that knowledge except for the rare Wikipedia search.

Kind of a "...but I always can if I want to!" cope.

That said, I was similar to the thread OP in my early 20s when it came to my computer time. I spent all day on the computer which was totally cool because of all the things I could do on it, even though I was addicted to Warcraft or Diablo or whatever. And it took 10 years to admit it and find a healthier relationship with it.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> purely utilitarian device You're absolutely right kid. Sincerely. I look forward to the day when the real utility shines through again. And I come from a time (as a now well bearded computer nerd) when it was all utility and coolness. But we're in some weird in-between days [1] where motivations have gotten distorted, ideals have got lost, and the utility just isn't enough any more to stave of the wrongness. FWIW I…

I think this encapsulates your point: https://pics.onsizzle.com/born-too-late-to-explore-the-earth...

Yes , wre're in the gold^H^H^H^H nicotine-yellow stained age of dankness :)

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#205
post #110

Why are they still called phones? I think the phone function is one of the lesser used ones. More appropriate would be Smartcamera, if you don't want to call it a computer

I use my phone as a mobile phone 90% of the time when I am away from home. The other 10% is tracking my cycling with Strava, I can easily live without that.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#206

I’ll read the article but I’ll admit that my first reaction to this was… do they know how folks use their phone? My phone is my entire wallet now, in every way. Wether flying the country (boarding passes, I have clear), or purchasing something (I nearly exclusively use Apple Pay) I’ve long left behind needing to carry a proper wallet. I do make sure to carry a couple of $20s just in case there is some oddball reason…

What country does not require you to carry an id at all times where outside your house? Most countries do and most don't even accept alternate id's like driver's license.

The United States I guess. If I were to be buying alcohol it’s reasonable for them to ask. But that’s not something I often do anymore and generally there isn’t a reason anyone would ask for my id otherwise. Perhaps if I’m in a different state (I do still travel with a form of ID, but not on my person) it could be important. My limited experience with cops where I live have also indicated it isn’t important.

I don’t drive either which is a much bigger drive as to why I don’t feel the need to constantly have official identification.

Edit: I suppose it is important if anything “went wrong” and I needed my body to be identified, but again, that would be a case where people are wondering where I’m at quite quickly and the cops likely putting something out to identify such a person.

Edit 2: I also did try to get a state ID but they make the process so laughably difficult that getting a passport was easier - further, they don’t accept a passport as a main source of identification. I instead needed to also have a physical copy of my social security card (despite the other mountain of evidence I brought about my existence and propriety living in the state) and I never quite understood that. They do gladly accept the taxes I pay though. No questions asked!

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#207
post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's true at all. There's a lot of sources of anxiety (while on the go) that having a phone with you mitigates. - If I miss my turn (gps will renavigate) - If I can't find the place (I can call them and ask) - If there's something else I need to get while I'm out (my spouse can call me and tell me) - My tween, who stayed at home while I ran to the store, has a problem (she can call me) These are all t…

How did humanity manage?! /s Don’t get me wrong, smartphones are great conveniences, I can land in a foreign country and book a hotel, a car from the airport, find a place for lunch, etc. all (surreptitiously) while waiting at passport control. That being said I making a plan with someone (and not flaking), and doing a little research/looking at a map, asking friends for recommendations, was never that hard)

We also managed without telephones, airplanes, automobiles and a bunch of other things we take for granted in modern life. I still find them useful and want them around.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My advice: get a watch. A nice Seiko, Citizen, etc dumb watch. I found myself always pulling my phone out to check the time, then getting sucked in by notifications. Now, I only use my watch to check the time, and find myself pulling my phone out way, way less in public.

I pretty much just know what time it is within about a quarter-hour. I stopped wearing a watch when I realized that.

You know, outdoors or near a window I'm pretty good at that. But I easily lose track of time when indoors, or at night. Especially if for some reason I wake up hours earlier than normal, I'll think it must be 12 or 1AM, only to see that it's barely 10.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#209
post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

at least individual spot meters were reduced to block meters so that there was less physical infrastructure to maintain. in my city part of the motivation is data collection; rates are adjusted block by block based on the last quarter's occupancy relative to targets, and among other things the app nudges people towards slightly less optimal parking spots that are either cheaper or more available.

This data collection doesn't require a smartphone to pay, though.

you can put a QR code on a metal sheet nailed to a post and call it a day. And at least where I live the app option is also accompanied by an SMS number to text payments to.

An actual payment terminal requires electricity, a network connection and maintenance. And it has to be rugged to deal with the outdoors environment. If it takes cash, it also needs to be fairly rugged to prevent people from making off with the cash, and the cash receiving bits need a fair bit of maintenance as well.

Re: Feeling uncomfortable when leaving phone at home shouldn't be normal

#210
post #190

I'm unconvinced by this. I keep all my "on the go" stuff (keys, money, water, some important documents, etc) in a bag, and I almost always keep that bag on me, wherever I go, even if I don't think I'm actually going to need all that stuff. For example, if I go to a friend's house, and we go for a walk, I don't really need that stuff, but my instinct is to take the bag anyway. At this point, it's such an ingrained hab…

I think there is a difference between being thrown off by your routine (I have the same feeling if I’m not carrying my wallet or keys with me) and being “addicted” (for lack of a better word) to your phone and going into withdrawal - the number of situations I’m constantly in where people are incapable of being “present” because they are on their phones is depressing and astonishing
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